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Genesis 36

¹Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.

²Esau 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;

³And Bashemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth.

⁴And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;

⁵And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these are the sons of Esau, which were born unto him in the land of Canaan.

⁶And 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.

⁷For 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.

⁸Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.

⁹And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:

¹⁰These 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.

¹¹And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.

¹²And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau's wife.

¹³And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife.

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,

¹⁶Duke 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.

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.

²⁰These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,

²¹And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.

²²And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.

²³And the children of Shobal were these; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.

²⁶And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.

²⁷The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.

²⁸The children of Dishan are these; Uz, and Aran.

²⁹These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,

³⁰Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.

³¹And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

³²And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

³³And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.

³⁴And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead.

³⁵And 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.

³⁶And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.

³⁷And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.

³⁸And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.

³⁹And Baalhanan 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.

⁴⁰And 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,

⁴¹Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,

⁴²Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,

⁴³Duke 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.

on Genesis 36

You Can Go Home Again

Moving from Genesis 34 to Genesis 35 is like going from a desert to a garden or from an emergency room to a wedding reception. The atmosphere in Genesis 35 is one of faith and obedience, and the emphasis is on cleansing and renewal. God is mentioned ten times in chapter 35, and He used His name El Shaddai, which means “God Almighty, the all-sufficient One.” Best of all, in chapter 35 you see God’s pilgrims making progress and arriving at the place of God’s appointment.

However, Jacob’s new step of faith didn’t prevent him from experiencing new problems and trials. During this period of renewal, Jacob buried both his father and his favorite wife, and to add burden to bereavement, his firstborn son committed a terrible sin. Being a victorious Christian doesn’t mean escaping the difficulties of life and enjoying only carefree days. Rather, it means walking with God by faith, knowing that He is with us, and trusting Him to help us for our good and His glory no matter what difficulties He permits to come our way. The maturing Christian doesn’t pray, “How can I get out of this?” but “What can I get out of this?”

Let’s note the new things that came into Jacob’s life.

A new standing

More than twenty years before, Isaac thought he was going to die (24:1–4), but death didn’t come until he was one hundred and eighty years old. He lived the longest of all the patriarchs and yet less is recorded about his life than about his father, his sons, and his grandson Joseph.

We trust that Isaac and Jacob experienced a complete reconciliation and that the old patriarch died “full of years” as did his father (25:8). Esau came from Mount Seir to pay his respects to his father and to assist Isaac in burying him in the cave of Machpelah (49:29–32). Esau was a man of the world and not a child of the covenant, but he was still Isaac’s son and Jacob’s brother, and he had every right to be there. Death is a human experience that brings human pain to our hearts, and caring for the dead is a responsibility for all the family—believers and unbelievers.

But Isaac’s death changed Jacob’s status: He was now the head of the family and the heir of the covenant blessings. He not only acquired Isaac’s great wealth, but he also inherited all that was involved in the Abrahamic covenant. His God would be known as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

There’s quite a contrast between the record of Jacob’s family in 35:23–26, listing four wives and twelve sons, and the long list of people who belonged to Esau, recorded in chapter 36.

There are six lists of names, including sons (vv. 1–14, 20–28), chiefs (vv. 15–19, 29–30, 40–43), and kings (vv. 31–39); and there appears to be duplication. (Compare vv. 10–14 with 15–19, and 20–28 with 29–30.) Esau had his share of material blessings, but Jacob possessed the covenant blessings from the Lord.

Genesis 36 is a long chapter containing many names, but it’s the end of the story as far as Esau is concerned! The Edomites are named in the Old Testament only because they’re a part of the story of Israel. “Esau” and “Edom,” the avowed enemies of the Jews, are mentioned over two hundred times in the Bible, but “Jacob” and “Israel” are found over two thousand times! Esau’s son Eliphaz was the father of Amalek, and the Amalekites were also Israel’s enemies (Ex. 17:8–16; Num. 14:39–45; Deut. 25:1719; 1 Sam. 15).

Genesis 37 takes up the story, not of Esau, but of Jacob! “These are the generations of Jacob” (v. 2) is the tenth occasion for a “generation” statement in Genesis, and it introduces the story of Jacob’s favorite son, Joseph. With all their weaknesses and faults, the sons of Jacob will carry on the work of God on earth and fulfill the covenant promises God made to Abraham.