1 Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
Whenever we hear about Edomites later in the Bible, we know they are descendants of Esau.
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;
Note that Aholibamah’s mother is her parent mentioned.
3 And Bashemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
4 And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;
At this point two of Esau’s wives have had one son each.
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.
This wife had three sons.
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.
Evidently he felt crowded once Jacob finally made it to Canaan.
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.
8 Thus lived Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.
9 And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:
It is possible we have changed authors here.
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.
11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.
Esau had five grandsons through Eliphaz, son of his primary wife.
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.
Eliphaz’ slave wife had one son.
Amalek fathered the Amalakites who gave Israel a lot of trouble and may have been the Hyksos that ruled Egypt for a while.
13 And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau’s wife.
Esau had four grandsons through his son Reuel.
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.
Aholibamah had her three sons, but it isn’t telling us her grandsons at this point.
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,
“Duke” is an English term. It means chief. Esau’s sons became many tribes.
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.
Esau’s wife Adah was the ancestor of seven notable men (by the time of this writing, probably close to the time Jacob went to Egypt).
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.
Bashemath was the ancestor of four notable men.
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.
Aholibama was the ancestor of three notable men.
19 These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.
20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,
The Bible doesn’t tell us who Seir is, but legend says he was the great-grandson of Canaan. So these would be the people already in the country of Seir when Esau arrived.
21 And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
22 And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna.
Verse 12 told us that Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son. She was the mother of the Amalekites.
23 And the children of Shobal were these; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
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.
Sounds like an interesting story. Wish we had more of it. Mules are a cross between a donkey and a horse. They are almost always infertile.
Anah is the name of Esau’s wife, Aholibamah’s mother.
25 And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
So the mule-finder is one of Esau’s mother-in-laws.
26 And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
27 The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.
28 The children of Dishan are these; Uz, and Aran.
29 These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,
30 Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.
31 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
32 And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
33 And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
34 And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead.
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.
This Bedad killed the man Midian and took his kingdom.
Midian was the fourth son of Abraham by Keturah.
Moab was Lot's son by his daughter.
So, evidently Abraham's son was visiting his great-nephew Moab and Bedad came along and killed him and became king of his people.
36 And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.
37 And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-river reigned in his stead.
38 And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
39 And 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.
Again, a mother is listed instead of a father.
It is easier in genealogies to focus on either the mother-line or the father-line, not both. That is just too hard to keep track of. Since most women don’t really care, and most women have the same tremendous achievement (raising the next generation), the father line is generally used. Once in a while, though, a mom needs to be thrown in there to explain things.
Unfortunately, we aren’t told why it’s significant that Matred be listed instead of her husband. It's probably an interesting story.
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,
41 Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
42 Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,
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.
This is the end of the history of Esau. We do hear the occasional mention of Edomites later,
Whenever we hear about Edomites later in the Bible, we know they are descendants of Esau.
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;
Note that Aholibamah’s mother is her parent mentioned.
3 And Bashemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
4 And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;
At this point two of Esau’s wives have had one son each.
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.
This wife had three sons.
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.
Evidently he felt crowded once Jacob finally made it to Canaan.
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.
8 Thus lived Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.
9 And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:
It is possible we have changed authors here.
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.
11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.
Esau had five grandsons through Eliphaz, son of his primary wife.
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.
Eliphaz’ slave wife had one son.
Amalek fathered the Amalakites who gave Israel a lot of trouble and may have been the Hyksos that ruled Egypt for a while.
13 And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau’s wife.
Esau had four grandsons through his son Reuel.
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.
Aholibamah had her three sons, but it isn’t telling us her grandsons at this point.
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,
“Duke” is an English term. It means chief. Esau’s sons became many tribes.
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.
Esau’s wife Adah was the ancestor of seven notable men (by the time of this writing, probably close to the time Jacob went to Egypt).
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.
Bashemath was the ancestor of four notable men.
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.
Aholibama was the ancestor of three notable men.
19 These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.
20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,
The Bible doesn’t tell us who Seir is, but legend says he was the great-grandson of Canaan. So these would be the people already in the country of Seir when Esau arrived.
21 And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
22 And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna.
Verse 12 told us that Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son. She was the mother of the Amalekites.
23 And the children of Shobal were these; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
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.
Sounds like an interesting story. Wish we had more of it. Mules are a cross between a donkey and a horse. They are almost always infertile.
Anah is the name of Esau’s wife, Aholibamah’s mother.
25 And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
So the mule-finder is one of Esau’s mother-in-laws.
26 And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
27 The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.
28 The children of Dishan are these; Uz, and Aran.
29 These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,
30 Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.
31 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
32 And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
33 And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
34 And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead.
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.
This Bedad killed the man Midian and took his kingdom.
Midian was the fourth son of Abraham by Keturah.
Moab was Lot's son by his daughter.
So, evidently Abraham's son was visiting his great-nephew Moab and Bedad came along and killed him and became king of his people.
36 And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.
37 And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-river reigned in his stead.
38 And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
39 And 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.
Again, a mother is listed instead of a father.
It is easier in genealogies to focus on either the mother-line or the father-line, not both. That is just too hard to keep track of. Since most women don’t really care, and most women have the same tremendous achievement (raising the next generation), the father line is generally used. Once in a while, though, a mom needs to be thrown in there to explain things.
Unfortunately, we aren’t told why it’s significant that Matred be listed instead of her husband. It's probably an interesting story.
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,
41 Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
42 Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,
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.
This is the end of the history of Esau. We do hear the occasional mention of Edomites later,