(Genesis 35:23 - 36:43)
The sons of Jacob (Israel) were now twelve in number:
The sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's eldest, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun
The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin
The sons of Bilhah, Rachels' handmaid: Dan and Naphtali
The sons of Leah's handmaid, Zilpah: Gad and Asher
These were the sons of Jacob born to him in Aram.
Jacob visited his father Isaac who lived in Mamre, in the town of Arbee, also called Hebron, the place where Abraham and Isaac had resided. Isaac lived to be a 180 years. Being aged, he joined his ancestors after a long, full life, and was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.
This is the family of Esau, who is also called Edom.
Esau married two Canaanite women:
Adah, the the daughter of Elon the Hethite
Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite
Esau also married:
Bashemath, the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebajoth
The sons of Esau born to him in the land of Canaan were:
The sons of Adah: Eliphaz
The sons of Aholibamah: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah
The sons of Bashemath: Reuel
Esau took his wives and children and all his household, his livestock and possessions and all he had acquired in Canaan and emigrated to live apart from his brother Jacob, since they were both wealthy and were not able to live together because the land was unable to support flocks so great in size. Esau, therefore, went to live near Mount Sier in what is now called Edom.
The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz and, by his concubine, Timna: Amalek.
The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
The grandsons of Esau became sheiks in the land of Edom.
The sons of Seir, the Horite, a native of the land:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
The children of Lotan: Hori and Hemam. (Lotan's sister was Timna, [the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son].)
The children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
The children of Zibeon: Ajah and Anah (who was the one who found springs in the desert while tending his father's donkeys).
The children of Anah: Dishon and, a daughter, Aholibamah [who was the wife of Esau]
The children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran
The children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan
The children of Dishan: Uz and Aran
The first kings who reigned in the land of Edom before Israel had any king:
Bela, the son of Beor, whose capital was Denaba. He was succeeded, upon his death by Jobab, the son of Zara of Bosra. Husham, from the land of Themanites, reigned there after the death of Jobab, and then Hadad, the son of Bedad. Hadad defeated the Midianites in the country of Moab; his capital was Avith. At his death he was succeeded by Samlah of Masreca, who, at his passing, was succeeded by Shaul from the River Rohoboth. He was succeeded at his death by Baalhanan, the son of Achbor, and when he died, Hadar reigned from his capital in the city of Pau. Hadar's wife's name was Mehetabel, and she was the daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Mezabab.
The sheiks of Edom who lent their names to the lands they occupied were: Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth, Aholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, Iram.
It was Esau who became the father of the Edomites.
Notes
1. I have rephrased this section for clarity and deleted some of the verbose redundancies. This section is admittedly rather boring for the modern reader, but it shows the connection that Esau had to the indigenous people of Edom. Edom, it may be reiterated, is the desert land south of the Dead Sea.
2. I have used here the term "sheik", which is appropriate for a Middle Eastern desert tribal chieftain. Other translations use the term "duke", which seems ludicrous in the context. The Hebrew word is used for both the tribal chieftain and the tribe itself.
3. The list of Edomite kings was obviously cribbed by the Genesis authors from some source at their disposal. There is a commonly noted tendency, not only in the Bible, but in many other pre-modern historical and quasi-historical writings, to include as much factual data as can be acquired, regardless of its pertinence or the reliability of its provenance. There is no evidence that any of the Edomite kings listed ever existed, for there is no reference to any of them in any historical or archaeological record. Edom does not seem to have any real history before the 9th Century B.C., so it is possible that the kings may have reigned many hundred years after Esau. (The dates of the leaders mentioned is entirely speculative.) One interesting point is that Edomite kings were apparently not hereditary, but were probably elective, which is suggested by the fact that each king succeeded only upon the death of his predecessor, with no suggestion of usurpation.
No comments:
Post a Comment