Genesis 36
New English Translation
The Descendants of Esau
36 What follows is the account of Esau (also known as Edom).[a]
2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites:[b] Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter[c] of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 in addition to Basemath the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went to a land some distance away from[d] Jacob his brother 7 because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together, and the land where they had settled[e] was not able to support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau (also known as Edom) lived in the hill country of Seir.[f]
9 This is the account of Esau, the father[g] of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.
10 These were the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.
11 These were the sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
12 Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons[h] of Esau’s wife Adah.
13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons[i] of Esau’s wife Basemath.
14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter[j] of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.
15 These were the chiefs[k] among the descendants[l] of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, 16 chief Korah,[m] chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons[n] of Adah.
17 These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons[o] of Esau’s wife Basemath.
18 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
19 These were the sons of Esau (also known as Edom), and these were their chiefs.
20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite,[p] who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants[q] of Seir in the land of Edom.
22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam;[r] Lotan’s sister was Timna.
23 These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho,[s] and Onam.
24 These were the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah (who discovered the hot springs[t] in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon).
25 These were the children[u] of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
26 These were the sons of Dishon:[v] Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.
27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
29 These were the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, 30 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chief lists in the land of Seir.
31 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites:[w]
32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.
33 When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.
34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.
35 When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.
36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.
37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the River[x] reigned in his place.
38 When Shaul died, Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
39 When Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad[y] reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau.[z] His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.
40 These were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, 41 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, 42 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, 43 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements[aa] in the land they possessed. This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.
Footnotes
- Genesis 36:1 sn Chapter 36 records what became of Esau. It will list both his actual descendants as well as the people he subsumed under his tribal leadership, people who were aboriginal Edomites. The chapter is long and complicated (see further J. R. Bartlett, “The Edomite King-List of Genesis 36:31-39 and 1 Chronicles 1:43-50, ” JTS 16 [1965]: 301-14; and W. J. Horowitz, “Were There Twelve Horite Tribes?” CBQ 35 [1973]: 69-71). In the format of the Book of Genesis, the line of Esau is “tidied up” before the account of Jacob is traced (37:2). As such the arrangement makes a strong contrast with Jacob. As F. Delitzsch says, “secular greatness in general grows up far more rapidly than spiritual greatness” (New Commentary on Genesis, 2:238). In other words, the progress of the world far out distances the progress of the righteous who are waiting for the promise.
- Genesis 36:2 tn Heb “from the daughters of Canaan.”
- Genesis 36:2 tn Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24-25.
- Genesis 36:6 tn Heb “from before.”
- Genesis 36:7 tn Heb “land of their settlements.”
- Genesis 36:8 tn Traditionally “Mount Seir,” but in this case the expression בְּהַר שֵׂעִיר (behar seʿir) refers to the hill country or highlands of Seir.
- Genesis 36:9 sn The term father in genealogical records needs to be carefully defined. It can refer to a literal father, a grandfather, a political overlord, or a founder.
- Genesis 36:12 tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
- Genesis 36:13 tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
- Genesis 36:14 tn Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24-25.
- Genesis 36:15 tn Or “clan leaders” (so also throughout this chapter).
- Genesis 36:15 tn Or “sons.”
- Genesis 36:16 tc Smr omits the name “Korah” (see v. 11 and 1 Chr 1:36).
- Genesis 36:16 tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
- Genesis 36:17 tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
- Genesis 36:20 sn The same pattern of sons, grandsons, and chiefs is now listed for Seir the Horite. “Seir” is both the name of the place and the name of the ancestor of these tribes. The name “Horite” is probably not to be identified with “Hurrian.” The clan of Esau settled in this area, intermarried with these Horites and eventually dispossessed them, so that they all became known as Edomites (Deut 2:12 telescopes the whole development).
- Genesis 36:21 tn Or “sons.”
- Genesis 36:22 tn Heb “Hemam”; this is probably a variant spelling of “Homam” (1 Chr 1:39); cf. NRSV, NLT “Heman.”
- Genesis 36:23 tn This name is given as “Shephi” in 1 Chr 1:40.
- Genesis 36:24 tn The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain; Syriac reads “water” and Vulgate reads “hot water.”
- Genesis 36:25 tn Heb “sons,” but since a daughter is included in the list, the word must be translated “children.”
- Genesis 36:26 tn Heb “Dishan,” but this must be either a scribal error or variant spelling, since “Dishan” is mentioned in v. 28 (see also v. 21).
- Genesis 36:31 tn Or perhaps “before any Israelite king ruled over [them].”
- Genesis 36:37 tn Typically the Hebrew expression “the River” refers to the Euphrates River, but it is not certain whether that is the case here. Among the modern English versions which take this as a reference to the Euphrates are NASB, NCV, NRSV, CEV, NLT. Cf. NAB, TEV “Rehoboth-on-the-River.”
- Genesis 36:39 tc Most mss of the MT read “Hadar” here; “Hadad” is the reading found in some Hebrew mss, Smr, and Syriac (cf. also 1 Chr 1:50).
- Genesis 36:39 tn The name of the city is given as “Pai” in 1 Chr 1:50.
- Genesis 36:43 tn Or perhaps “territories”; Heb “dwelling places.”
Genesis 36
Common English Bible
Esau’s descendants
36 These are the descendants of Esau, that is, Edom. 2 Esau married Canaanite women: Adah the daughter of the Hittite Elon; Oholibamah the daughter of Anah son of the Hittite Zibeon,[a] 3 and Basemath the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. 4 Adah gave birth to Eliphaz for Esau, Basemath gave birth to Reuel, 5 and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are Esau’s sons born to him in the land of Canaan.
6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and everyone in his household, and his livestock, all of his animals, and all of the property he had acquired in the land of Canaan; and he moved away from the land of Canaan[b] and from his brother Jacob. 7 They had so many possessions that they couldn’t live together. The land where they lived as immigrants couldn’t support all of their livestock. 8 So Esau, that is, Edom, lived in the mountains of Seir.
9 These are the descendants of Esau, the ancestor of Edom, which lies in the mountains of Seir. 10 These are the names of Edom’s sons: Eliphaz son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel son of Esau’s wife Basemath. 11 Eliphaz’s sons were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 Timna was the secondary wife of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she gave birth to Amalek for Eliphaz. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Adah. 13 These are Reuel’s sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. 14 These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, Zibeon’s son:[c] she gave birth to Esau, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
15 These are the tribal chiefs from Esau’s sons. The sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s oldest son: Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz, 16 Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These are the tribal chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; they are Adah’s sons. 17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These are the tribal chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. 18 These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: Chief Jeush, Chief Jalam, and Chief Korah. They are the tribal chiefs of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. 19 These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their tribal chiefs.
20 These are the sons of Seir, the Horite, who live in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the Horite tribal chiefs, Seir’s sons, in the land of Edom. 22 Lotan’s sons are Hori and Heman, and Lotan’s sister was Timna. 23 These are Shobal’s sons: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24 These are Zibeon’s sons: Aiah and Anah. Anah is the one who found water[d] in the desert while pasturing his father Zibeon’s donkeys.
25 These are Anah’s children: Dishon and Anah’s daughter Oholibamah. 26 These are Dishon’s[e] sons: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 27 These are Ezer’s sons: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28 These are Dishan’s sons: Uz and Aran. 29 These are the Horite tribal chiefs: Chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the Horite tribal chiefs, listed according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.
31 These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before a king ruled over the Israelites. 32 Bela, Beor’s son, ruled in Edom; his city’s name was Dinhabah. 33 After Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah became king. 34 After Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites became king. 35 After Husham died, Hadad, Bedad’s son who defeated Midian in the countryside of Moab, became king; his city’s name was Avith. 36 After Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah became king. 37 After Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the river became king. 38 After Shaul died, Baal-hanan, Achbor’s son, became king. 39 After Baal-hanan, Achbor’s son, died, Hadar became king; his city’s name was Pau and his wife’s name was Mehetabel the daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Me-zahab.
40 These are the names of Esau’s tribal chiefs according to their families, their locations, and their names: Chief Timna, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth, 41 Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 42 Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, 43 Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These are Edom’s tribal chiefs according to their settlements in the land they possessed. This is Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites.
Footnotes
- Genesis 36:2 LXX, Sam, Syr; MT daughter
- Genesis 36:6 LXX, Sam; MT to a land
- Genesis 36:14 LXX, Sam, Syr; MT daughter
- Genesis 36:24 Syr; Heb uncertain
- Genesis 36:26 Sam, Syr; MT Dishan’s
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