36 Now this is the history of the descendants of Esau, that is, Edom.
2 Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon the Hivite,
3 And Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth.
4 Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel;
5 And Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau born to him in Canaan.
6 Now Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle, all his beasts, and all his possessions which he had obtained in the land of Canaan, and he went into a land away from his brother Jacob.
7 For their great flocks and herds and possessions [which they had collected] made it impossible for them to dwell together; the land in which they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock.
8 So Esau dwelt in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.
9 And this is the history of the descendants of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.
10 These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, Esau’s wife, and Reuel, the son of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
12 And Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son; and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.
13 These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
14 And these are the sons of Oholibamah daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon, Esau’s wife. She bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
15 These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah.
17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah. These are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
18 These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the chiefs born of Oholibamah daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.
19 These are the sons of Esau, that is, Edom, and these are their chiefs.
20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the [a]Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.
22 The sons of Lotan are Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister is Timna.
23 The sons of Shobal are these: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24 These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father.
25 The children of Anah are these: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah [Esau’s wife].
26 These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
27 Ezer’s sons are these: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 The sons of Dishan are these: Uz and Aran.
29 The Horite chiefs are these: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
30 Dishon, Ezer, Dishan. These are the Horite chiefs, according to their clans, in the land of Seir.
31 And these are the kings who reigned in Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:
32 Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom. And the name of his city was Dinhabah.
33 Now Bela died, and Jobab son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
34 Then Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.
35 And Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his stead. The name of his [enclosed] city was Avith.
36 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah succeeded him.
37 Then Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the river [Euphrates] reigned in his stead.
38 And Shaul died, and Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
39 Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, and then Hadar reigned. His [enclosed] city was Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
40 And these are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and places of residence, by their names: Chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,
41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
43 Magdiel, and Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom [that is, of Esau the father of the Edomites], according to their dwelling places in their land.
Footnotes
- Genesis 36:21 Because of the similarity of the word ‘Horites’ to a Hebrew word for “cave,” the term Horite was formerly interpreted as “cave dweller.” But later archaeological discoveries have shown that the Horites are not to be explained as cave dwellers, but are to be identified with an important group in the Near East in patriarchal times (J. P. Free, Archaeology and Bible History). In fact, neither the Bible nor archaeology has any proof of aboriginal “cavemen.” Cities of great antiquity have been unearthed with ever-increasing evidence that “when civilization appears it is already fully grown,” and “pre-Semitic culture springs into view ready-made” (Hall, History of the Near East).