These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
The list here turns aside from Esau's family to the sons of Seir the Horite, who held this land first. Why name a people outside the line of promise, and what does their brief power teach?
Who the Horites were
The name points to how they lived, and the land still shows it.
Morrish Bible DictionaryDescendants of Seir, and the original inhabitants of Mount Seir. It is thought that they were cave-dwellers, as the name implies. The sandstone rocks of Mount Seir are full of dwellings cut out of the rock. There are traces of the same throughout the region of Edom.
Why the list appears here
One writer links the switch to where Esau got his power, to the man who gave the mountain its name, and to what came of the two families blending.
The Bible TreasuryEsau was a descendant of Abraham. God called Abraham out from his relatives and his country, to be separate from all peoples and to receive the promises. Esau returns to the people that Abraham left. Neither the call nor the promise was for him. In his sons he rises to supreme power. This may be the reason why the sons of Seir are so abruptly brought in. Seir was a Horite who lived in the land, and as a chief he may have given his name to Mount Seir. The children of Esau dispossessed the Horites. "By your sword you shall live," said Isaac to his firstborn, and Esau's line became the dominant race. Yet soon the two families were blended in Eliphaz, son of Esau, and Timna, daughter of Seir… What could come of such a connection but Amalek, the bitter and first enemy of Israel in the wilderness?
What is not of God grows fastest
The chapter reads like a roll of titles; the quotes below use the older word "dukes" where newer translations say chiefs. One writer sees a principle in how fast it all grew.
William KellyBut there is another genealogy (Genesis 36), and it is 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 what is natural, afterwards what 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 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 permanent.
The world in power while the heirs wander
Set the chiefs of Seir and Edom beside Jacob's family, and the contrast is the point.
J. N. DarbyThe world that has turned away from God sets itself up in power, while the heirs of promise are still poor pilgrims on the earth. This last point is something God distinctly reveals.
The pattern did not stop with Edom.
F. B. HoleThey not only became "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.
Power that cannot hold itself
Seir's chiefs gave way to Esau's; Esau's kings gave way again to chiefs. That churn is itself the lesson.
The Bible TreasurySeir rose to power in the earth, and the Horites had their chiefs. Esau joined himself to them, and after a time his descendants rose to what looked like greater power, for kings are named among his descendants. Violence seems to have marked them, for not one king was followed by his son… This change in the form of authority is not unknown in our day. It shows a characteristic element — we might say flaw — in human power: its instability… God lets the world show itself, and its power, or rather lack of power, first. Then come His purpose and its firm foundation. The Edomite kings are gone, but God's King remains forever.
Summary
- First the land. Seir the Horite lived in that mountain region first. He was a cave-dweller, and his rock-cut homes can still be traced. The land carried his name.
- First the newcomer. Esau had no call and no promise. He joined himself to these people, and his descendants took their land. That is why their family list sits inside his.
- First the rise. What is not of God shoots up fast: chiefs, then kings, long before Israel had either. Growth according to God is slower, but it lasts.
- First the fall. Not one Edomite king was followed by his son. Power built on violence keeps changing hands. That instability is the flaw inside all human greatness.
- Then the promise. The chapter sets the world in full power beside heirs who are still pilgrims. They hold nothing but God's word. The Edomite kings are gone; God's King remains forever.