Genesis 36.9-30-The Sons and Chiefs of Esau to the Third Generation and the Horites of Seir
Wednesday October 18, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 36:9-30-The Sons and Chiefs of Esau to the Third Generation and the Horites of Seir
Lesson # 223
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 36:1.
Last evening we studied Genesis 36:1-8, which presents the title for the ninth major section in the book of Genesis as well as Esau’s genealogy or family history and his exodus from Canaan and his move to Seir.
This evening we will study Genesis 36:9-30, which concerns itself with the sons and chiefs of Esau to the third generation as well as the Horites of Seir.
As we emphasized last evening, even though Genesis 36 may appear boring to read but to the serious student of the Word of God, it furnishes valuable information.
Remember what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
The purpose of the genealogies in Genesis 36 is seven-fold:
(1) To demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness in fulfilling His promise to Abraham that he would be “the father of a multitude of nations” (See Genesis 17:4).
(2) To demonstrate the partial fulfillment of God's promises to both Abraham and to Jacob that kings would come from them (Abraham-See Genesis 17:6 and 16; Jacob-See Genesis 35:11).
(3) To demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness in fulfilling His prophecies concerning Esau and his descendants, which are recorded in Genesis 25:23 and 27:39-40.
(4) To provide the nation of Israel the origins of her great enemies, namely, the Edomites (See Genesis 36:8) and the Amalekites (See Genesis 36:12).
(5) To insure that the Lord’s command that appears in Deuteronomy 2:4-5 to spare the descendants of Esau in the land of Seir would not be disobeyed.
(6) To demonstrate that the Lord Jesus Christ controls history and is sovereign over the nations (See Deuteronomy 32:1-8; Psalm 66:7; Isaiah 40:15-17; Acts 17:26; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Timothy 6:15).
(7) To present the distinction between the covenant people of God, the nation of Israel that was established based upon faith in the promises of Yahweh, the Lord Jesus Christ and the nation of Edom, which was based upon unbelief.
Genesis 36:1, “Now these are the records of the generations of Esau (`esaw [wc*u@], “hairy”) (that is, Edom [`edhom] [sw)da$] [ed-ome], “red”).”
Genesis 36:2-3, “Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite, also Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.”
Genesis 36:4-5, “Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel, and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.”
Genesis 36:6, “Then Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all his household, and his livestock and all his cattle and all his goods which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land away from his brother Jacob.”
Genesis 36:7, “For their property had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they sojourned could not sustain them because of their livestock.”
Genesis 36:8, “So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.”
Genesis 36:9, “These then are the records of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.”
A comparison of the statement “These then are the records of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites” that appears in Genesis 36:9 with the statement “Esau is Edom” that appears in Genesis 36:8 indicates an advance in status of Esau from an individual person to a nation.
Genesis 36:10, “These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Esau's wife Adah, Reuel the son of Esau's wife Basemath.”
The sequence of Esau’s wives is presented according to the descending number of children and so Adah is listed first because she bore to Esau five children who is then followed in Genesis 36:13 by Basemath who bore to Esau four children and then lastly, Oholibamah, in Genesis 36:14 who bore three children.
Genesis 36:11-14 presents the grandsons of Esau through his five sons.
Genesis 36:11, “The sons of Eliphaz were Teman (teman [/mT] [tay-mawn], “south country”), Omar (`omar [rmw)a] [o-mawr], “eloquent”), Zepho (tsepho [w)px+] [tsef-o], “watchtower”) and Gatam (ga`tam [<T*u+G^] [gah-tawm], “a burnt valley”) and Kenaz (qonaz [zn^q(] [ken-az], “hunter”).”
Genesis 36:12, “Timna (timna` [un^m+T!] [tim-naw], “restrained”) was a concubine of Esau's son Eliphaz and she bore Amalek (`amaleq [ql@m*u&] [am-aw-lake], “dweller in a valley”) to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Esau's wife Adah.”
The statement “These are the sons of Esau’s wife Adah” does “not” refer to the children that Esau had with Adah but rather it refers to his grandchildren through his wife Adah since the children listed were fathered by his son Eliphaz who Adah bore to Esau.
In the Hebrew and Aramaic languages there is no specific word for grandson so that the word “son” can refer to any descendant down the line.
Genesis 36:12 is “parenthetical” since it deals with Esau’s concubine, Timna who bore to him, Amalek.
As we noted earlier, when the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River to possess the land of Canaan and to annihilate the Canaanites, the Edomites, the descendants of Esau were not to be attacked according to Deuteronomy 2:1-5.
However, the descendants of Amalek, the Amalekites did not come under this protection since he was a child of a concubine.
The Amalekites were a warlike tribe, living south of Canaan on the road to the land of Canaan and when Israel did journey to Canaan, they stood against Israel to war.
This first military confrontation was memorable because Aaron and Hur held Moses’ arms up as he held the rod of God so that Joshua and the Israelite army could defeat the Amalekites (See Exodus 17:8-16).
Exodus 17:8-16 records God declaring war on the Amalekites “from generation to generation.”
Israelite armies fought them in both Saul (See 1 Samuel 15:2) and David’s reign (See 1 Samuel 27:8; 30:1-20) and they were eventually destroyed during the reign of Hezekiah (See 1 Chronicles 4:43).
Genesis 36:13, “These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath (nachath [tj^n^] [nakh-ath], “rest”) and Zerah (zerach [jr^z#] [zeh-rakh], “rising”), Shammah (shammah [hMv^] [sham-maw], “astonishment”) and Mizzah (mizzah [hZm!] [miz-zaw], “fear”). These were the sons of Esau's wife Basemath.”
The statement “These are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath” does “not” refer to the children that Esau had with Basemath but rather it refers to his grandchildren through his wife Basemath since the children listed were fathered by his son Reuel who Basemath bore to Esau.
Genesis 36:14, “These were the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon: she bore to Esau, Jeush (ye`ish, [vyu!y+] [yeh-oosh], “helper”) and Jalam (ya`lam [<l*u+y^] [yaw-lawm], “concealed” and Korah (qorach [jr^q)] [ko-rahk], “bald head”).”
The statement “These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah” does refer to the children that Esau had with Oholibamah and not his grandchildren.
The reason for this is that this statement echoes the statement in Genesis 36:5, “Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah,” which appears in the context of the sons Esau fathered through his wives Adah, Basemath and Oholibamah in the land of Canaan.
The following is a chart detailing Esau’s nine “grandsons” and three “sons”:
Genesis 36:15-18 presents a list of chiefs that descended from Esau, who were of course, his grandsons.
Genesis 36:15-16, “These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, are chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.”
The statement “These are the sons of Adah” does “not” mean that the chiefs listed were sons Adah bore to Esau but rather to her grandchildren since they are said to be sons of Eliphaz who she bore to Esau.
The name “Korah” appears as a tribal chief under Eliphaz who was the son of Adah and it also appears under Oholibamah since the list of chiefs descending from Esau reflects the political development of Edomite tribal history.
Therefore, “Korah” appears as a tribal chief under Eliphaz in order to reflect the fact that the Korahites split off from the Oholibamah group and attached itself to the Eliphaz confederation.
Also, “Amalek” is included among the tribal chiefs descending from Esau under Eliphaz whereas he is not included in the list of Esau’s grandsons because he was a child of a concubine, “Timna.”
The reason for this is also to reflect the political development of Edomite tribal history and so the tribe of Amalek also incorporated itself into the Eliphaz confederation.
Furthermore, the name of Eliphaz’ concubine, Timna, is given but his primary wife is not and the reason for this is because of the future prominence of her son, Amalek, who became the ancestor of the infamous Amalekites, who were perpetual enemies of the nation of Israel.
The statement “These are the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom” means that these seven sons of Eliphaz were “not” born in the land of Canaan, like Esau’s five sons but rather they were born in the land of Edom.
Genesis 36:17, “These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Esau's wife Basemath.”
The statement “These are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath” does “not” mean that the four chiefs listed were sons Basemath bore to Esau but rather they refer to her grandchildren since they are said to be sons of Reuel who she bore to Esau.
The statement “These are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom” means that these four sons of Reuel were “not” born in the land of Canaan, like Esau’s five sons but rather they were born in the land of Edom.
Genesis 36:18, “These are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These are the chiefs descended from Esau's wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.”
The statement “These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah” does refer to the children that Esau had with Oholibamah and not grandchildren.
The reason for this is that the statement echoes the statement in Genesis 36:5, “Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah,” which appears in the context of the sons Esau fathered through his wives.
Genesis 36:19, “These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.”
The statement “These are the sons of Esau (that is Edom)” refers to Esau’s grandchildren through his sons Eliphaz and Reuel (See Genesis 36:15-17) and his sons through his wife Oholibamah (See Genesis 36:18), all of which became chiefs of tribes according to the statement “These are their chiefs.”
The following is a chart detailing the chiefs descending from Esau:
The genealogy recorded in Genesis 36:20-30 is a “segmented” genealogy, which is bracketed by a list of seven identical Horite chiefs in Seir (36:20-21, 29-30).
When I say “segmented” genealogy I mean that the genealogy, which appears in Genesis 36:20-30 displays the existing relations between individuals who trace their lineage back to Seir, the Horite.
The genealogy presents seven sons and one daughter of Seir the Horite (36:20-22) and extends to twenty sons of the third generation (36:21-28).
The conclusion identifies the seven sons of the first generation as chiefs.
Esau either destroys (See Deuteronomy 2:22) or marries (See Genesis 36:20, 22, 25) these aboriginal inhabitants of Seir.
Genesis 36:20-21, “These are the sons of Seir (se`ir [ryu!C@] [say-eer], “hairy”) the Horite (chori [yr!j)] [kho-ree], “cave dweller”), the inhabitants of the land: Lotan (lotan [f*w)l] [lo-tawn], “covering”) and Shobal (shoval [lB^w)v] [show-vawl], “flowing”) and Zibeon (tsiv`on [w)ub+x!] [tsiv-one], “colored”) and Anah (`adhah [hdu] [aw-daw], “ornament”), and Dishon (dishon [v*yD!] [dee-shown], “thresher”) and Ezer (`etser [rx#a@] [ay-tser], “treasure”) and Dishan (dishan [cy)D!] [dee-shawn]. “thresher”). These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.”
The name “Seir” is “eponymous” meaning that it refers to an historical person whose name is the source of the name of a geographical area, which was a mountainous region, located primarily east of the Gulf of Aqaba, but west as well.
“The land of Edom” mentioned in Genesis 36:21 is synonymous with the “land of Seir” mentioned in Genesis 36:30.
“The Horites” were mentioned in Genesis 14:6 as being defeated by the Eastern Mesopotamian Coalition in the days of Abraham and were cave dwellers and Esau either destroys (See Deuteronomy 2:22) or marries (See Genesis 36:20, 22, 25) them.
“The Horites” were rather disorganized until Esau came in and brought them together and gave them leadership and united them with his people and as a result they intermarried and together became the Edomites.
Genesis 36:22, “The sons of Lotan were Hori (chori [yr!j)] [kho-ree], “cave dweller”) and Hemam (hemam [<m*yh@] [ho-mawm], “confusion”); and Lotan's sister was Timna (Eliphaz’ concubine-See Genesis 36:12).”
Genesis 36:23, “These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan (`alwan [/wl+u^] [al-vawn], “tall”) and Manahath (manachath [tj^n^m] [maw-nakh-ath], “tall”) and Ebal (`eval [lbyu@] [ay-vawl], “stone”), Shepho (shepho [w)pv+] [shef-o], “bold”) and Onam (`onam [<nw)a] [o-nawm], “vigorous”).”
Genesis 36:24, “These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah (`ayah [hYa^] [ah-yaw], “falcon”) and Anah (`adhah [hdu*] [aw-daw], “ornament”) -- he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.”
The statement that Anah “found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon” is the only anecdote in this genealogy, distinguishing Anah from his uncle of the same name who is mentioned in Genesis 36:20 and 25.
Hot springs are still found southeast of the Dead Sea in Edomite territory.
Genesis 36:25, “These are the children of Anah: Dishon (dishon [/vyD!] [dee-shown], “thresher”), and Oholibamah (`oh-livamah [hmbyl!h&a] [o-hol-ee-baw-maw], “tent of the high place”), the daughter of Anah.”
Genesis 36:26, “These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan (chemdan [tw)dm%j&] [khem-dawn], “desire”) and Eshban (`Eshban [P*v+a#] [esh-bawn], “fire of discernment, intelligent, thoughtful”) and Ithran (yithran [rt+y!] [yith-rawn], “advantage”) and Cheran (keran [/rK+] [ker-awn], “lyre”).”
Genesis 36:27, “These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan (bilhan [h*l+B!] [bil-hawn], “their decrepitude”) and Zaavan (za`awan [wu&z^] [zah-av-awn], “troubled”) and Akan (`aqan [/qu&] [aw-kawn], “sharp-sighted”).”
Genesis 36:28, “These are the sons of Dishan: Uz (`uts [JWu] [oots], “wooded”) and Aran (`aran [/r*a&] [aw-rawn], “joyous”).”
Genesis 36:29-30, “These are the chiefs descended from the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, according to their various chiefs in the land of Seir.”