This lesson begins in chapter 36 verse 1 of Genesis
Genesis 36:1 “Now these [are] the generations of Esau, who [is]
Edom.”
Genesis 36:2 “Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan;
Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of
Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;”
Genesis 36:3 “And Bashemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of
Nebajoth.”
You must remember that these wives, which Esau took, were not
pleasing to his family. These were women forbidden to the holy people.
Isaac and Rebekah were disappointed that their son had married these
Canaanite women.
Genesis 36:4 “And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare
Reuel;”
“Adah” means ornament, or beauty.
“Eliphaz” means God of gold, or God is fine gold.
“Bashemath” means fragrance.
“Reuel” means friend of God’s, or God is a friend.
Genesis 36:5 “And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah:
these [are] the sons of Esau, which were born unto him in the land of
Canaan.”
“Jeush” means collecter.
“Jaalam” means whom God hides.
“Korah” means baldness
Genesis 36:6 “And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his
daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all
his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of
Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.”
Genesis 36:7 “For their riches were more than that they might
dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not
bear them because of their cattle.”
At first glance, V-6 would indicate that these two brothers were
fighting again. In V-7, we see that this was not so. God had blessed
them both so abundantly, there was not enough grass for all the
animals to be fed. Esau decided to move and leave this area to Jacob.
Genesis 36:8 “Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau [is] Edom.”
Genesis 36:9 “And these [are] the generations of Esau the father
of the Edomites in mount Seir:”
Genesis 36:10 “These [are] the names of Esau’s sons; Eliphaz the
son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of
Esau.”
Genesis 36:11 “And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho,
and Gatam, and Kenaz.”
Not that it is important, but just take note in passing, “Gatam”
means penny.
Genesis 36:12 “And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau’s son; and
she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these [were] the sons of Adah Esau’s
wife.”
This Amalek was not the father of the Amalekites, because that
tribe was mentioned long before the birth of Amalek.
Genesis 36:13 “And these [are] the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and
Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau’s
wife.”
Genesis 36:14 “And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the
daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: and she bare to
Esau Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah.”
This was just another listing of Esau’s family.
Genesis 36:15 “These [were] dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons
of Eliphaz the firstborn [son] of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke
Zepho, duke Kenaz,”
Genesis 36:16 “Duke Korah, duke Gatam, [and] duke Amalek: these
[are] the dukes [that came] of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these
[were] the sons of Adah.”
Genesis 36:17 “And these [are] the sons of Reuel Esau’s son;
duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these [are] the
dukes [that came] of Reuel in the land of Edom; these [are] the sons
of Bashemath Esau’s wife.”
Genesis 36:18 “And these [are] the sons of Aholibamah Esau’s
wife; duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah: these [were] the dukes
[that came] of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.”
Genesis 36:19 “These [are] the sons of Esau, who [is] Edom, and
these [are] their dukes.”
Two important things to note in this. Dukes just meant tribal
leaders. Esau’s blessing from God had to do with blessing him on this
earth. The spiritual blessings came to Jacob. (Israel).
Genesis 36:20 “These [are] the sons of Seir the Horite, who
inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,”
Genesis 36:21 “And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these [are] the
dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.”
“Horite” means hole.
“Seir” means rugged.
“Lotan” means wrapping up.
“Shobal” means plowing.
“Dishon” means gazelle.
“Ezer” means treasure.
These Horite people lived in caves mostly. This was rugged
country. Perhaps, that is where the name came from. Aholibamah was a
Horite. Eliphaz’s concubine, Timna, was a Horite as well.
Genesis 36:22 “And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and
Lotan’s sister [was] Timna.”
Genesis 36:23 “And the children of Shobal [were] these; Alvan,
and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.”
Genesis 36:24 “And these [are] the children of Zibeon; both Ajah,
and Anah: this [was that] Anah that found the mules in the wilderness,
as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.”
“Ajah” means screamer.
“Anah” was the first father-in-law of Esau. This was the first
mentioin of mules.
Genesis 36:25 “And the children of Anah [were] these; Dishon, and
Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.”
Genesis 36:26 “And these [are] the children of Dishon; Hemdan,
and Esh-ban, and Ithran, and Cheran.”
Genesis 36:27 “The children of Ezer [are] these; Bilhan, and
Zaavan, and Akan.”
Genesis 36:28 “The children of Dishan [are] these; Uz, and Aran.”
Genesis 36:29 “These [are] the dukes [that came] of the Horites;
duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,”
Genesis 36:30 “Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these [are]
the dukes [that came] of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.”
Genesis 36:31 “And these [are] the kings that reigned in the
land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of
Israel.”
I believe all this Duke business has been to show us one thing
that was covered in this last sentence. The world had worldly rulers
over it’s people. Kings (earthly) to tell them what to do. The
Israelites were ruled by God alone. They had no earthly kings. We will
see more of this in the next few verses.
Genesis 36:32 “And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the
name of his city [was] Dinhabah.”
“Dinhabah” means concealment or little place.
Genesis 36:33 “And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of
Bozrah reigned in his stead.”
Genesis 36:34 “And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani
reigned in his stead.”
Genesis 36:35 “And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who
smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name
of his city [was] Avith.”
Genesis 36:36 “And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in
his stead.”
Genesis 36:37 “And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth [by] the
river reigned in his stead.”
Genesis 36:38 “And Saul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor
reigned in his stead.”
Genesis 36:39 “And Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar
reigned in his stead: and the name of his city [was] Pau; and his
wife’s name [was] Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of
Mezahab.”
Genesis 36:40 “And these [are] the names of the dukes [that came]
of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their
names; duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth,”
Genesis 36:41 “Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,”
Genesis 36:42 “Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,”
Genesis 36:43 “Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these [be] the dukes of
Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession:
he [is] Esau the father of the Edomites.”
It appears that this list, again, means that each of these men had
control of his tribe and were like kings.
We will begin in chapter 37 in the next lesson.