Decendants of Esau

Genesis 36:1–43
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The first eight verses give us details about Esau and his family; his wives who he chose from the women of Canaan (vv. 1-3), his sons (vv. 4-5), and his enormous wealth (vv. 6-8). Esau was Edom and the Edomites were his descendants. He had three wives, Adah, Oholibamah and Basemath (vv. 2-3). A careful reader might notice that these three wives’ names and family relations don’t quite match up with Esau’s three wives from earlier in Genesis (Gen. 26:34; 28:9). Either the others had died, or he favored these three among his six wives. Esau had five sons who were born in Canaan (v. 5) before he moved to the mountains of Seir (v. 8). He took his family, his possessions, all his cattle, and everything he had accumulated in Canaan and went to this land away from his brother Jacob. They did this because they had too many possessions to live together. There wasn’t enough pastureland for all their livestock (v. 7).

In the remainder of the chapter there is a shift from the family of Esau to the nation of Edom (vv. 9-43). The inhabitants of this land were the Horites who the Lord disposed before Esau took possession. It is not certain how the kings of Edom were related to Esau, but they were kings who reigned in Edom. This list of Edomite kings indicated an elective office, where the chiefs appeared with special attention to geographical and administrative divisions (vv. 40-43). These chiefs appear to have descended from Esau according to their families. Thus, Esau was a great and powerful overlord, the father of the Edomites (v. 43) over clans and regions (v. 40). Isaac’s promises to Esau were thus being fulfilled and by being away from Jacob he was shaking the yoke of his brother.

Application

Esau, like Lot, left for the East and greener pastures, which brought jealousy, and bitterness in the families. I need to be on guard to help prevent this from ever happening in my immediate family.