And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Adah Esau's wife.
Genesis 36 lists the family of Esau. In the middle of that list, one short note names a woman who was not a wife, and the son she bore. That son, Amalek, gives his name to the nation that fights Israel first and longest. Why does a passing line in a genealogy carry such weight?
The names here are all connected to Esau's firstborn line. Reference works set out the bare facts about the woman named in the verse:
Concubine of Eliphaz, son of Esau, and mother of Amalek. Genesis 36:12.
The closing clause of the verse traces everything back to Adah, and her own background is worth noting, along with what came of her son:
One of the wives of Esau, daughter of Elon the Hittite and so "a daughter of Canaan": she bore to Esau his firstborn son Eliphaz, who became the father of seven of the chiefs of Edom. Genesis 36:2, 4, 15, 16.
Readers often skip these lists. One writer explains why this one is here:
This chapter deals with the generations of Esau. Verse 6 tells us that Esau took his wives, family, and all his possessions and left the land of Canaan, going "from the face of his brother Jacob." The man "after the flesh" cannot live together with the one God has chosen. Yet Esau (Edom) prospers and grows in material things. His sons become chiefs (vv. 15-43) before Jacob's family reach such honour, except for Joseph in Egypt. So the long list of names is meant to impress on us that God has taken full account of the flesh and all its activities, finding it only vanity.
Timna appears only here. What came from her is another matter:
Edom became the treacherous enemy of the people of Israel. From the concubine of Eliphaz came Amalek, one of the terrible enemies of Israel, and there was to be continual war with him (Exodus 17:8-14).
The meaning of "Amalek" is debated, and one writer works through the options while linking the name to the character of the family it came from:
Amalek is the grandson of profane Esau, whose name Edom, earned by his actions, is almost identical with Adam. Amalek's own name has no settled meaning. It has been thought to be made up of am and laq, and so to mean "a people that licks up," or "exhausts." That would fit well enough, but Scripture points rather to a derivation from amal and laq, which would give us the thought of "labour that exhausts." … Amal is connected with the will or lust of the flesh, and Amalek may well be the offspring of the old man, Edom.
Amalekites appear in Scripture long before the birth recorded here, and commentators do not claim to settle it:
These names raise a difficulty. We read of Amalekites in Genesis 14:7, some hundred years before the birth of Amalek, the son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau, Genesis 36:12. Does everything we read of the tribe after this refer to the descendants of Esau? Or did the older people merge with them? No one knows.
Follow the name forward and it reaches from the wilderness to the book of Esther:
He was the grandson of Esau, who preferred a bowl of stew to the birthright. (See Genesis 36:12) He was the first who opposed Israel, after their baptism "in the cloud and in the sea." These facts fix his character very clearly; and besides these, we know that Saul was set aside from the kingdom of Israel because he failed to destroy Amalek. (1 Samuel 15) Further, we find that Haman is the last of the Amalekites mentioned anywhere in Scripture. He was hanged on a gallows because of his wicked attempt against the descendants of Israel. (See Esther) No Amalekite could enter the assembly of the Lord. And finally, in the chapter now before us, the Lord declares perpetual war with Amalek.
- Root. Timna was Eliphaz's concubine. Eliphaz was Esau's firstborn son by Adah, a Hittite woman of Canaan.
- Line. Esau's family rises fast into chiefs and wealth. God records it in full only to show it is vanity.
- Fruit. Out of that one unnamed union came Amalek, described as one of the terrible enemies of Israel.
- Character. Commentators read Amalek as a picture of the flesh. His name suggests "licking up" or "labour that exhausts" — the offspring of Edom, the old man's line.
- Reach. The trail runs from Exodus 17 to Saul's lost kingdom to Haman's gallows. The Lord declares perpetual war on Amalek. Commentators differ on whether the Amalekites of Genesis 14 come from this Amalek at all.
-- And these are the sons of Reuel Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basmath Esau's wife.
Genesis 36 pauses the story of Jacob to record Esau's family line. Verse 13 names the four sons of Reuel, whose mother was Bashemath. Why does Scripture keep a careful register of a family outside the line of promise?
Many readers skip a chapter like this. One writer says its place in the book is chosen, not accidental.
At first reading, this account of Esau's generation might seem like a disconnected fragment. It could just as well sit a few chapters earlier or a few later as where it now stands. But you cannot move a chapter or a word without spoiling the perfection of God's word. There is divine wisdom in placing it just where it is.
The placement makes a contrast. Esau's family is gaining rank in this world while Jacob's family is still waiting on a promise.
The world that has turned away from God establishes itself in power, while the heirs of promise are still poor pilgrims on the earth. This last is a distinct point of revelation.
The same four sons appear later in the chapter as chiefs, or "dukes" in older translations. How fast they rose is itself the lesson.
The Edomite interrupts the course of God's dealings. We see at once what remarkable maturity there was here. It is always so — first that which is natural, afterwards that which is spiritual. Even then we find a rapid development of power in the family of Esau. They were all great people, to be sure — duke this and duke that, to the end of the chapter. Even kings, we are told, reigned before there were any in Israel. I have no doubt this is given to us as an important sign of how rapidly what is not of God shoots up. Growth according to God is slower, but then it is more lasting.
The same pattern shapes what a believer sees today.
As a postscript to the life of Jacob, we have the contrast of Esau. He rises to prominence and earthly greatness, while his brother is still only a pilgrim, living in tents. All this is deeply significant. We are living now in man's day. So we need not be surprised when the world gives the flesh and its works a place and importance far above the lowly pilgrim testimony of the people of God.
The verse gives four names and no account of the men behind them. One writer looks at what those Hebrew names hold.
And what a fruitful line came from the wicked Esau! The Hebrew names tell the story of their expansion, their wickedness and power. What was not of God developed rapidly, as it does now in the earth.
Each of these four is traced forward in Scripture. Zerah, for one, is identified in the record as more than a grandson:
Son of Reuel, a son of Esau, and one of the chiefs of Edom. Gen. 36:13, 17; 1 Chr. 1:37.
The verse closes by naming their grandmother — Bashemath, Esau's wife. Genesis calls this daughter of Ishmael by two different names. One writer reads the change as God's comment on the marriage.
Later the Spirit of God, giving the genealogy of Esau (Gen. 36:3), said that he took Bashemath, Ishmael's daughter, for a wife. Historians say the writer of Genesis made a mistake in mixing the names! We suggest the revised name had deliberate significance. In the eyes of God there was no difference between Ishmael's daughter and a daughter of Canaan. So in the record she carries a name from Canaan... In his second choice Esau came near to the right line. But he stopped short of the mind of God for the descendants of Abraham, the friend of God. How often Christians form close ties with people who outwardly carry the Christian name. Yet they prove to be no different from the world.
The chapter runs on past chiefs to kings. How those kings held power tells the rest.
Violence seems to have marked them, for not one king was followed by his son... In Esau's descendants we see what has marked the world: rival factions fighting for power, where of course the strongest arm wins. God lets the world show itself and its power — or rather its lack of power — first. Then come His purpose and its firm foundation. For there were kings in Edom before any were found in Israel. The Edomite kings are gone, but God's King remains for ever.
- Placed on purpose. Move one word of this chapter and you spoil God's word. It stands here so we read Esau's rise against Jacob's tent.
- Fast growth. What is not of God shoots up quickly; growth according to God is slower but lasts longer.
- Natural first. Esau's sons hold rank while the heirs of promise are still wandering — man's day comes before God's.
- Half-right. Esau came near the right line and stopped short of it. Ties with people who only look godly still end in a line like this.
- Names only. The chiefs are named, then gone. Edom's kings are finished; God's King remains for ever.
-- And these are the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife and she bore to Esau Jeush and Jaalam and Korah.
Genesis 36:14 names Esau's three sons by Oholibamah and traces her line back through Anah to Zibeon. Why does God record a list like this at all, and why here?
The verse names her father Anah and her grandfather Zibeon. One reference work says which people Zibeon belonged to:
A Hivite, father of Anah and grandfather of Oholibamah, a wife of Esau. Genesis 36:2, 14.
One reference work offers a likely answer to an old puzzle about her name:
In the earlier narrative, Genesis 26:34 and Genesis 28:9, the names of Esau's wives differ from those given in Genesis 36:2-3. The women may have had two names, or they may have received another name at their marriage. Judith, daughter of Beeri, may be the same as Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, if Beeri is her father's name and Anah her mother's.
One writer reads Esau's choice of wives, and the land he settled in, as a picture of the flesh — human nature as it is in itself:
After the record of Esau's generations we notice that he married wives who were Canaanites, Hittites and Hivites — sworn enemies of God's people. We see, too, that he lived in Mount Seir, a land later cursed. The curse would remain on it even in the days of Christ's reign, when the wilderness will blossom like the rose. It is an illustration of the flesh, which, under the very best influence, is incapable of improvement.
A list of Genesis name meanings gives her name as:
Oholibamah — Tent of the high place.
These sons belong to a line that does not stay obscure. One writer explains what that rise shows:
It has its own important place: it sketches Esau's lot on earth. Indirectly, though, it teaches us something. What is natural comes into power first, and what is spiritual comes afterwards. The family of promise remain shepherds and herdsmen. They wander here and there, outside the land and within it, and are even badly oppressed. Meanwhile the generations of Edom rise fast into importance, away from Canaan, in Mount Seir. The descendants of Edom soon claim the distinction of chiefs.
Older translations call these chiefs "dukes". The same writer explains what the rank amounted to:
Genesis 36 gives us the rise and progress of their national greatness. First comes the line of their dukes, as they are called. In modern language these would probably answer to the sheikhs of their tribes. Later come the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel.
So why does Scripture keep so long a record? One writer gives the reason:
Yet Esau (Edom) prospers and develops greatly in a material way, his sons becoming "dukes" before Jacob's family attain such honour (except for Joseph in Egypt). We must remember that Joseph did not exalt himself; Pharaoh exalted him. Esau's family, though, illustrates the common history of the flesh always exalting itself. So the long list of names is meant to impress on us that God has taken full account of the flesh and all it does, and finds it only vanity.
The place of this chapter in Genesis is no accident:
At first reading, this account of Esau's generation might seem like a disconnected fragment. It could sit a few chapters earlier, or a few later, just as well as where it now stands. But neither chapter nor word can be moved without spoiling the perfection of God's word. There is divine wisdom in placing it just where it is.
Another writer states the principle in a single line:
The apostate world establishes itself in power, while the heirs of promise are still poor pilgrims upon the earth.
- Marriage. Oholibamah's line runs back to Zibeon the Hivite. Esau took his wives from peoples called enemies of God's people.
- Offspring. Jeush, Jalam, and Korah belong to that line, and Edom's sons soon claim the rank of chiefs.
- Rise. What is natural comes into power first. Edom has chiefs while the family of promise are still wandering shepherds.
- Record. The long list shows that God has taken full account of the flesh and all its activity, and finds it only vanity.
- Placement. The chapter is not a stray fragment. It stands just where divine wisdom set it.
These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz,
Genesis 36:15 starts the list of chiefs born to Eliphaz, Esau's firstborn son — a family that had already left Canaan and the line of promise. Why does Scripture pause Jacob's story to count the honours of Esau, the brother outside the promise?
While Jacob's household is still small, Esau's grandsons already hold titles — "dukes," in the older wording the writers below use. One commentator reads that speed as a rule, not an accident.
But there is another genealogy (Gen. 36), and strikingly introduced in this place. The Edomite interrupts the course of God's dealings. We see at once what remarkable maturity there was here. It is always so — first that which is natural, afterwards that which is spiritual. Even then we find a rapid development of power in the family of Esau. They were all great people, to be sure — duke this and duke that, to the end of the chapter. Even kings, we are told, reigned there before Israel had any. I have no doubt this is given to us as an important mark of how rapidly what is not of God shoots up. Growth according to God is slower, but then it is more permanent.
These titles trace back to a promise. Isaac had blessed Esau with earthly plenty, and this chapter is that word coming true.
The chapter shows us that Esau prospered in earthly things, so that his father's blessing was fulfilled to him (27:39-40). He occupied his own territory, became quite independent of Jacob, and his descendants multiplied and became chiefs and well known. They became not only "dukes" but even "kings," and that before any king appeared in Israel's line. In earthly greatness and power the children of this world have always taken precedence over the children of God.
The first name here does not stay just a person. Teman becomes a people and a region.
Son of Eliphaz, a son of Esau, and a duke of Edom; also his descendants and the district they lived in. It is four times connected with Edom, and twice with Dedan: this places it in the south. Scripture speaks of its wisdom, and God pronounces judgements on it. One of Job's friends was Eliphaz the Temanite.
One writer sets the last judgement in that same land, and names the reason.
The last in this series of judgments will fall in Edom, the land of Esau (Teman being Eliphaz's eldest son, Genesis 36:15), because of Edom's undying hatred of Israel.
It is easy to skip a page of unfamiliar names. One commentator finds two things in it: why Esau's line stands apart, and why the list runs so long.
The man "after the flesh" cannot live together with the one whom God has chosen. Yet Esau (Edom) prospers and grows great in material things. His sons become "dukes" (vv. 15-43) before Jacob's family reach such honour — except for Joseph in Egypt. We must remember that Joseph did not exalt himself; Pharaoh exalted him. Esau's family shows the usual history of the flesh, which always exalts itself. So the long list of names is meant to impress on us that God has taken full account of the flesh and all its activities, finding it only vanity.
Esau's family settled down while Jacob's family kept wandering. The prophets give Edom one steady character.
All the prophets who have spoken of Edom give that people the same character. They find in Edom the same causes of God's controversy with them. Profaneness, pride, hatred of Israel — these are Edom's common marks. The world was Esau's portion, while Israel was still a stranger and a pilgrim. His children had their dukedoms. They were kings too, and they had their cities. They were settled, like eagles nesting in the clefts of the rocks. All this time Jacob's children were still homeless wanderers in lands that were not theirs, or in barren deserts.
Edom's future is bleak, and one writer turns the lesson back on the reader.
While a remnant of the other nations will come in for blessing in a future day, Edom will not. Let us take the moral of it to heart, for we may easily fall into the same spirit as the Edomite. Jeremiah saw the failures and sins of God's people, but he wept over them. Daniel and other godly men confessed those sins as their own. But the spirit of the Edomite is bitter hatred against people who, whatever their failures, are still the people of God.
- Fast — What is not of God shoots up quickly. Esau's grandsons hold titles while Jacob's family is still small.
- Fair — Their rise is no injustice. Isaac's blessing on Esau promised earthly fatness, and God kept it.
- Flesh — The long roll of titles is God taking full account of the flesh, and finding it vanity.
- Fixed — Growth that comes from God is slower, but it lasts. The wanderers, not the chiefs, hold the promise.
- Forewarned — Edom's marks were profaneness, pride, and hatred of God's people — and Edom alone misses the blessing of a future day. That hatred is a spirit anyone can fall into, so take the warning to heart.
chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.
Genesis 36:16 closes the list of chiefs descended from Eliphaz, Esau's firstborn. The last name on that list is Amalek, whose people would fight Israel for generations. A page of foreign titles raises a fair question: why does Scripture pause to record the rank of Esau's family at all?
This chapter belongs to Esau, not Jacob. One writer draws out the contrast: the line without the promise climbs first.
Jacob has nothing to do with the chapter. It has its own important place of sketching the earthly lot of Esau. Yet it still teaches us something, though not directly. What is natural comes into power first, and what is spiritual comes afterwards. The family of promise remain shepherds and herdsmen. They wander here and there, outside the land and within it, and even suffer harsh oppression. Meanwhile the generations of Edom rise fast into importance, away from Canaan, in Mount Seir.
Another writer treats this as a rule of everyday experience.
The children of Esau had "dukes" in plenty, giving us an early example of what we find so often in Scripture and in our own experience — that the man who loves the world and ignores God goes ahead in the world beyond the man who fears God.
Older translations call these men "dukes"; the ESV calls them chiefs. Neither word means European nobility.
Genesis 36 gives us the rise and progress of their national greatness. First comes the line of their dukes, as they are called. In modern language these would probably answer to the sheikhs of their tribes. Later come the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel.
Of all the names in this verse, Amalek is the one Scripture never lets drop. One writer sets him beside Pharaoh: two enemies, each blocking a different thing.
Pharaoh represents the hindrance to Israel's rescue out of Egypt. Amalek represents the hindrance to their walk with God through the wilderness. Amalek stands before us as the type of the flesh. He was the grandson of Esau, who preferred a bowl of stew to the birthright. He was the first to oppose Israel after their baptism "in the cloud and in the sea." These facts fix his character clearly. Besides these, we know that Saul lost the kingdom of Israel because he failed to destroy Amalek. Further, Haman is the last of the Amalekites we find any notice of in Scripture. He was hanged on a gallows because of his wicked attempt against the descendants of Israel.
The chief listed in this verse is not a dead end. Centuries later in Persia, Israel's enemy Haman traced his line back to Amalek.
Agag was the title of the kings of Amalek, probably a general title, like the title of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. So Haman came from this royal race. Amalek, Haman's people, descended from Esau through Eliphaz: he was first a chief, and then became the people of Edom.
Scripture records their rank, then drops them.
Here, in Genesis, we have only a list of names to tell us that this chief and that king once lived. Their power was short-lived, their greatness faded, and they are quickly dismissed. "These are the generations of Esau."
If the names seem tedious, that may be part of their purpose.
Esau (Edom) prospers and grows great in material things. His sons become "dukes" before Jacob's family reach such honour — except for Joseph in Egypt. We must remember that Joseph did not exalt himself. Pharaoh exalted him. Esau's family, though, shows the common history of the flesh, which always exalts itself. So the long list of names is meant to impress one fact on us. God has taken full account of the flesh and all its activities, and has found it only vanity.
- Rise — What is natural gains power first. Esau's line holds rank while the family of promise are still wandering herdsmen.
- Rank — The "dukes" of this verse were tribal sheikhs. Edom's greatness later grew as far as kings.
- Amalek — The last name here became the type of the flesh. He struck Israel first in the wilderness, and Saul lost the kingdom for failing to destroy him.
- Haman — The same line appears again in Persia, and ends on a gallows. The flesh outlives its first generation.
- Vanity — God records every title the flesh wins, then lets the list end. He has taken full account of it and found it only vanity.