Parsing Genesis 36

Alice C. Linsley

Recently a reader asked if Isaac's son Esau was the founding father of the people known as Edomites. The answer is no. The text is speaking of a different Esau and the term "father" indicates a chief, not a founder.

"This is the account of the family line of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir." (Gen. 36:9)

Here Esau the Elder is associated with the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. Verse 10 tells us about his two wives and his two first born sons Eliphaz and Reuel.

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

Adah was the daughter of a chief named Elon.

Eliphaz married a daughter of Seir the Horite. She was probably his cousin.

This kinship diagram illustrates these relationships.

The name Esau appears more than once among the Horites of Edom (probably due the the cousin bride's naming prerogative) which is why Isaac's son Esau is not the "father" of the Edomites. 

The term "father" in the Old Testament can mean chief, elder, founder, or biological father. In Genesis 36:40, Esau the Elder (not Esau the son of Isaac) is designated the eponymous founder of the Edomites (as Romulus was claimed the founder of Rome). 

It is clear, however, that this designation is not intended to mean that Esau the Elder was the founding father of the Edomites of Seir. That designation pertains to Seir the Horite. These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the region: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah (female), Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs. (Gen. 36:19-29)

Esau the Elder and Esau the Younger were chiefs, not founders. Consider how the term "father" is used in 1 Chronicles 2:50-52 - "These were the descendants of Caleb. The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim, Salma the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader. These were the descendants of Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim: Haroeh, half the Manahathites,…" (Note the Horite names: Hur, Hareph, and Haroeh.)

Here it is clear that these are chiefs over settlements, just as it says in Gen. 36:40: "according to their settlements." Similarly, I Chronicles 4:4 lists Hur as the "father" of Bethlehem, another Horite settlement.

Archaeological investigation of settlements in Jordan that were part of ancient Edom have led to the view that this region had multiple settlements ruled by local chiefs. See The Edom Survey Project.

Related reading: Two Named Esau; Horite Mounds; Horite Hebrew Rulers With Two Wives; Midianite Potters in Edom; Hebrew Priests in Aram, Edom, Judah and Moab