Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
Genesis 36:38 is one line in a list of Edom's rulers: one king dies, and a man from another family steps into his place. The names pass quickly, but they carry a question: why record Edom's kings at all, and why before Israel had any?
The Man Named in the Verse
Baal-hanan has a fixed place in Edom's king list, and 1 Chronicles keeps the same record.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe seventh of the ancient kings of Edom. Gen. 36:38-39; 1 Chr. 1:49-50.
The name itself has a meaning.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinBaal-hanan — Baal is merciful.
Each King Follows a Stranger, Not a Father
Shaul dies and Baal-hanan takes over, yet Baal-hanan is the son of Achbor, not of Shaul. That pattern holds through the whole list. Commentators read the broken family line as a sign of how power changed hands, and of how poorly men hold it.
The Bible TreasuryViolence seems to have marked Esau's descendants, since no son follows his father on the throne. As one faction prevailed over another, so kings arose from different cities, until it seems the kingly authority was cut back and dukes followed them. In this change in the form of authority there is a characteristic element — we might say flaw — in human power: it is unstable. Man is unable to keep supreme and sole power in himself.
The same writers weigh, and reject, a gentler explanation of the pattern.
The Bible TreasuryBecause no son succeeded his father, some think the Edomite monarchy was elective. But this supposes that the people had enough power to choose their own ruler. That is a democratic principle, and we have no ground to suppose it existed in those early days. Violence and lust of power were there, and they bore fruit.
Crowns in Edom While Israel Had None
Genesis opens the list by noting that these kings reigned before Israel had any king. Commentators say the timing is the whole point.
J. N. DarbyEdom had kings before Israel had any; that is all that is said. Edom was a settled nation under regular rule before God's people Israel were. In the chapter before, kings had been promised from Jacob's line. Yet the natural went first in apparent strength: God's people must wait His time.
Fast Growth, Short Life
Six kings have already come and gone by this verse, and the seventh now takes the throne. Commentators read that speed itself as the lesson.
William KellyEven 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 in Edom before Israel had any. I have no doubt this is given to us as an important element, to mark how rapidly what is not of God shoots up. Growth according to God is slower, but then it is more permanent.
A Record With God Left Out
Read the chapter through and one thing is missing from every line: any mark of God.
A. J. PollockHis sons are dukes, and before Israel had a king they had kings. Look at the record as it passes: the pride and pomp of dukes and kings, the alliances with God's enemies, the whole of it unmarked by any feature of God. We cannot help recognising the line of the flesh.
The Kings Are Gone; God's King Remains
The line ends. Israel's promised throne outlasts it, and so does the reckoning with Edom for its hatred of Israel.
The Bible TreasuryGod 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 for ever.
Summary
- Name. Baal-hanan is the seventh of Edom's early kings, the son of Achbor. His name means "Baal is merciful."
- Break. He reigns in Shaul's place but is not Shaul's son. In this whole list no king is followed by his son. Commentators read that break as the mark of violence and rival factions, not of an elected throne.
- Speed. Edom had settled rule while Israel had none. What is not of God shoots up fast; growth according to God is slower and lasts longer.
- Waiting. The promise of kings belonged to Jacob's line. The natural went first in apparent strength, and God's people had to wait His time.
- End. The world shows its power first, and it does not last. Edom's kings are gone and remembered for judgment; God's King remains for ever.