A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

Who is Edom — that name Edom perpetuated the remembrance of the foolish bargain Esau made when he sold his birthright for that red pottage.

~~~~

However the book of Obadiah identifies the posterity of Esau today as Spain.

Genesis 36

¹ Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom. — it seem not only that Esau had lost his birthrights, but his name as well;

— now Edom is used in place of the name Esau, which he received at his birth, because the former became the national designation of his descendants; the Edomites; others are Idumeans, Hasmonean; and from his famed grandson, Amalek, the Amalekites;

— these are the generations of Esau; who has the honour of having an account of his posterity recorded, for the sake of his progenitors, Abraham and Isaac, and because the Edomites, his descendants, were neighbours to Israel, and their genealogy would be of use to cast light on the following relations of what passed between them at latter years.

² Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;

— the names of Esau’s three wives differ from those given in the previous accounts (Genesis 26:34: Judith and Basemath both are Hittites; and Genesis 28:9: Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael), and in one instance the father’s name as well;

— perhaps Esau might have five wives:

(1) Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite;
(2) Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
(3) Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth;
(4) Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite;
(5) Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth;

— unlike Jacob, who went back and took wives from his kinsmen, Esau took wives from the local ‘natives’ which displeased both his parents, Isaac and Rebecca. Esau’s descendents are a mixtures of Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, known to be among the posterity of Ham; and Ishmaelites, a mix with the Egyptians;

— further, according to the Midrash and Aggadah, Esau’s first two wives, Adah and Judith, are described as adulterous and idolatrous.

³ and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth. — Basemath was listed as a Hittite in Genesis 26:34;

⁴ And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; and Basemath bore Reuel;

⁵ and Aholibamah bore Jeush and Jaalam and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born unto him in the land of Canaan. — these are the sons of Esau, who were born unto him in the land of Canaan; perhaps his fourth and fifth wives, their sons were born after they left Canaan.

— Rashi: Oholibamah bore…and Korah: This Korah was illegitimate. He was the son of Eliphaz, who had been intimate with his father’s wife, Oholibamah, the wife of Esau. This is evidenced by the fact that he [Korah] is [also] listed among the chieftains of Eliphaz at the end of this chapter. — [from Gen. Rabbah 82:12]

⁶ And Esau took his wives, and his sons and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle and all his beasts, and all his substance which he had gotten in the land of Canaan, and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.

— Esau sought a home further south in Seir, because he knew that Jacob, as the heir, would enter upon the family possessions, so without waiting till Jacob returned, he actually took possession further south;

— “because of Jacob” perhaps for fear of him, as the Targum of Jonathan, which paraphrases the words, “for there fell upon him a fear of Jakob his brother;” because he knew, by the blessing of his father, and the oracle of God, and his concurring providence in all things, that the land of Canaan belonged to Jacob,

— Rashi:

and the land of their sojournings could not: provide [sufficient] pasture for their animals. The Midrash Aggadah (Gen. Rabbah 82:13), however, explains “because of his brother Jacob,” [as follows:] Because of the note of obligation of the decree: “that your seed will be strangers” (Gen. 15: 13), which was put upon the descendants of Isaac.

He (Esau) said, “I will get out of here. I have neither a share in the gift-for the land has been given to him-nor in the payment of the debt.” [He left] also on account of the shame that [he felt because] he had sold his birthright. — [from Gen. Rabbah 82:13]

⁷ For their riches were more than that they might dwell together, and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle. — the land wherein they were strangers; the large growth of their wealth made the separation of Esau and Jacob as inevitable;

⁸ Thus dwelt Esau in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom. — Mount Seir; the land of Idumea extends from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Elath, and consists of a chain of mountains running parallel to the Akaba, or continuation of the deep depression through which the Jordan flows till it loses itself in the Dead Sea.

— Esau is Edom, so called from the red pottage he had of Jacob, which is repeated to fix the odium of that transaction upon him, as well as for the sake of what follows, showing the reason why his posterity were called Edomites.

⁹ And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.

¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau.

¹¹ And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.

¹² And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore to Eliphaz, Amalek: these were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. — among the sons of Eliphaz we find Amalek, whose mother was Timna, the concubine of Eliphaz; the ancestor of the Amalekites, who attacked the Israelites at Horeb as they came out of Egypt under Moses (Exodus 17:8);

— more about Timna, the mother of Amalek, from Rashi:

And Timna was a concubine: [This passage is here] to proclaim the greatness of Abraham-how much [people] longed to attach themselves to his descendants. This Timna was a daughter of chieftains, as it is said: “and the sister of Lotan was Timna” (below verse 22).

Lotan was one of the chieftains of the inhabitants of Seir, from the Horites, who had dwelt there before. She said, “I may not be worthy of marrying you, but if only I could be [your] concubine” (Gen. Rabbah 82:14). In (I) Chronicles (1:36) [the Chronicler] enumerates her among the children of Eliphaz [here she is counted as the daughter of Seir the Horite, and the concubine of Eliphaz].

This teaches [us] that he (Eliphaz) was intimate with the wife of Seir, and Timna emerged from between them (Seir’s wife and Eliphaz), and when she grew up, she became his (Eliphaz’s) concubine. That is the meaning of “and the sister of Lotan was Timna.” [Scripture] did not count her with the sons of Seir, because she was his (Lotan’s) sister through his mother but not through his father. — [from Tanchuma Vayeshev 1]

¹³ And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah: these were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

¹⁴ And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife; and she bore to Esau: Jeush and Jaalam and Korah.

¹⁵ These were chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau: Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz, — Eliphaz, as he was Esau’s first-born, so he had more than a double portion, his six sons being made dukes;

— another term for Chief is Duke; or like the sheiks or emirs of the modern East; or like the Nasi or Prince among the Israelite; that is, these men given the titles Chiefs meant that they had rose to a position of prominance to distinguish themselves from their peers;

¹⁶ Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek: these are the chiefs who came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah. — Amalek rose from the position of a grandson and separated himself from the rest of the Edomites by being given the title of a Chief.

¹⁷ And these are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, Chief Mizzah: these are the chiefs who came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

¹⁸ And these are the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chief Jeush, Chief Jaalam, Chief Korah: these were the chiefs who came of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.

— these would make fourteen Dukes or Chiefs, whereas it appears from the closing verses of the chapter that there were only eleven:

• Verses 15 to 18: 1. Chief Teman, 2. Chief Omar, 3. Chief Zepho, 4. Chief Kenaz, 5. Chief Korah, 6. Chief Gatam, 7. Chief Amalek, 8. Chief Nahath, 9. Chief Zerah, 10. Chief Shammah, 11. Chief Mizzah, 12. Chief Jeush, 13. Chief Jaalam, 14. Chief Korah
• Verses 29 to 30: 1. Chief Lotan, 2. Chief Shobal, 3. Chief Zibeon, 4. Chief Anah, 5. Chief Dishon, 6. Chief Ezer, 7. Chief Dishan
• Verses 40 to 43: 1. Chief Timnah, 2. Chief Alvah, 3. Chief Jetheth, 4. Chief Aholibamah, 5. Chief Elah, 6. Chief Pinon, 7. Chief Kenaz, 8. Chief Teman, 9. Chief Mibzar, 10. Chief Magdiel, 11. Chief Iram

¹⁹ These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their chiefs.

²⁰ These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land: Lotan and Shobal, and Zibeon and Anah, — Mount Seir is called the land of their possession. Canaan was at this time only the land of promise. Seir was in the possession of the Edomites;

— “Seir the Horite,” the Horites Genesis 14:6, were cave-dweller, and probably got the name from the cave hewn out of the solid rock in which he was accustomed to dwell; Sela being a city of such excavated dwellings;

— Rashi:

the inhabitants of the land: They were its inhabitants before Esau came there. Our Rabbis explain [that they were called, “inhabitants of the land”] (Shab. 85a) because they were skilled in making the land habitable.

[They would say,] “The length of this [measuring] stick is [good] for [planting] olives; the length of this [measuring] stick is [good] for [planting] grapevines,” for they would taste [the soil] and know what was suitable to plant in it.

²¹ and Dishon and Ezer and Dishan: these are the chiefs of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.

²² And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna.

²³ And the children of Shobal were these: Alvan and Manahath and Ebal, Shepho and Onam.

²⁴ And these are the children of Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah; this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.

— Rashi:

who found the mules in the wilderness: Heb. הַיֵמִם, mules. He mated a donkey with a mare (female horse), and it gave birth to a mule. He (Anah) was illegitimate, and he brought illegitimate offspring into the world (Gen. Rabbah 82:15).

Why were they called יֵמִם (signifying “dreaded beings”)? Because their dread (אֵימָתָן) was cast upon people; Rabbi Hanina said, “In all my days no one has ever recovered from a wound from a white female mule.” (But we see that [those bitten by white female mules] do live.

Do not read: “who has lived (וְהָיָה) ,” but “that was healed (וְחָיתָה) ,” because [such a] wound will never heal. — [from an old Rashi manuscript]) It was unnecessary to list the genealogy of the Horites except to mention Timna, and thereby inform us of the greatness of Abraham, as I explained above (verse 12). [from Chullin 7b]

²⁵ And the children of Anah were these: Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.

²⁶ And these are the children of Dishon: Hemdan and Eshban, and Ithran and Cheran.

²⁷ The children of Ezer are these: Bilhan and Zaavan and Akan.

²⁸ The children of Dishan are these: Uz and Aran.

²⁹ These are the chiefs who came of the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah,

³⁰ Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, Chief Dishan: these are the chiefs who came of the Horites, among their chiefs in the land of Seir.

³¹ And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

— Rashi:

And these are the kings, etc.: They were eight, and, corresponding to them, Jacob set up [eight kings] and nullified the kingdom of Esau during their time. They are the following (kings): Saul, Ish-bosheth, David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat.

During the days of his (Jehoshaphat’s) son Joram, however, it is written: “In his days, Edom revolted from under the power of Judah, and they appointed a king over themselves” (II Kings 8:20), [whereas] during Saul’s days it is written: “There was no king in Edom; a governor was king” (I Kings 22:48). [from Gen. Rabbah 83:2]

³² And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

³³ And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.

³⁴ And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.

³⁵ And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad (who smote Midian in the field of Moab) reigned in his stead; and the name of his city was Avith.

— Rashi: who defeated Moab in the field of Midian: For Midian came against Moab to wage war, and the king of Edom went to aid Moab. From here we learn that Midian and Moab were quarreling with one another, and in the days of Balaam they made peace, [in order] to band together against Israel. — [from Tanchuma Balak 3]

³⁶ And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.

³⁷ And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.

³⁸ And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.

³⁹ And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead; and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰ And these are the names of the chiefs who came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names: Chief Timnah, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth,

— Rashi: And these are the names of the chieftains of Esau: who were called by the names of their provinces after Hadar died and their kingdom had ceased. The first ones mentioned above (verses 15-19) are the names of their generations, and so it is delineated in (I Chronicles 1: 51): And Hadar [sic] died, and the chiefs of Edom were Chief Timna, etc.”

⁴¹ Chief Aholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon,

⁴² Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar,

⁴³ Chief Magdiel, Chief Iram: these are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession; he is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

— Rashi: Magdiel: This is Rome. — [From Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 38]

In summary, Esau took wives from the local ‘natives’ which displeased both his parents. Hence Esau’s descendents are a mixtures of Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, known to be among the posterity of Ham; and Ishmaelites, a mix with the Egyptians. Often, many of their childen are spiritually illegitimate!

Centuries later, the Spanish are also known to have taken wives from the natives, starting with Mexico and have mixed marriages all over South America.

For more about the South, a prophecy of Esau or Edom, see Obadiah

For more on the enemy from the South, see A Sword from the South!

For more into another Captivity: see Ezekiel Timeline – 190/40 Years

~ by Joel on November 29, 2023.

Posted in Books of Moses, Esau, Latin Americas