Chapter 36
List of the Clans Established in Edom.[a] 1 These are the descendants of Esau, that is, of Edom.
2 Esau married women from the daughters of the Canaanites: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, who was the son of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebaioth.
4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel. 5 Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born in the land of Canaan.
6 Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the people who were in his household, his flocks and all his animals and all his possessions that he acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went into the land of Seir, far from his brother Jacob. 7 Their possessions, in fact, were too extensive for them to live together, and the land in which they were living could not sustain the grazing of all their animals. 8 Esau thus dwelt in the mountains of Seir. Now Esau is Edom.
9 These are the descendants of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the mountains of Seir.
10 These are the names of the sons of Esau:
Eliphaz, the son of Adah who was the wife of Esau, and Reuel, the son of Basemath who was the wife of Esau.
11 The sons of Eliphaz:
Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
12 Eliphaz, the son of Esau, had a concubine named Timna, who bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Ada, the wife of Esau.
13 These are the sons of Reuel:
Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.
14 These are the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of Esau, the daughter of Anah, who was the son of Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau:
Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
15 These are the leaders of the clans of Esau’s descendants:
The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau:
Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek, all of them leaders of their clans. These were the leaders of the clans of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; they were the sons of Adah.
17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son:
Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah, all of them leaders of their clans. These were the leaders of the clans of Reuel in the land of Edom; they were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
18 These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife:
Jeush, Jalam, and Korah, all of them leaders of their clans. These were the leaders of the clans borne to Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and Esau’s wife.
19 Such are the sons of Esau, that is Edom, and such are the leaders of the clans.
20 These are the sons of Seir the Hittite who were living in the land:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the leaders of the clans of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.
22 The sons of Lotan:
Hori and Hemam. Lotan’s sister was Timna.
23 The sons of Shobal:
Alvan, Mahanath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24 The sons of Zibeon:
Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the desert when he was tending the donkeys of his father Zibeon.
25 The children of Anah:
Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
26 The sons of Dishon:
Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
27 The sons of Ezer:
Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 The sons of Dishan:
Uz and Aran.
29 These are the leaders of the clans of the Horites:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were all chiefs of the clans of the Horites, each according to their clans in the land of Seir.
31 These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before the kings of Israel ruled over them:
32 Bela, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom, and his city was called Dinhabah.
33 Bela died and his son Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place.
34 Jobab died and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.
35 Husham died and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the steppe of Moab, reigned in his place. His city was called Avith.
36 Hadad died and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.
37 Samlah died and Shaul of Rehoboth by the River ruled in his place.
38 Shaul died and Baal-hanan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his place.
39 Baal-hanan, son of Achbor, died and Hadar reigned in his place. His city was called Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel. She was the daughter of Matred from Mezahab.
40 These are the names of the leaders of Esau according to their clans, their lands, and their names:
Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholiba-mah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel and Iram. These were the leaders of Edom according to their dwelling places in the lands that they occupied.
This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.
Footnotes
- Genesis 36:1 The author has grouped together—without attempting to harmonize them in any way—teachings of diverse origins concerning the Edomites, that is, the line of Esau (v. 9ff) and the clans of the region of Seir that it occupied (v. 20ff). Deuteronomy affirms that the descendants of Esau replaced the indigenous peoples (Deut 2:12); rather both peoples seem to have been joined together: Esau marries a Horite (36:20) and one of his sons takes a concubine (vv. 12, 22). The Priestly tradition gave other names to the women of Esau (Gen 26:34; 28:9; see 36:1-5); it does this to explain in a different way the separation of Jacob and his brother (36:7; see Gen 33:12-17). But all these divergences are of little importance: it is solely a question of situating a fraternal people with respect to the people of Israel whom God has set apart for the salvation of humankind.