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The Book of Genesis 43 Verses

Genesis 36

The Descendants of Esau (1 Chronicles 1:35–37)
Chapter 36 Overview · 43 Verses

1This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom). 2Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3and Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

Genesis 36:1–3 Commentary

The Paper Trail for Israel’s Bitterest Rival:

This chapter primarily records the genealogy of Esau, who became Edom — a hostile bloodline against which the later prophets Obadiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel would all pronounce scorching judgment over a millennium down the road for its perpetual hostility toward Israel (Obadiah 1:1–21⁠; Jeremiah 49:7–22⁠; Ezekiel 25:12–14⁠). Here in verse 3 (Genesis 36:3)⁠, the lines of Esau and Ishmael intertwine further through marriage. Esau’s line reaches nearly two millennia ahead into the Gospel narrative itself: the Herodian dynasty of the New Testament descends from the Idumeans, who themselves descended from Edom. That is only one branch of Esau’s tree, though. Church of God prophetic tradition tracks a separate, easternmost limb of Edom all the way into the Turks — a reading held with full conviction, but tradition all the same, never to be confused with the settled history of the Idumean line just traced here.

Why Esau’s Wives Carry Different Names:

Compare the lists. Back ten chapters earlier in Genesis 26:34⁠, the narrative named Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. Then eight chapters back in Genesis 28:9⁠, Moses recorded Esau adding Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael. Genesis 36:2–3 names Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah, granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Basemath, daughter of Ishmael. The names don’t line up cleanly, but that is not a contradiction waiting to be exposed. People in the ancient world often carried more than one name, the way Esau himself is also called Edom and Jacob is also called Israel. Don’t build a contradiction on a list when the simplest explanation is that the same women went by more than one name.

4And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath gave birth to Reuel, 5and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

6Later, Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the people of his household, along with his livestock, all his other animals, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan, and he moved to a land far away from his brother Jacob. 7For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together; the land where they stayed could not support them because of their livestock. 8So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.

9This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the area of Mount Seir.

10These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

11The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12Additionally, Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, gave birth to Amalek. These are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.

Genesis 36:4–12 Commentary

Teman and Amalek — Job’s Friend and Israel’s Nemesis:

Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn, fathers Teman — from the Hebrew teman, meaning south or right hand, since an ancient Hebrew oriented himself facing east toward the rising sun. Down the corridor of Old Testament history in the poetic dialogues of the book of Job, his theological sparring partner, Eliphaz the Temanite (Job 2:11)⁠, traces his lineage directly to this Edomite clan. But look at who follows: Timna bears Amalek to Eliphaz — spawning the vicious desert predators against whom God would declare perpetual war over four centuries later in the wilderness “from generation to generation” (Exodus 17:14–16)⁠, and whom King Saul was commanded to eradicate nearly a thousand years down the road (1 Samuel 15:2–9)⁠.

Amalek’s Line Runs All the Way to Haman:

Over four centuries later, in a future wilderness prophecy, Balaam will give Amalek a notorious title: “first among the nations” (Numbers 24:20)⁠. Looking ahead to the Exodus, Amalek will be the very first enemy nation to launch a cowardly ambush on Israel from behind (Exodus 17:8–16)⁠, which is why Moses over four centuries later will command Israel never to blot out the memory of what Amalek did (Deuteronomy 25:17–19)⁠. Nearly a thousand years later during the monarchy, that blood feud will continue: King Saul will fail by sparing Agag the Amalekite king in 1 Samuel 15, and fourteen centuries down the road in the Persian exile, the book of Esther will introduce the villain Haman as “the Agagite” (Esther 3:1)⁠, a royal descendant of that same Amalekite line seeking to exterminate the Jewish people. The long, bloody warfare between Amalek and Israel begins right here in Esau’s family tree.

13These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

14These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah (daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon) whom she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

15These are the chiefs among the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. They are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom, and they are the grandsons of Adah.

17These are the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom, and they are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

18These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. They are the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

19All these are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and they were their chiefs.

The Descendants of Seir (1 Chronicles 1:38–42)

20These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. They are the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants of Seir in the land of Edom.

22The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Timna was Lotan’s sister.

23These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

24These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. (This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.)

25These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

26These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

27These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

28These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

29These are the chiefs of the Horites: Chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. They are the chiefs of the Horites, according to their divisions in the land of Seir.

Genesis 36:20–30 Commentary

Dispossessing the Horites — A Blueprint for Canaan:

Genesis 36:20–30 lists the sons and chiefs of Seir the Horite, “who were living in the land” before Esau’s family arrived. The Horites aren’t a footnote. Way back twenty-two chapters earlier in Genesis 14:6⁠, the eastern kings defeated them in their hill country of Seir, while over four centuries later Moses would record on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy 2:12 and 2:22 that the sons of Esau drove them out and took their place, just as Israel would eventually do to the nations of Canaan. In that same discourse, Deuteronomy 2 illustrates that identical pattern with the Emim and Zamzummim, the tall Rephaim whom Moab and Ammon displaced (Deuteronomy 2:10–11, 20–21)⁠: God gave each branch of Abraham’s kin their own territory by clearing out the giant clans before them.

Uz Links the Horite Genealogy to the Land of Job:

Uz, Dishan’s son (Genesis 36:28)⁠, shares his name with the land of Job, and over thirteen centuries later Jeremiah’s mournful pen in Lamentations 4:21 explicitly locates Uz in the territory of Edom — reinforcing the Uz-and-Job connection first highlighted fourteen chapters earlier back in Genesis 22:21⁠.

The Kings of Edom (1 Chronicles 1:43–54)

31These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:

32Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

33When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.

34When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

35When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad (who defeated Midian in the country of Moab) reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith.

36When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.

37When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place.

38When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned in his place.

39When Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, Hadad reigned in his place. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab.

Genesis 36:31–39 Commentary

Kingship Was Promised, So Moses Isn’t Guessing:

The statement that these monarchs reigned in Edom “before any king reigned over the Israelites” reflects Moses writing from his historical vantage point in the wilderness. On one hand, royal lineages were already explicitly guaranteed to the patriarchs generations earlier, promised to Abraham (Genesis 17:6) and reaffirmed to Jacob (Genesis 35:11)⁠; Moses knew with absolute certainty that Israel was destined to have a king. On the other hand, Moses could also be referencing Israel’s centuries-long experience under foreign imperial rule, where the king of Egypt — Pharaoh himself — exercised royal dominion over the Israelites prior to the Exodus. In either case, Edom established a centralized dynastic monarchy long before Israel possessed a sovereign king of their own.

40These are the names of Esau’s chiefs, according to their families and regions, by their names: Chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43Magdiel, and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. Esau was the father of the Edomites.