Those Excluded from Jehovah's Congregation

(Deuteronomy 23:1 - 23:8)
“No one whose genitals have been crushed or cut off may join the congregation of Jehovah.   No one born illegitimately may ever became a member of Jehovah’s congregation nor may his descendants even for ten generations.  No one who is an Ammonite or a Moabite or their descendants even to the tenth generation may join Jehovah’s congregation, for their nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt.  Instead they hired Balsam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram to curse you.  (Jehovah your god did not heed Balaam, but turned his curse into a blessing, because Jehovah your god loves you.)  Throughout your history, you must never promote their prosperity or make a treaty with them.  But you should not abhor the Edomite, for he is your relation, or the Egyptian, for you were resident aliens in their land.  Children from the third generation of them may become members of Jehovah’s congregation.”

Notes
1. It seems rather cruel and unfair that if a man suffers an accident adversely affecting his private parts then he’s no longer allowed to be a part of Jehovah’s congregation, or, in modern terms, to worship in church.  This provision may have been directed toward religious devotees who willfully emasculated themselves, such as the worshipers of the ancient Phrygian god Attis.  But this would seem to condemn castration for any reason.  (Hebrew society had no place for eunuchs, who, nevertheless, were a part of many Asian cultures.)  The early Christian church, though, expressly accepted as members men who had been emasculated.  Jesus himself, in Matthew, ambivalently suggests castration to avoid submitting to carnal desires that might lead to sinful sexual behavior.  Some Christian zealots have put this into practice.  (An interesting example is the American Civil War soldier Boston Corbett, the killer of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth.  Perhaps unbalanced by inhaling poisonous fumes while working as a hatter, he became a religious fanatic.  One night in 1858, while walking home from church, he was propositioned by a couple prostitutes.  Disturbed by the encounter, he sought guidance from the Bible and found a solution by severing his private parts with a pair of scissors.)  --- The castration of boys to maintain a high singing voice was practiced in Europe from the 16th Century.  It was only condemned by the Catholic Church in the 19th Century; Italy did not make this abominable custom illegal until 1870!

2. The exclusion of those of illegitimate birth from Jehovah’s congregation is consistent with the policy of keeping only those who are “impure” from worshiping Jehovah.  Just as animals sacrificed to Jehovah must be without blemish so must the worshipers be without physical imperfections.  That no one has no control over the circumstances of his birth or the morals of his parents is not considered.  Children paying for the sins the fathers is well established in Jehovan law.  Punishment creates a deterrent to bad behavior; however, in this case, it is not the guilty but the innocent upon whom the weight of punishment falls.

3. Moabites and Ammonites are also excluded from worshiping Jehovah because they, or their ancestors did not treat the Israelites with hospitality during the Exodus.  Moreover, they hired the prophet Balaam to curse them.  The Moabites and Ammonites are apparently to be regarded as permanent enemies.  Jehovah eschews the modern notion of “permanent interests, but no permanent enemies.”  The United States of America, for instance, has never held historic grudges; it has a habit of establishing friendship with almost every country it has fought a war against, England, Mexico, Spain, Germany, Japan, even Vietnam.  Jehovah, though, if anything, is a vindictive god who has no desire to make friends of enemies.

4. Egypt, surprisingly, is given something of a pass.  The grandchild of an Egyptian could become a full-fledged Jehovah worshiper.  This, because the Israelites lived in their country.  Indeed, but they were slaves there -- what favors were owed the Egyptians?  The Edomites were also granted some leniency since they were relatives.  (The Edomites were descended from Esau, Jacob’s elder twin brother.)  It should be pointed out that the Moabites and Ammonites were fellow Hebrews as well, being descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew. 

5. Aram, here Aram Haharaim, “of the two rivers”, is usually placed in an area including northern Mesopotamia and Syria and what is now southeastern Turkey.  This area would have been the kingdom of Mitanni during Moses’ time.   However, it is more likely that the Aram of the Bible, the home of the Aramaeans, was a much smaller area in southern Syria north of the Golan Heights, not in Mesopotamia, where Arameans may have later settled.

Passage Through Edom Denied

(Book of Numbers 20:14 - 20:21)
Moses sent envoys from Kadesh to the king of Edom with this message: "Greetings from your brothers, the people of Israel.  You must know the hardships we have suffered, how our ancestors settled in Egypt and resided there for a considerable period of time, and how we and our ancestors were mistreated by the Egyptians.  We appealed to our god Jehovah, and he sent an agent who brought us out of Egypt.  Now, we are encamped at Kadesh, just on the frontier of your country.  Please grant us passage through your land.  We will be careful not travel through any tilled field or vineyard or drink water from any well.  We will travel along the king's highway, turning off neither to the right nor to the left until we have passed through your territory."

But the king of Edom responded, "You are not granted passage -- and if you enter our country you will be met with armed resistance!”

The Israelites assured him, "We will stay upon the highway, and if we or our livestock drink your water, we will compensate you for it.  We just want to pass through your country on foot; we ask for nothing more.”

The king of Edom warned the Israelites, "You shall not pass through our land!"  He then called out his army and threatened them with a large and imposing force.  Since Edom refused them access through their country, Israel was compelled to turn away.

Notes
1. The refusal of the Edomites is probably understandable.  Even though it seems inhospitable -- and hospitality was a cardinal virtue in ancient times -- it was no doubt prudent for them to forbid another people from entering their country.  Historically, bad things happen when a country does not police its borders, brings in, or allows a foreign people to trespass upon their territory, even when seems benign, as it does here.  One may ask whether it was realistic that the Israelites would not eat or drink anything during their passage through Edom, which would have taken, one suspects, weeks.  The Israelites were, after all, a notoriously rebellious bunch.  Could Moses really guarantee their behavior?

2. Interesting that in the message to the Edomite king Moses says that Jehovah sent an agent (most translations say “angel”) to free them from the Egyptians.  Didn't Jehovah do the job personally?  And the liberation of the Israelites, wasn’t that kind of a big deal? What about all those plagues that devastated Egypt -- no reference to them.

3.  The Israelites/Hebrews were to have a millennium-long feud with the Edomites who, if not always enemies, were never allies.  The prophet Obadiah would make prophecies against Edom, warning of divine punishment and foretelling its doom, but none of the prophecies ever came to pass.  (Perhaps that is why Obadiah is regarded as a minor prophet.)

Descendant Lists of Jacob and Esau and the Edomite King List

(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.