Genesis 36
1These are the descendants of Esau, also called Edom. 2Esau married Canaanite women: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah son of Zibeon the Hivite; 3and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. 4Adah bore Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; 5and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. All these sons were born to Esau in the land of Canaan.
6Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the people of his house, together with all his livestock and all the possessions he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went away from his brother Jacob to another land. 7He left because the land where he and Jacob were living was not able to support them; they had too much livestock and could no longer stay together. 8So Esau lived in the hill country of Edom.
9These are the descendants of Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites. 10-13Esau's wife Adah bore him one son, Eliphaz, and Eliphaz had five sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. And by another wife, Timna, he had one more son, Amalek.
Esau's wife Basemath bore him one son, Reuel, and Reuel had four sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
14Esau's wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah son of Zibeon, bore him three sons: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
15These are the tribes descended from Esau. Esau's first son Eliphaz was the ancestor of the following tribes: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These were all descendants of Esau's wife Adah.
17Esau's son Reuel was the ancestor of the following tribes: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were all descendants of Esau's wife Basemath.
18The following tribes were descended from Esau by his wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. 19All these tribes were descended from Esau.
20-21The original inhabitants of the land of Edom were divided into tribes which traced their ancestry to the following descendants of Seir, a Horite: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
22Lotan was the ancestor of the clans of Hori and Heman. (Lotan had a sister named Timna.)
23Shobal was the ancestor of the clans of Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24Zibeon had two sons, Aiah and Anah. (This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was taking care of his father's donkeys.) 25-26Anah was the father of Dishon, who was the ancestor of the clans of Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. Anah also had a daughter named Oholibamah.
27Ezer was the ancestor of the clans of Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28Dishan was the ancestor of the clans of Uz and Aran.
29-30These are the Horite tribes in the land of Edom: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
The Kings of Edom
(1 Chr 1.43–54)
31-39Before there were any kings in Israel, the following kings ruled over the land of Edom in succession:
Bela son of Beor from Dinhabah
Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah
Husham from the region of Teman
Hadad son of Bedad from Avith (he defeated the Midianites in a battle in the country of Moab)
Samlah from Masrekah
Shaul from Rehoboth-on-the-River
Baal Hanan son of Achbor
Hadad from Pau (his wife was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Mezahab).
40-43Esau was the ancestor of the following Edomite tribes: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, and Iram. The area where each of these tribes lived was known by the name of the tribe.
What does a successful life look like? Today we read a passage that most people skip over. It is a list of descendants that we know very little about and names that are foreign and strange. However, it all shows how powerful and how successful that Esau’s descendants became. His children grew in wealth and strength. They conquered land and became kings. By all accounts they were powerful and successful. However, the next chapter starts with these words:
1Jacob continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived, 2and this is the story of Jacob's family.
By all accounts Esau’s family was successful but they leave the focus of God’s story. If we succeed by the standards of society but fail with God, we fail where it really matters. Esau was still a grandson of Abraham and should have stayed in the land. However, he leaves and his children marry people from Canaan (v2) who God had specifically told them not to (chapter 24).
Esau was strong, capable and popular. However, he chose what looked good to him and followed his appetites. His life was materially rich but spiritually poor. Jacob on the other hand, for all his weaknesses and flaws, remained in the land where God had called him and was faithful to him. His life was not as impressive as Esau’s and yet he became the spiritual father of the nation of Israel and his children became the twelve tribes. For Jacob a successful life came from his faithfulness to God and his blessing on their family. Whether we fail or succeed by the standards of society, if we succeed with do we will have true and lasting success.
