^36:2Esau took his wives from the Canaanites:² Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter³ of Zibeon the Hivite, ^36:3in addition to Basemath the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

^36:4Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, ^36:5and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

^36:6Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to a land some distance away from⁴ Jacob his brother ^36:7because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together and the land where they had settled⁵ was not able to support them because of their livestock. ^36:8So Esau (also known as Edom) lived in the hill country of Seir.⁶

^36:9This is the account of Esau, the father⁷ of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.

^36:10These were the names of Esau’s sons:

Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

^36:11The sons of Eliphaz were:

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

^36:12Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons⁸ of Esau’s wife Adah.

^36:13These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons⁹ of Esau’s wife Basemath.

^36:14These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter¹⁰ of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.

^36:15These were the chiefs¹¹ among the descendants¹² of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, ^36:16chief Korah,¹³ chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons¹⁴ of Adah.

^36:17These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons¹⁵ of Esau’s wife Basemath.

^36:18These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

^36:19These were the sons of Esau (also known as Edom), and these were their chiefs.

^36:20These were the sons of Seir the Horite,¹⁶ who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ^36:21Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants¹⁷ of Seir in the land of Edom.

^36:22The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam;¹⁸ Lotan’s sister was Timna.

^36:23These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho,¹⁹ and Onam.

^36:24These were the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah (who discovered the hot springs²⁰ in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon).

^36:25These were the children²¹ of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

^36:26These were the sons of Dishon:²² Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

^36:27These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

^36:28These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

^36:29These were the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, ^36:30chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chief lists in the land of Seir.

^36:31These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites:²³

^36:32Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

^36:33When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.

^36:34When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

^36:35When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.

^36:36When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.

^36:37When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth by the River²⁴ reigned in his place.

^36:38When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.

^36:39When Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad²⁵ reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau.²⁶ His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

^36:40These were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, ^36:41chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, ^36:42chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, ^36:43chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements²⁷ in the land they possessed. This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.

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Footnotes

1 Chapter 36 records what became of Esau. It will list both his actual descendants as well as the people he subsumed under his tribal leadership, people who were aboriginal Edomites. The chapter is long and complicated (see further J. R. Bartlett, “The Edomite King-List of Genesis 36:31–39 and 1 Chronicles 1:43–50,” 16 [1965]: 301–14; and W. J. Horowitz, “Were There Twelve Horite Tribes?” 35 [1973]: 69–71). In the format of the Book of Genesis, the line of Esau is “tidied up” before the account of Jacob is traced (37:2). As such the arrangement makes a strong contrast with Jacob. As F. Delitzsch says, “secular greatness in general grows up far more rapidly than spiritual greatness” (New Commentary on Genesis, 2:238). In other words, the progress of the world far out distances the progress of the righteous who are waiting for the promise.
2 Heb “from the daughters of Canaan.”
3 Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24–25.
4 Heb “from before.”
5 Heb “land of their settlements.”
6 Traditionally “Mount Seir,” but in this case the expression בְּהַר שֵׂעִיר (béhar se’ir) refers to the hill country or highlands of Seir.
7 The term father in genealogical records needs to be carefully defined. It can refer to a literal father, a grandfather, a political overlord, or a founder.
8 Or “grandsons” (); “descendants” ().
9 Or “grandsons” (); “descendants” ().
10 Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24–25.
11 Or “clan leaders” (so also throughout this chapter).
12 Or “sons.”
13 The Samaritan Pentateuch omits the name “Korah” (see v. 11 and 1 Chr 1:36).
14 Or “grandsons” (); “descendants” ().
15 Or “grandsons” (); “descendants” ().
16 The same pattern of sons, grandsons, and chiefs is now listed for Seir the Horite. “Seir” is both the name of the place and the name of the ancestor of these tribes. The name “Horite” is probably not to be identified with “Hurrian.” The clan of Esau settled in this area, intermarried with these Horites and eventually dispossessed them, so that they all became known as Edomites (Deut 2:12 telescopes the whole development).
17 Or “sons.”
18 Heb “Hemam”; this is probably a variant spelling of “Homam” (1 Chr 1:39); cf. , “Heman.”
19 This name is given as “Shephi” in 1 Chr 1:40.
20 The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain; reads “water” and reads “hot water.”
21 Heb “sons,” but since a daughter is included in the list, the word must be translated “children.”
22 Heb “Dishan,” but this must be either a scribal error or variant spelling, since “Dishan” is mentioned in v. 28 (see also v. 21).
23 Or perhaps “before any Israelite king ruled over [them].”
24 Typically the Hebrew expression “the River” refers to the Euphrates River, but it is not certain whether that is the case here. Among the modern English versions which take this as a reference to the Euphrates are , , , , . Cf. , “Rehoboth-on-the-River.”
25 Most of the read “Hadar” here; “Hadad” is the reading found in some Hebrew , the Samaritan Pentateuch, and (cf. also 1 Chr 1:50).
26 The name of the city is given as “Pai” in 1 Chr 1:50.
27 Or perhaps “territories”; Heb “dwelling places.”