Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
TOLDOT ESAV
Given how artificial the "history" has been thus far, and most especially the Toldot or "genealogical tables", can we expect this to prove not to be family ancestry at all, but a list of constellations and planets, or perhaps the names of the priestesses - choir-singers, orchestra-players, women of the craft-guilds, conductresses of worship in the side-chapels? We shall see.
36:1 VE ELEH TOLDOT ESAV HU EDOM
וְאֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת עֵשָׂו הוּא אֱדוֹם
KJ: (King James translation): Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
BN (BibleNet translation): Now this is the fanily tree of Esav - he is Edom.
HU EDOM (הוא אדום): thus connected to Kayin and to Adam, and also apparently to Yishma-El, all of whom ended their lives married into the matrilocal tribe of Edom; there seems to be a lineage of red-haired children (a phenomenon in itself, especially among the normally black-haired Semites), connected to ADAM-ADOM-EDOM-ADAMAH, even before the lineage set out here. Note the continuing conflict between Yisra-El and Edom, still going in Herod's time, and perhaps not insignificant in Herod's way-of-rule - especially bearing in mind the Kalev (Caleb) story, and the statement in Isaiah 63:1 that the Mashiyach would be an Edomite ("a man coming from Batsrah...") and not a Beney Yisra-El at all; and also the problems David had with the heirs of Kalev when he became king in Chevron. But this allows Esav to become the progenitor of the Edomites, thus dividing the whole land between one family, with Yishma-El and Keturah's sons receiving the rest of the Middle East.
36:2 ESAV LAKACH ET NASHAV MI BENOT KENA'AN ET ADAH BAT EYLON HA CHITI VE ET AHALI-VAMAH BAT ANAH BAT TSIVON HA CHIVI
עֵשָׂו לָקַח אֶת נָשָׁיו מִבְּנוֹת כְּנָעַן אֶת עָדָה בַּת אֵילוֹן הַחִתִּי וְאֶת אָהֳלִיבָמָה בַּת עֲנָה בַּת צִבְעוֹן הַחִוִּי
KJ: Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
BN: Esav took his wives from the Benot Kena'an; Adah bat Eylon the Chiti; and Ahali-Vamah bat Anah bat Tsiv'on the Chivi.
LAKACH: We were sort of told this, in Genesis 26:34 ff, and much to the displeasure of both his parents - the source,most likely, of Rivkah encouraging Ya'akov to steal his brother's birthright. But "sort of told this", because there he married "Yehudit, the daughter of Be'eri of the Beney Chet, and Basmat the daughter of Eylon of the Beney Chet"; no such Yehudit in this version, and a different father for Basmat, though Adah's patronymic is the same as that Basmat's.
ADAH BAT EYLON HA CHITI (עדה בת-אילון): ADAH = "adornment" or "beauty", as we have already seen (Genesis 4:19) when Lamech had a wife of the same name.
EYLON (אילון) = "oak".
AHALI-VAMAH (אהליבמה): a matriarchal tribe, no less! see v14. But is it from AHAL (אהל) = "to be bright", "to shine" + BAMAH (במה) = "high place", therefore related to the sun in some form; or is it from OHEL (אהל) = "tent" + BAMAH (במה) = "tent of the high place"? It may appear obvious which of the two it should be, but most translators claim the latter nonetheless!
BAT ANAH BAT TSIV'ON HA CHITI (בת ענה בת צבעון): Tsiv'on of the Beney Chet (Hittites). The name means "versicoloured" or "variegated", which is a very strange name to give anybody, unless they happen to be an ivy or a chameleon, or perhaps one of Ya'akov's speckled goats and sheep. Other references in this chapter suggest he was a chief of the Chorim (חורים), which is odd, because here he is called a Chiti (חתי); unless, again, we have more than one of the same name, or Chorite and Hittite are intechangeable.
ANAH (ענה) = "to sing", plus other variants and developments. Also "to answer", "to reply", possibly from the same root ANAH (ענה), though the connection is not obvious; more likely a corruption of ANVAH (ענוה), for which the scholars have argued for centuries about its precise meaning, and usually end by returning to the other root = "to answer". There is also confusion between verses 36:2, 14, 24, 20 and 29 where two different ANAHs appear to be intended, unless one BAT should read BEN, or vice-versa. ANAH is very much a goddess, a variant upon Anat the wife of Ba'al who the Greeks knew as Libyan Neith (she should be Tannit), and who later became corrupted into Athena herself. Beit Anah, or rather Beit Anatot, is Bethany, a key shrine of the resurrection cult long before Jesus raised Lazarus there; Yirme-Yahu's (Jeremiah's) father was a priest there.
36:3 VE ET BASMAT BAT YISHMA-EL ACHOT NEVAYOT
וְאֶת בָּשְׂמַת בַּת יִשְׁמָעֵאל אֲחוֹת נְבָיוֹ
KJ: And Bashemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
BN: And Basmat, Yishma-El's daughter, one of the sisters of Nevayot.
BASMAT (בשמת): two of Esav's wives appear to have this same name, which is also that of one of Yishma-El's wives, and said here to be one of Yishma-El's daughters; later one of Shelomoh's (Solomon's) daughters will have the name. It was likely to have been a hereditary priestess title, as the name means "sweet smelling"; and in fact, with all the above names, it does indeed appear that we have a list of the roles and responsibilities of the second-tier priestesses (as with the Kohanim and Leviyim; the Kohanim were the fully-fledged priests, who performed the sacrifices, or in the fertility cults delivered the oracles; the Leviyim were the shrine administrators, who performed all the other tasks) transformed into a tribal genealogy.
See also Genesis 28:9.
NEVAYOT (נביות): meaning "high places". The Nevayot are probably the Nabateans, thought to originate from northern Arabia, rich in flocks according to Yesha-Yahu, though we know a lot more about them now from the El Arish excavations... However their mention in this text is anachronistic, for the Nabataeans did not appear in the Middle East until the time of Shelomoh (Solomon).
ACHOT NEVAYOT: I have the distinct sense that "sisters" is being used here as it would be in the world of the Christian convent. If she was a blood-sister, the Yehudit would read ACHOTAH (אֲחוֹתה).
36:4 VA TELED ADAH LE ESAV ET ELI-PHAZ U VASMAT YALDAH ET RE'U-EL
וַתֵּלֶד עָדָה לְעֵשָׂו אֶת אֱלִיפָז וּבָשְׂמַת יָלְדָה אֶת רְעוּאֵל
KJ: And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;
BN: And Adah mothered Eli-Phaz with Esav; and Basmat mothered Re'u-El.
RE'U-EL (רעואל): any connection to RE'U-VEN - etymologically, I mean? No, because that was with a second-letter Aleph (א), and this is with a second-letter Ayin (ע). The name means "friend of El"; later there will be a Re'u-El who is the father of Yitro, Mosheh's father-in-law.
36:5 VE AHALI-VAMAH YALDAH ET YE'USH VE ET YA'LAM VE ET KORACH ELEH BENEY ESAV ASHER YULDU LO BE ERETS KENA'AN
וְאָהֳלִיבָמָה יָלְדָה אֶת יעישׁ וְאֶת יַעְלָם וְאֶת קֹרַח אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי עֵשָׂו אֲשֶׁר יֻלְּדוּ לוֹ בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַ
KJ: And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these are the sons of Esau, which were born unto him in the land of Canaan.
BN: And Ahali-Vamah mothered Ye'ush, and Ya'lam, and Korach. These are the sons of Esav, who were born to him in the land of Kena'an.
As opposed to those born to him after he went away to Se'ir?
YE'USH (יעוש): The Masoretic text in fact reads YE'ISH (יעיש), with YE'USH in brackets; the familiar problem of the possibly-elongated Yud (י) or the possibly-foreshortened Vav (ו), and therefore both are given. Ye'ush is the more likely. The name means "whom Yah hastens"; one of sons of Rechav-Am (Rehoboam) had the same name.
YA'LAM (יעלם): "whom Yah hides".
KORACH (קרח): v16 has him as the son of Eli-Phaz not Esav. The root is KARACH (קרח) = "to make smooth"; used especially for baldness and ice. The BENEY KORACH (בני קרח) were Levites and Psalmists of King David, but their line probably came from a different Korach, the one who was also a rebel against Mosheh in the desert (Exodus 6:21).
36:6 VA YIKACH ESAV ET NASHAV VE ET BANAV VE ET BENOTAV VE ET KOL NAPHSHOT BEITO VE ET MIKNEHU VE ET KOL BEHEMTO VE ET KOL KINYANO ASHER RACHASH BE ERETS KENA'AN VA YELECH EL ERETS MIPNEY YA'AKOV ACHIV
וַיִּקַּח עֵשָׂו אֶת נָשָׁיו וְאֶת בָּנָיו וְאֶת בְּנֹתָיו וְאֶת כָּל נַפְשׁוֹת בֵּיתוֹ וְאֶת מִקְנֵהוּ וְאֶת כָּל בְּהֶמְתּוֹ וְאֵת כָּל קִנְיָנוֹ אֲשֶׁר רָכַשׁ בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶל אֶרֶץ מִפְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב אָחִיו
KJ: And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.
BN: And Esav took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the souls of his household, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all the possessions which he had gathered in the land of Kena'an; and he went into a land away from his brother Ya'akov.
When? At the time of the stolen birthright, or the time of the stolen blessing, or now, upon Ya'akov's wealthy return. If the first or second, was he fleeing Ya'akov, or simply going to live with his wives in their tribe? If the third, is this simply a separation in the manner of Av-Ram and Lot, or Ya'akov and Lavan, where two parts of the same family realise they have grown so wealthy that there isn't enough grazing land for both their flocks? But this happened already, even before Ya'akov left for Padan Aram, when Esav went matrilocally to Mount Se'ir, in Edom. See below.
Presumably all these wives and wealth were garnered during Ya'akov's years of exile; or did he, in fact, inherit from Yitschak despite lacking either birthright or blessing? Or perhaps he obtained all this wealth through the matrilocal marriage.
36:7 KI HAYAH RECHUSHAM RAV MI SHEVET YACHDAV VE LO YACHLAH ERETS MEGUREYHEM LAS'ET OTAM MIPNEY MIKNEYHEM
כִּי הָיָה רְכוּשָׁם רָב מִשֶּׁבֶת יַחְדָּו וְלֹא יָכְלָה אֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵיהֶם לָשֵׂאת אֹתָם מִפְּנֵי מִקְנֵיהֶם
KJ: For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle.
BN: For their substance was too great for them to dwell together; and the land of their sojournings could not bear them because of their cattle.
The answer to our question above is: much as Av-Raham and Lot separated, rather than as Ya'akov separated from Lavan. Yet were the lands they went to not precisely identical?! If so, is Lot then to be counted amongst the Tanist brothers in the Edom-Yisra-El split?
36:8 VA YESHEV ESAV BE HAR SE'IR ESAV HU EDOM
וַיֵּשֶׁב עֵשָׂו בְּהַר שֵׂעִיר עֵשָׂו הוּא אֱדוֹם
KJ: Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.
BN: And Esav dwelt in the mountain-land of Se'ir - Esav is Edom.
In case anyone should have had any doubt about the Edomite aspect, this is the third reiteration; the Beney Chor (Horites) and the Beney Chavah (Hivites) were mountain people, and Esav apparently married into them, though previously (Genesis 26:34) we were told that both of his wives were Beney Chet (Hittites).
SE'IR means goat, and Mount Se'ir therefore Goat Mountain, completing our dramatis personae in which Mr White (Lavan) fathers Cow (Le'ah) and Sheep (Rachel), who marry Heel (Jacob), who steals the sheep and the cows, having already become the goat-god by stealing the blessing... So, now, the man whom Ya'akov had to wear goat-skins to feel like, has gone to the land of his eponymity...
36:9 VE ELEH TOLDOT ESAV AVI EDOM BE HAR SE'IR
וְאֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת עֵשָׂו אֲבִי אֱדוֹם בְּהַר שֵׂעִיר
KJ: And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:
BN: And this is the family tree of Esav, the father of Edom, in the mountain-land of Se'ir.
VE ELEH TOLDOT: Translated as "and these are the generations" because usually it leads onto a genealogical list. From the root YALAD = "to give birth". But the phrase is an idiom and not a literality; it is used to mean "this is the history".
36:10 ELEH SHEMOT BENEY ESAV ELI-PHAZ BEN ADAH ESHET ESAV RE'U-EL BEN BASMAT ESHET ESAV
אֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי עֵשָׂו אֱלִיפַז בֶּן עָדָה אֵשֶׁת עֵשָׂו רְעוּאֵל בֶּן בָּשְׂמַת אֵשֶׁת עֵשָׂו
KJ: These are the names of Esau's sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau.
BN: These are the names of Esav's sons: Eli-Phaz ben Adah eshet Esav; and Re'u-El ben Basmat eshet Esav.
I have kept the tribal form rather than translating. In the same way that I would not wish to translate John MacBride as "John, son of the wife" though that may well be what it means.The point is: these names are matronymic first, but people like us from the patriarchal world need the name of the father to be added!
Where the wives all appear to have priestess roles, the sons look like they are rather more a map of the Arabian world, akin to that of the Keturah list in Genesis 25.
36:11 VA YIHEYU BENEY ELI-PHAZ TEYMAN OMAR TSEPHO VE GA'TAM U KENAZ
KJ: And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.
BN: And the sons of Eli-Phaz were Teyman, Omar, Tsepho and Ga'tam, and Kenaz.
In Rabbinic legend Eli-Phaz is the favoured one of Esav's progeny: trained to piety by Yitschak himself, he was granted the gift of prophecy. The reason for this: there was an Eli-Phaz who was the friend of Iyov (Job), himself an Edomite, from Uts.
TEYMAN (תימן): the Teymanim, the normal Yehudit name for the people of what is now Saudi Arabia (see v34 below); and curiously, in Job 4:1, Eli-Phaz the friend of Iyov (Job) was himself a Teymani.
OMAR (אומר): probably "eloquent" or "talkative" from the root AMAR (אמר). One of the greatest of the Moslem Caliphs, also pronounced Umar - depending on your dialect of Arabic - later bore the name
TSEPHO: 1 Chronicles 1:36 calls him TSEPHI (צפי) but this kind of variation between Yud (י) and Vav (ו), as we have seen repeatedly, is commonplace (Sarai, Peni-El etc). Gesenius says the name means "watch-tower", connecting him thereby with MITSPEH, which is a "watchtower" of the sort used by astrologers to map the heavens, rather than by guards to scour the horizon (that would be a Migdal). The root is TSAPHAH (צפה) = "to shine, be bright", which also came up with AHALI-VAMAH (אהליבמה).
GA'TAM (גתם): thought to be from the root NAGA (נגע) = "to touch", though this is not obvious.
KENAZ (קנז): from the root KANAZ (קנז) = "to hunt", whence the Kenizim (קניזים), a Kena'anite tribe of no fixed abode. The father of Atni-El (עתניאל), the brother of Kalev (Caleb), was also called Kenaz (Joshua 15:17). Scholars have wondered if Ashkenaz was really Ish-Kenaz (איש-קנז), but this is unlikely. If the meaning is correct, then this connects with Tsidon and with Nimrod, but also links back to the story of Ya'akov stealing Esav's birthright and blessing, as both incidents focused upon Esav being out hunting.
36:12 VE TIMNA HAYETA PIYLEGESH LE ELI-PHAZ BEN ESAV VA TELED LE ELI-PHAZ AMALEK ELEH BENEY ADAH ESHET ESAV
KJ: And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau's wife.
BN: And Timna was concubine to Eli-Phaz ben Esav; and she mothered Amalek with Eli-Phaz. These are the sons of Adah eshet Esav.
AMALEK (עמלק): the Amalekites, from the southern region of the Pelishtim, between Edom and Mitsrayim (Egypt), also on the east side of Yam ha Melach (the Dead Sea) and on Mount Se'ir; probably aboriginal Arabians, and from Mosheh's time onwards the Beney Yisra-El's most implacable foes. Yet here they appear to be Esav's own progeny (put all the Biblical Toldot together, including Keturah, and it would appear that every nation on Earth is eventually family!). Timna is in the same area, just north of the Red Sea. Most of these sons and their maternities once again reflect geographical regions.
36:13 VE ELEH BENEY RE'U-EL NACHAT VA ZERACH SHAMAH U MIZAH ELEH HAYU BENEY VASMAT ESHET ESAV
KJ: And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife.
BN: And these are the sons of Re'u-El: Nachat and Zerach, Shamah, and Mizah. These were the sons of Basmat eshet Esav.
NACHAT (נחת): from a root meaning "to descend", it was an Aramaean rather than a Yehudit verb; Yehudit normally uses YARAD (ירד). Gesenius seems to think the name is rooted in the Chaldean TO'ACH (תוח), rather than NACHAT (נחת), but again provides no evidence.
ZERACH (זרח): again a sun-word: ZARACH (זרח) = "to rise". One of Yehudah's sons by Tamar in Genesis 38 is also called Zerach or Zarach. Numbers 26:13 refers to the Zarchi (זרחי) as a tribe.
SHAMAH (שמה): possibly from the root SHAMAH (שמה - Mem/מּ with a dagesh, inferring a double-Mem) = "to be high", whence SHEMAYIM (שמיים) = "heavens"; in which case yet another sun-word. Or perhaps from SHAMAH (שמה - Mem/מ without a dagesh) = "wasting, desolation"; also "astonishment". One of David's brothers was called SHAMAH (שמה), though elsewhere SHIMAH (שמעה) with an added Ayin (ע). Is it conceivable that this is the true root of SHEMU-EL (שמואל), Samuel, as well: SHAMAH-EL?
MIZAH (מזה): possibly from the root MAZAZ (מזז) = "trepidation". More likely from the root MAZAH (מזה), which is unused; a form of MATSATS/מצץ) = "to suck", whence MAZEH (מזה) = "starved, emaciated".
These tribes often recur later, and this tribal origin is therefore significant. The Amalekites, for example, were the major reason for Mosheh not entering Kena'an at the end of two years, but taking 40.
BENEY VASMAT: Note again that they are her sons, because theirs is a matrilocal society; in the patrilocal Toldot, we are always told that the father "begat", and then the name of the mother. Which came first, the sperm or the ovum?
36:14 VE ELEH HAYU BENEY AHALI-VAMAH VAT ANAH BAT TSIV'ON ESHET ESAV VA TELED LE ESAV ET YE'ISH VE ET YA'LAM VE ET KORACH
KJ: And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: and she bare to Esau Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah.
BN: And these were the sons of Ahali-Vamah bat Anah bat Tsiv'on eshet Esav; and she mothered Ye'ish and Ya'lam and Korach with Esav.
see v5. Why the repetition?
At which point the genealogy ends. What follows appears to be a military roll or muster, in which these sons of Esav are treated as clan-chiefs or leaders of army sections. The term "sons" must either mean subsidiary or local tribes within the overall kingdom of Edom; or that the sons were adopted sons, in the sense of treaty-clans.
36:15 ELEH ALUPHEY VENEY ESAV BENEY ELI-PHAZ BECHOR ESAV ALUPH TEYMAN ALUPH OMAR ALUPH TSEPHO ALUPH KENAZ
KJ: These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,
BN: These are the clan-chiefs of the Beney Esav: the Beney Eli-Phaz, the first-born of Esav: Chief Teyman, Chief Omar, Chief Tsepho, Chief of Kenaz.
Are they really sons at all? Indeed, can we deduce from this that the term sons is never as we imagine it? After all, it has a variety of meanings. Here ALUPH (אלןף) ought to mean "champion" or "army commander", though some English translations give "Duke", which was not an aristocratic title widely known in the Middle East - the inference is that they were local rulers under the sovereignty of a greater king, and not fully-fledged kings themselves. ALUPHIM here could be "town mayors" or "Chairs of the Village Councils", or "garrison-commanders".
Logic says the later scribes found some old tribal muster-roll and attempted to deduce the tribal confederation of Esav from it, naming them sons in so doing. If these were not sons, but tribal chieftains or military commanders or whatever, then how far do we need to rethink our assumptions about the other "sons"?
36:16 ALUPH KORACH ALUPH GA'TAM ALUPH AMALEK ELEH ALUPHEY ELI-PHAZ BE ERETS EDOM ELEH BENEY ADAH
KJ: Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek: these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.
BN: Chief Korach, Chief Ga'tam, Chief Amalek. These are the clan-chiefs who came out of Eli-Phaz in the land of Edom. These are the Beney Adah.
36:17 VE ELEH BENEY RE'U-EL BEN ESAV ALUPH NACHAT ALUPH ZERACH ALUPH SHAMAH ALUPH MIZAH ELEH ALUPHEY RE'U-EL BE ERETS EDOM ELEH BENEY VASMAT ESHET ESAV
KJ: And these are the sons of Reuel Esau's son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the dukes that came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife.
BN: And these are the Beney Re'u-El, Esav's son; Chief Nachat, Chief Zerach, Chief Shamah, Chief Mizah. These are the chiefs who came out of Re'u-El in the land of Edom. These are the Beney Basmat eshet Esav.
Once again we can see just how much Edomite history and legend there is in the Tanach.
See v13 for all the names in this verse.
36:18 VE ELEH BENEY AHALIVAMAH ESHET ESAV ALUPH YE'USH ALUPH YA'LAM ALUPH KORACH ELEH ALUPHEY AHALIVAMAH BAT ANAH ESHET ESAV
KJ: And these are the sons of Aholibamah Esau's wife; duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah: these were the dukes that came of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife.
BN: And these are the Beney Ahali-Vamah eshet Esav: Chief Ye'ush, Chief Ya'lam, Chief Korach. These are the chiefs that came out of Ahali-Vamah bat Anah eshet Esav.
See v14 for the names in this verse.
36:19 ELEH VENEY ESAV VE ELEH ALUPHEYHEM HU EDOM
KJ: These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.
BN: These are the Beney Esav, and these are their chiefs: this is Edom.
Thus Esav (Esau) = Edom; as Ya'akov (Jacob) = Yisra-El. Surely this eponomising is deliberate.
ALUPHEYHEM (אלופיהם); grammar here should be singular.
Samech break; end of sixth fragment.
36:20 ELEH VENEY SE'IR HA CHORI YOSHVEY HA ARETS LOTAN VE SHOVAL VE TSIV'ON VA ANAH
KJ: These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,
BN: These are the Beney Se'ir ha Chori, the aboriginal inhabitants of that land: Lotan and Shoval and Tsiv'on and Anah.
One presumes that Se'ir (שעיר) indicates the town as well as the patriarch; that the Chori (חורי) were the real inhabitants; and that somewhere along the way Se'ir and Chori and Edom became confused, as it still is here somewhat. Or was Se'ir simply one tribe in one town of Edom? Possibly the Chori were the aboriginals, possibly even troglodytic. Deuteronomy 2:12 provides the answer.
LOTAN (לוטן): The name contains the same, unusual, Tet ending as does Lot in the Av-Raham tales. It comes from the same root = "a covering, veil" and may well be a more successful masculinisation of al-Lat.
SHOVAL (שובל): probably from the root SHAVAL (שבל) = "to go, go up, grow, produce ears of corn, flow".
TSIV'ON (צבעון): see v2 - Gesenius claims that this name comes from the root TSAVAH (צבה) = "to dip, immerse" (whence ETSBAH/אצבה= finger!). Rather more probably it comes from TSAVAH (צבה) = "to hunt", which was used specifically for wild animals in the sense of "to ravine/be ravenous"; whence TSEVOYIM (צביים) = "hyenas"; also TSEVOYIM (צביים), a town in the tribe of Bin-Yamin. But is this a person or a place - after all Tsiv'on is given as one of the sons of Esau as well (see above)?
ANAH (ענה): same as Anah in v18 above? But there he was female.
36:21 VE DISHON VE ETSER VE DIYSHAN ELEH ALUPHEY HA CHORI BENEY SE'IR BE ERETS EDOM
KJ: And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
BN: And Dishon and Etser and Diyshan. These are the chiefs that came out of the Beney Chor, the Beney Se'ir in the land of Edom.
DISHON/DIYSHAN (דישן): what connection? - DISHON = a species of gazelle.
ETSER (אצר): = treasure, from ATSAR (אצר) = to store up etc.
36:22 VA YIHEYU VENEY LOTAN CHORI VE HEYMAM VA ACHOT LOTAN TIMNA
KJ: And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.
BN: And the children of Lotan were Chori and Heymam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.
Or possibly lists of towns in alliance with each other? There was a Timna previously (v12). Definitely a change in the tone as well as the language, from clan lists to individuals of some kind: person or place.
Is some kind of a roll call of the exiles taking place here, either to establish who all the refugees were, or to work out a social structure for them as exiles; or even perhaps a need to ensure that every exile group had its point of self-identification in the text, to keep them on board.
CHORI (חורי): the ancestors of Ben Hur, born Hollywood circa 1950! - CHUR (חור) = "white", and yields "fine linen", from the root CHAVAR (חור). But CHUR (חור) also = "a hole", especially that of a viper, and used for underground prisons. The name is applied severally: Numbers 31:8 and Joshua 13:21 give him as a Midyanite king; Exodus 17:10 and 24:14 give him as Mosheh's brother-in-law, husband of his sister Mir-Yam; as a tribe we tend to think of them as the Hurrians, whose language is the original Kena'anite/Kinnahu). Probably they were linen-workers connected to the dyeing trade, which was a major trade of the time. Also from the same root CHAVAR (חור) = "to be white, make white" comes CHORI (חורי) = "white bread". But there is also another version of CHORI (חרי) from CHOR (חר) = "a hole", here without a Vav (ו) = "troglodytes, cave-dwellers"; Genesis 14:6 has the Chori (חרי) anciently inhabiting Mount Se'ir; as noted above, Deuteronomy 2:12 has them expelled by the Edomites from Mount Se'ir - see also Numbers 13:5.
HEYMAM (הימם): could it be HOMAM (הומם) as in 1 Chronicles 1:39, from the root HAMAM (המם) = "destruction", or else HEYMAN (הימן) which in both Syrian and Chaldean is MEHEYMAN (מהימן) = "faithful"? Elsewhere (1 Chronicles 6:18, 15:17) another HEYMAN (הימן) is noted, a Levite of the Beney Kohat, a leader of David's choir. Much more likely though the Hey (ה) should be a Chet (ח), in which case CHEYMAM (חימם) from the root CHAMAM (חמם) = "to become warm"; therefore yet another sun-word from which comes CHAMAN (חמן - Haman), the famous persecutor of the Jews in the Purim story of Ester (Esther): but in fact images such as those of Astarte which stood upon the altar of Ba'al to represent the sun; BA'AL CHAMAN (בעל חמן) was himself a sun-deity among the Phoenicians, and is probably the same Ba'al Hammon who was one of the chief gods of Carthage; from this comes CHAMAH (חמה) as an alternative word for the sun; and also CHEMA (חמה) = "butter", which is the colour of the sun. Haman gets a mention as a sun-idol in the Torah, long before the Ester story - in Leviticus 26:30. CHEM was the Egyptian name for Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt being Metser, whence Yehudit Mitsrayim.
TIMNA (תמנע): any connection to Teyman (תימן which has no Ayin/ע)? Genesis 38:12 refers to Timna without an Ayin as an ancient town of Kena'an; while Joshua 15:10 and 57 transfer this town to Yehudah; Joshua 19:43 thence to Dan; but Judges 14:1 and 2 Chronicles 28:18 places it in the lands of the Pelishtim. Joshua 19:50 and 24:30 refer to a town on Mount Ephrayim given specifically to Yehoshu'a and called Timnat Serach (תמנת סרח), which may be an error for Timnat Cheres (תמנת חרס), , the former meaning "portion of the sun" and the latter "abundant portion" - TIMNA with an Ayin (תמנע) means "restrained", in the very specific sense of restraining from intercourse with men, presumably of a sexual rather than a conversational kind; from the root MAN'A (מנע) = "to keep back, restrain, be withheld". TIMNA without an Ayin comes from the root MANAH (מנה) = "portion", as in the food which the Beney Yisra-El collected in the wilderness.
36:23 VE ELEH BENEY SHOVAL ALVAN U MANACHAT VE EYVAL SHEPHO VE ONAM
KJ: And the children of Shobal were these; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
BN: And these are the children of Shoval: Alvan and Manachat and Eyval, Shepho and Onam.
ALVAN: 1 Chronicles 1:40 spells it ALYAN (עלין) = "unrighteous". But the spelling there could just as easily be pronounced ELON.
MANACHAT (מנחת): compare NACHAT (מחת) in verses 13 and 17. 1 Chronicles 8:6 has it as a place, not a man. Probably from the root NACHAT (נחת) = "rest"; the Mem (מ) suggests a place as in MITBACH (מטבח) = "place of killing/cooking" = "kitchen"; thus suggesting the town is the more likely explanation, and was a caravanserai/oasis rather than a shrine as in the sun-words previously.
EYVAL (עיבל): Mount Ebal as it is usually known in English, a mountain or rock in the northern part of Mount Ephrayim, opposite Mount Gerizim, the two hills that enclose Shechem. Possibly from the root AVAL (עבל) = "stone"; possibly from the root AVAL (עבל), a very specific Arabic root for stripping trees of their leaves, whence OVAL (עובל) = a nation and land in Yaktanite Arabia (Genesis 10:28) called in the Samaritan copy of the Tanach EYVAL (עיבל) as here; also thus called in 1 Chronicles 1:22; possibly connected with Geval (גבל), of which there are two, one in Edom and one in Phoenicia.
SHEPHO (שפו): called SHEPHI (שפע) in 1 Chronicles 1:40 = "nakedness".
ONAM (אונם): = strong - any connection to ONAN (אונן)? I have already noted a possible connection to ON (Heliopolis) with Rachel naming her second son Ben-Oni (see Genesis 35:18).
36:24 VE ELEH VENEY TSIV'ON VE AYAH VA ANAH HU ANAH ASHER MATSA ET HA YEMIM BA MIDBAR BIR'OTO ET HA CHAMORIM LE TSIV'ON AVIV
KJ: And these are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.
BN: And these are the children of Tsiv'on: Ayah and Anah - this is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he fed the asses of Tsiv'on his father.
ANAH (ענה): third reference to a person named Anah; here though a nice bit of legend is added. But were the previous name-holders male or female?
Odd grammar here; these are the sons of: and...
What obviously well-known legend is being recalled here - reminiscent of Sha'ul's coronation in 1 Samuel 9.
Why do some BENEY have a hyphen, others not (you will have to check your own texts; I have removed all but the essential hyphens from the BibleNet version)? All hyphens are Masoretic additions, not Ezraic originals.
36:25 VE ELEH VENEY ANAH DISHON VE AHALI-VAMAH BAT ANAH
KJ: And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
BN: And these are the children of Anah: Dishon and Ahali-Vamah the daughter of Anah.
Some kind of tribal intermarriage, or inter-alliance? Worth doing a full family tree or at least a table to show all the details of the family of Esav. Dishon and Ahali-Vamah have both come up before - see above.
But it gets us to Esav at last.
36:26 VE ELEH BENEY DIYSHAN CHEMDAN VE ESHBAN VE YITRAN U CHERAN
KJ: And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
BN: And these are the children of Diyshan: Chemdan and Eshban and Yitran and Cheran
Having had a series of Ba'al names earlier, this is another series.
CHEMDAN: 1 Chronicles 1:41 gives CHAMRAN (חמרן), which is almost certainly wrong, though it would make another link to CHAMOR = "donkey". From the root CHAMAD (חמד), whence also NECHMAD (נחמד) = "nice" and CHAMUD (חמוד) = "darling"; and others having the general sense of pleasantness.
ESHBAN (אשבן): root obscure; perhaps ISH-BEN (איש-בן), though this seems unlikely; perhaps CHESHBON (חשבון) which Song of Songs 7:5 notes was a royal city of the Amorites famous for its artificial pools, on the borders of Gad and Re'u-Ven and assigned in Joshua 13:17 and 1 Chronicles 6:66 to the Levites; Isaiah 15:4 and Jeremiah 48:2 place it in Mo-Av.
YITRAN (יתרן): root obscure, but logically TARAN (תרן), of which there is no evidence in Yehudit - it is entirely likely that these roots are only obscure because the names were never Yehudit in the first place. TOREN (תרן) = "a mast" or "a banner signal set on a mountain top", but this is probably a corruption of the root RANAN (רנן), which is untranslatable except by saying that it suggests the sound of wind and wood vibrating as a boat sails. The only other word that comes close to the root here is the Chaldean TREYN (תרין) = "two", but there is no obvious connection.
CHERAN (כרן): root again obscure; the other viable hypothesis for these unexplainable roots is that the tales came down orally, so the scribe had to make decisions about how to phoneticise them: CHERAN could just as well have had a first-letter Chet (ח) and been CHARAN, the ancestral home in Padan Aram, though we have to assume, in this instance anyway, that the Redactor would have written it that way if he had thought Charan was intended. Not necesarily so with some of the others.
36:27 ELEH BENEY ETSER BILHAN VE ZA'AVAN VA AKAN
KJ: The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.
BN: These are the children of Etser: Bilhan and Za'avan and Akan.
BILHAN (בלהן): cf notes on Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid.
ZA'AVAN (זעון): = disturbed, troubled, oppressed, maltreated - not a name one normally gives one's child.
AKAN: Numbers 33:31, Deuteronomy 10:6 and 1 Chronicles 1:42 give YA'AKAN (יַעֲקָן), but there is no root AKAN (עקן) or YA'AK (יעק) to be found.
A large number of Nun (ן) endings these past dozen verses; it usually suggests ON = place, and the name therefore "resident of..." said place. Were these then villages, or even just nomadic caravanserai? If "Esav is Edom", as we were told in verse 8, then a list of his "children" could very well be a map of Edom.
36:28 ELEH VENEY DIYSHAN UTS VA ARAN
KJ: The children of Dishan are these; Uz, and Aran.
BN: These are the children of Diyshan: Uts and Aran.
UTS (עוץ): whom we have encountered before, in Genesis 10:23, 22:21 = "soft and sandy earth"; a region of the North Arabian desert.
ARAN (ארן): = "a wild goat". But also Oren (ארן) = "a tree whose wood was used for carving idols"; probably some kind of pine. 1 Chronicles 2:25 has a town called Oren.
36:29 ELEH ALUPHEY HA CHORI ALUPH LOTAN ALUPH SHOVAL ALUPH TSIV'ON ALUPH ANAH
KJ: These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,
BN: These are the clan-chiefs that came out of the Chori: Chief Lotan, Chief Shoval, Chief Tsivon, Chief Anah.
Again cross-check these names; is there something going on here between the Chorites and Esavites and Ya'akov's own clan?
36:30 ALUPH DISHON ALUPH ETSER ALUPH DIYSHAN ELEH ALUPHEY HA CHORI LE ALUPHEYHEM BE ERETS SE'IR
KJ: Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these arethe dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.
BN: Chief Dishon, Chief Etser, Chief Diyshan. These are the chiefs that came out of the Chori, each clan its own chieftain, in the land of Se'ir.
What we can say for certain is that the inhabitants of Se'ir were held to be Chorites, and that Esav married into the tribe and became the patriarch of Edom, whose capital was Se'ir. The Yishma-Elites are also a part of this confederacy, if that is what it was. Do Se'ir and Esav and Edom and Yishma-El thus become interchangeable terms? If so, look ahead to the Yoseph story.
Pey break
36:31 VE ELEH HA MELACHIM ASHER MALCHU BE ERETS EDOM LIPHNEY MELACH MELECH LI VENEY YISRA-EL
KJ: And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
BN: And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, long before any king was anointed to reign over the Beney Yisra-El.
MELACHIM (מלכים): The pey break here tells us that verse 31 is not a summary of what we have just read, but an introduction to what we are about to read. The word MELACH is connected to the god MOLOCH, king of the universe, but only because both are rooted in the Pi'el form of LALECHET = "to go"; as such the word simply means "leader".
36:32 VA YIMLOCH BE EDOM BELA BEN BE'OR VE SHEM IYRO DINHAVAH
KJ: And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
BN: And Bela ben Be'or reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhavah.
BELA BEN BE'OR (בלע בן בעור): from the root BALA (בלע) = "to swallow, devour". Situated on the southern shore of the Dead Sea, and called TSO'AR (צוער) in Genesis 14:2 and 8 as well as Genesis 19:20 ff, where it was Lot's refuge after the other Cities of the Plain had been "swallowed" and "devoured". The name Bela appears again in the genealogy of Re'u-Ven in 1 Chronicles 5:8. BE'OR (בעור) comes from the root OR (עור) = "torch" or "lamp".
Impossible not to register the similarity of names between Bela ben Be'or here, and Bil'am (Balaam) ben Be'or in Numbers 22. There are links to the god Ba'al here (in the next verse his name will be given as Bala rather than Bela, emphasising this), and possibly in the Bilam story as well; though we shall see that Balaam is simply an English error for Bil'am, and that Bilam anyway was really Bli-Am.
DINHAVAH (דנהבה): properly DI NEHAVAH (די נהבה), DI being a relative pronoun in Aramaic, used to mean "a place" (cf Deuteronomy 1:1 where DI ZEHAV/די זהב is the ancient name for DAHAB/דהב = place of gold). NEHAVAH (נהבה) + PLUNDER - therefore DINHAVAH = "a plunderer's hideout".
Is it feasible that the kings ruled cities and the chiefs ruled rural clans? Or is it that the kings were sacred priests only and not secular rulers? The inference here is that Dinhava was the capital city of Edom, under Bela's rule, but we know that this was not the case - the capital of Edom was Batsrah, though later Petra replaced it. Unless it moved to Batsrah when Bela died - see the next verse.
36:33 VA YAMOT BALA VA YIMLOCH TACHTAV YOVAV BEN ZERACH MI BATSRAH
KJ: And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
Where the wives all appear to have priestess roles, the sons look like they are rather more a map of the Arabian world, akin to that of the Keturah list in Genesis 25.
36:11 VA YIHEYU BENEY ELI-PHAZ TEYMAN OMAR TSEPHO VE GA'TAM U KENAZ
וַיִּהְיוּ בְּנֵי אֱלִיפָז תֵּימָן אוֹמָר צְפוֹ וְגַעְתָּם וּקְנַז
KJ: And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.
BN: And the sons of Eli-Phaz were Teyman, Omar, Tsepho and Ga'tam, and Kenaz.
In Rabbinic legend Eli-Phaz is the favoured one of Esav's progeny: trained to piety by Yitschak himself, he was granted the gift of prophecy. The reason for this: there was an Eli-Phaz who was the friend of Iyov (Job), himself an Edomite, from Uts.
TEYMAN (תימן): the Teymanim, the normal Yehudit name for the people of what is now Saudi Arabia (see v34 below); and curiously, in Job 4:1, Eli-Phaz the friend of Iyov (Job) was himself a Teymani.
OMAR (אומר): probably "eloquent" or "talkative" from the root AMAR (אמר). One of the greatest of the Moslem Caliphs, also pronounced Umar - depending on your dialect of Arabic - later bore the name
TSEPHO: 1 Chronicles 1:36 calls him TSEPHI (צפי) but this kind of variation between Yud (י) and Vav (ו), as we have seen repeatedly, is commonplace (Sarai, Peni-El etc). Gesenius says the name means "watch-tower", connecting him thereby with MITSPEH, which is a "watchtower" of the sort used by astrologers to map the heavens, rather than by guards to scour the horizon (that would be a Migdal). The root is TSAPHAH (צפה) = "to shine, be bright", which also came up with AHALI-VAMAH (אהליבמה).
GA'TAM (גתם): thought to be from the root NAGA (נגע) = "to touch", though this is not obvious.
KENAZ (קנז): from the root KANAZ (קנז) = "to hunt", whence the Kenizim (קניזים), a Kena'anite tribe of no fixed abode. The father of Atni-El (עתניאל), the brother of Kalev (Caleb), was also called Kenaz (Joshua 15:17). Scholars have wondered if Ashkenaz was really Ish-Kenaz (איש-קנז), but this is unlikely. If the meaning is correct, then this connects with Tsidon and with Nimrod, but also links back to the story of Ya'akov stealing Esav's birthright and blessing, as both incidents focused upon Esav being out hunting.
36:12 VE TIMNA HAYETA PIYLEGESH LE ELI-PHAZ BEN ESAV VA TELED LE ELI-PHAZ AMALEK ELEH BENEY ADAH ESHET ESAV
וְתִמְנַע הָיְתָה פִילֶגֶשׁ לֶאֱלִיפַז בֶּן עֵשָׂו וַתֵּלֶד לֶאֱלִיפַז אֶת עֲמָלֵק אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי עָדָה אֵשֶׁת עֵשָׂו
KJ: And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau's wife.
BN: And Timna was concubine to Eli-Phaz ben Esav; and she mothered Amalek with Eli-Phaz. These are the sons of Adah eshet Esav.
AMALEK (עמלק): the Amalekites, from the southern region of the Pelishtim, between Edom and Mitsrayim (Egypt), also on the east side of Yam ha Melach (the Dead Sea) and on Mount Se'ir; probably aboriginal Arabians, and from Mosheh's time onwards the Beney Yisra-El's most implacable foes. Yet here they appear to be Esav's own progeny (put all the Biblical Toldot together, including Keturah, and it would appear that every nation on Earth is eventually family!). Timna is in the same area, just north of the Red Sea. Most of these sons and their maternities once again reflect geographical regions.
36:13 VE ELEH BENEY RE'U-EL NACHAT VA ZERACH SHAMAH U MIZAH ELEH HAYU BENEY VASMAT ESHET ESAV
וְאֵלֶּה בְּנֵי רְעוּאֵל נַחַת וָזֶרַח שַׁמָּה וּמִזָּה אֵלֶּה הָיוּ בְּנֵי בָשְׂמַת אֵשֶׁת עֵשָׂו
KJ: And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife.
BN: And these are the sons of Re'u-El: Nachat and Zerach, Shamah, and Mizah. These were the sons of Basmat eshet Esav.
NACHAT (נחת): from a root meaning "to descend", it was an Aramaean rather than a Yehudit verb; Yehudit normally uses YARAD (ירד). Gesenius seems to think the name is rooted in the Chaldean TO'ACH (תוח), rather than NACHAT (נחת), but again provides no evidence.
ZERACH (זרח): again a sun-word: ZARACH (זרח) = "to rise". One of Yehudah's sons by Tamar in Genesis 38 is also called Zerach or Zarach. Numbers 26:13 refers to the Zarchi (זרחי) as a tribe.
SHAMAH (שמה): possibly from the root SHAMAH (שמה - Mem/מּ with a dagesh, inferring a double-Mem) = "to be high", whence SHEMAYIM (שמיים) = "heavens"; in which case yet another sun-word. Or perhaps from SHAMAH (שמה - Mem/מ without a dagesh) = "wasting, desolation"; also "astonishment". One of David's brothers was called SHAMAH (שמה), though elsewhere SHIMAH (שמעה) with an added Ayin (ע). Is it conceivable that this is the true root of SHEMU-EL (שמואל), Samuel, as well: SHAMAH-EL?
MIZAH (מזה): possibly from the root MAZAZ (מזז) = "trepidation". More likely from the root MAZAH (מזה), which is unused; a form of MATSATS/מצץ) = "to suck", whence MAZEH (מזה) = "starved, emaciated".
These tribes often recur later, and this tribal origin is therefore significant. The Amalekites, for example, were the major reason for Mosheh not entering Kena'an at the end of two years, but taking 40.
BENEY VASMAT: Note again that they are her sons, because theirs is a matrilocal society; in the patrilocal Toldot, we are always told that the father "begat", and then the name of the mother. Which came first, the sperm or the ovum?
36:14 VE ELEH HAYU BENEY AHALI-VAMAH VAT ANAH BAT TSIV'ON ESHET ESAV VA TELED LE ESAV ET YE'ISH VE ET YA'LAM VE ET KORACH
וְאֵלֶּה הָיוּ בְּנֵי אָהֳלִיבָמָה בַת עֲנָה בַּת צִבְעוֹן אֵשֶׁת עֵשָׂו וַתֵּלֶד לְעֵשָׂו אֶת יעישׁ וְאֶת יַעְלָם וְאֶת קֹרַח
KJ: And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: and she bare to Esau Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah.
BN: And these were the sons of Ahali-Vamah bat Anah bat Tsiv'on eshet Esav; and she mothered Ye'ish and Ya'lam and Korach with Esav.
see v5. Why the repetition?
At which point the genealogy ends. What follows appears to be a military roll or muster, in which these sons of Esav are treated as clan-chiefs or leaders of army sections. The term "sons" must either mean subsidiary or local tribes within the overall kingdom of Edom; or that the sons were adopted sons, in the sense of treaty-clans.
36:15 ELEH ALUPHEY VENEY ESAV BENEY ELI-PHAZ BECHOR ESAV ALUPH TEYMAN ALUPH OMAR ALUPH TSEPHO ALUPH KENAZ
אֵלֶּה אַלּוּפֵי בְנֵי עֵשָׂו בְּנֵי אֱלִיפַז בְּכוֹר עֵשָׂו אַלּוּף תֵּימָן אַלּוּף אוֹמָר אַלּוּף צְפוֹ אַלּוּף קְנַז
KJ: These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,
BN: These are the clan-chiefs of the Beney Esav: the Beney Eli-Phaz, the first-born of Esav: Chief Teyman, Chief Omar, Chief Tsepho, Chief of Kenaz.
Are they really sons at all? Indeed, can we deduce from this that the term sons is never as we imagine it? After all, it has a variety of meanings. Here ALUPH (אלןף) ought to mean "champion" or "army commander", though some English translations give "Duke", which was not an aristocratic title widely known in the Middle East - the inference is that they were local rulers under the sovereignty of a greater king, and not fully-fledged kings themselves. ALUPHIM here could be "town mayors" or "Chairs of the Village Councils", or "garrison-commanders".
36:16 ALUPH KORACH ALUPH GA'TAM ALUPH AMALEK ELEH ALUPHEY ELI-PHAZ BE ERETS EDOM ELEH BENEY ADAH
אַלּוּף קֹרַח אַלּוּף גַּעְתָּם אַלּוּף עֲמָלֵק אֵלֶּה אַלּוּפֵי אֱלִיפַז בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי עָדָה
KJ: Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek: these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.
BN: Chief Korach, Chief Ga'tam, Chief Amalek. These are the clan-chiefs who came out of Eli-Phaz in the land of Edom. These are the Beney Adah.
36:17 VE ELEH BENEY RE'U-EL BEN ESAV ALUPH NACHAT ALUPH ZERACH ALUPH SHAMAH ALUPH MIZAH ELEH ALUPHEY RE'U-EL BE ERETS EDOM ELEH BENEY VASMAT ESHET ESAV
וְאֵלֶּה בְּנֵי רְעוּאֵל בֶּן עֵשָׂו אַלּוּף נַחַת אַלּוּף זֶרַח אַלּוּף שַׁמָּה אַלּוּף מִזָּה אֵלֶּה אַלּוּפֵי רְעוּאֵל בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי בָשְׂמַת אֵשֶׁת עֵשָׂו
KJ: And these are the sons of Reuel Esau's son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the dukes that came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife.
BN: And these are the Beney Re'u-El, Esav's son; Chief Nachat, Chief Zerach, Chief Shamah, Chief Mizah. These are the chiefs who came out of Re'u-El in the land of Edom. These are the Beney Basmat eshet Esav.
Once again we can see just how much Edomite history and legend there is in the Tanach.
See v13 for all the names in this verse.
36:18 VE ELEH BENEY AHALIVAMAH ESHET ESAV ALUPH YE'USH ALUPH YA'LAM ALUPH KORACH ELEH ALUPHEY AHALIVAMAH BAT ANAH ESHET ESAV
וְאֵלֶּה בְּנֵי אָהֳלִיבָמָה אֵשֶׁת עֵשָׂו אַלּוּף יְעוּשׁ אַלּוּף יַעְלָם אַלּוּף קֹרַח אֵלֶּה אַלּוּפֵי אָהֳלִיבָמָה בַּת עֲנָה אֵשֶׁת עֵשָׂו
KJ: And these are the sons of Aholibamah Esau's wife; duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah: these were the dukes that came of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife.
BN: And these are the Beney Ahali-Vamah eshet Esav: Chief Ye'ush, Chief Ya'lam, Chief Korach. These are the chiefs that came out of Ahali-Vamah bat Anah eshet Esav.
See v14 for the names in this verse.
36:19 ELEH VENEY ESAV VE ELEH ALUPHEYHEM HU EDOM
אֵלֶּה בְנֵי עֵשָׂו וְאֵלֶּה אַלּוּפֵיהֶם הוּא אֱדוֹם
KJ: These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.
BN: These are the Beney Esav, and these are their chiefs: this is Edom.
Thus Esav (Esau) = Edom; as Ya'akov (Jacob) = Yisra-El. Surely this eponomising is deliberate.
ALUPHEYHEM (אלופיהם); grammar here should be singular.
Samech break; end of sixth fragment.
36:20 ELEH VENEY SE'IR HA CHORI YOSHVEY HA ARETS LOTAN VE SHOVAL VE TSIV'ON VA ANAH
אֵלֶּה בְנֵי שֵׂעִיר הַחֹרִי יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ לוֹטָן וְשׁוֹבָל וְצִבְעוֹן וַעֲנָה
KJ: These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,
BN: These are the Beney Se'ir ha Chori, the aboriginal inhabitants of that land: Lotan and Shoval and Tsiv'on and Anah.
One presumes that Se'ir (שעיר) indicates the town as well as the patriarch; that the Chori (חורי) were the real inhabitants; and that somewhere along the way Se'ir and Chori and Edom became confused, as it still is here somewhat. Or was Se'ir simply one tribe in one town of Edom? Possibly the Chori were the aboriginals, possibly even troglodytic. Deuteronomy 2:12 provides the answer.
LOTAN (לוטן): The name contains the same, unusual, Tet ending as does Lot in the Av-Raham tales. It comes from the same root = "a covering, veil" and may well be a more successful masculinisation of al-Lat.
SHOVAL (שובל): probably from the root SHAVAL (שבל) = "to go, go up, grow, produce ears of corn, flow".
TSIV'ON (צבעון): see v2 - Gesenius claims that this name comes from the root TSAVAH (צבה) = "to dip, immerse" (whence ETSBAH/אצבה= finger!). Rather more probably it comes from TSAVAH (צבה) = "to hunt", which was used specifically for wild animals in the sense of "to ravine/be ravenous"; whence TSEVOYIM (צביים) = "hyenas"; also TSEVOYIM (צביים), a town in the tribe of Bin-Yamin. But is this a person or a place - after all Tsiv'on is given as one of the sons of Esau as well (see above)?
ANAH (ענה): same as Anah in v18 above? But there he was female.
36:21 VE DISHON VE ETSER VE DIYSHAN ELEH ALUPHEY HA CHORI BENEY SE'IR BE ERETS EDOM
וְדִשׁוֹן וְאֵצֶר וְדִישָׁן אֵלֶּה אַלּוּפֵי הַחֹרִי בְּנֵי שֵׂעִיר בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם
KJ: And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
BN: And Dishon and Etser and Diyshan. These are the chiefs that came out of the Beney Chor, the Beney Se'ir in the land of Edom.
DISHON/DIYSHAN (דישן): what connection? - DISHON = a species of gazelle.
ETSER (אצר): = treasure, from ATSAR (אצר) = to store up etc.
36:22 VA YIHEYU VENEY LOTAN CHORI VE HEYMAM VA ACHOT LOTAN TIMNA
וַיִּהְיוּ בְנֵי לוֹטָן חֹרִי וְהֵימָם וַאֲחוֹת לוֹטָן תִּמְנָע
KJ: And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.
BN: And the children of Lotan were Chori and Heymam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.
Or possibly lists of towns in alliance with each other? There was a Timna previously (v12). Definitely a change in the tone as well as the language, from clan lists to individuals of some kind: person or place.
Is some kind of a roll call of the exiles taking place here, either to establish who all the refugees were, or to work out a social structure for them as exiles; or even perhaps a need to ensure that every exile group had its point of self-identification in the text, to keep them on board.
CHORI (חורי): the ancestors of Ben Hur, born Hollywood circa 1950! - CHUR (חור) = "white", and yields "fine linen", from the root CHAVAR (חור). But CHUR (חור) also = "a hole", especially that of a viper, and used for underground prisons. The name is applied severally: Numbers 31:8 and Joshua 13:21 give him as a Midyanite king; Exodus 17:10 and 24:14 give him as Mosheh's brother-in-law, husband of his sister Mir-Yam; as a tribe we tend to think of them as the Hurrians, whose language is the original Kena'anite/Kinnahu). Probably they were linen-workers connected to the dyeing trade, which was a major trade of the time. Also from the same root CHAVAR (חור) = "to be white, make white" comes CHORI (חורי) = "white bread". But there is also another version of CHORI (חרי) from CHOR (חר) = "a hole", here without a Vav (ו) = "troglodytes, cave-dwellers"; Genesis 14:6 has the Chori (חרי) anciently inhabiting Mount Se'ir; as noted above, Deuteronomy 2:12 has them expelled by the Edomites from Mount Se'ir - see also Numbers 13:5.
HEYMAM (הימם): could it be HOMAM (הומם) as in 1 Chronicles 1:39, from the root HAMAM (המם) = "destruction", or else HEYMAN (הימן) which in both Syrian and Chaldean is MEHEYMAN (מהימן) = "faithful"? Elsewhere (1 Chronicles 6:18, 15:17) another HEYMAN (הימן) is noted, a Levite of the Beney Kohat, a leader of David's choir. Much more likely though the Hey (ה) should be a Chet (ח), in which case CHEYMAM (חימם) from the root CHAMAM (חמם) = "to become warm"; therefore yet another sun-word from which comes CHAMAN (חמן - Haman), the famous persecutor of the Jews in the Purim story of Ester (Esther): but in fact images such as those of Astarte which stood upon the altar of Ba'al to represent the sun; BA'AL CHAMAN (בעל חמן) was himself a sun-deity among the Phoenicians, and is probably the same Ba'al Hammon who was one of the chief gods of Carthage; from this comes CHAMAH (חמה) as an alternative word for the sun; and also CHEMA (חמה) = "butter", which is the colour of the sun. Haman gets a mention as a sun-idol in the Torah, long before the Ester story - in Leviticus 26:30. CHEM was the Egyptian name for Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt being Metser, whence Yehudit Mitsrayim.
TIMNA (תמנע): any connection to Teyman (תימן which has no Ayin/ע)? Genesis 38:12 refers to Timna without an Ayin as an ancient town of Kena'an; while Joshua 15:10 and 57 transfer this town to Yehudah; Joshua 19:43 thence to Dan; but Judges 14:1 and 2 Chronicles 28:18 places it in the lands of the Pelishtim. Joshua 19:50 and 24:30 refer to a town on Mount Ephrayim given specifically to Yehoshu'a and called Timnat Serach (תמנת סרח), which may be an error for Timnat Cheres (תמנת חרס), , the former meaning "portion of the sun" and the latter "abundant portion" - TIMNA with an Ayin (תמנע) means "restrained", in the very specific sense of restraining from intercourse with men, presumably of a sexual rather than a conversational kind; from the root MAN'A (מנע) = "to keep back, restrain, be withheld". TIMNA without an Ayin comes from the root MANAH (מנה) = "portion", as in the food which the Beney Yisra-El collected in the wilderness.
36:23 VE ELEH BENEY SHOVAL ALVAN U MANACHAT VE EYVAL SHEPHO VE ONAM
וְאֵלֶּה בְּנֵי שׁוֹבָל עַלְוָן וּמָנַחַת וְעֵיבָל שְׁפוֹ וְאוֹנָם
KJ: And the children of Shobal were these; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
BN: And these are the children of Shoval: Alvan and Manachat and Eyval, Shepho and Onam.
ALVAN: 1 Chronicles 1:40 spells it ALYAN (עלין) = "unrighteous". But the spelling there could just as easily be pronounced ELON.
MANACHAT (מנחת): compare NACHAT (מחת) in verses 13 and 17. 1 Chronicles 8:6 has it as a place, not a man. Probably from the root NACHAT (נחת) = "rest"; the Mem (מ) suggests a place as in MITBACH (מטבח) = "place of killing/cooking" = "kitchen"; thus suggesting the town is the more likely explanation, and was a caravanserai/oasis rather than a shrine as in the sun-words previously.
EYVAL (עיבל): Mount Ebal as it is usually known in English, a mountain or rock in the northern part of Mount Ephrayim, opposite Mount Gerizim, the two hills that enclose Shechem. Possibly from the root AVAL (עבל) = "stone"; possibly from the root AVAL (עבל), a very specific Arabic root for stripping trees of their leaves, whence OVAL (עובל) = a nation and land in Yaktanite Arabia (Genesis 10:28) called in the Samaritan copy of the Tanach EYVAL (עיבל) as here; also thus called in 1 Chronicles 1:22; possibly connected with Geval (גבל), of which there are two, one in Edom and one in Phoenicia.
SHEPHO (שפו): called SHEPHI (שפע) in 1 Chronicles 1:40 = "nakedness".
ONAM (אונם): = strong - any connection to ONAN (אונן)? I have already noted a possible connection to ON (Heliopolis) with Rachel naming her second son Ben-Oni (see Genesis 35:18).
36:24 VE ELEH VENEY TSIV'ON VE AYAH VA ANAH HU ANAH ASHER MATSA ET HA YEMIM BA MIDBAR BIR'OTO ET HA CHAMORIM LE TSIV'ON AVIV
וְאֵלֶּה בְנֵי צִבְעוֹן וְאַיָּה וַעֲנָה הוּא עֲנָה אֲשֶׁר מָצָא אֶת הַיֵּמִם בַּמִּדְבָּר בִּרְעֹתוֹ אֶת הַחֲמֹרִים לְצִבְעוֹן אָבִיו
KJ: And these are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.
BN: And these are the children of Tsiv'on: Ayah and Anah - this is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he fed the asses of Tsiv'on his father.
ANAH (ענה): third reference to a person named Anah; here though a nice bit of legend is added. But were the previous name-holders male or female?
Odd grammar here; these are the sons of: and...
What obviously well-known legend is being recalled here - reminiscent of Sha'ul's coronation in 1 Samuel 9.
Why do some BENEY have a hyphen, others not (you will have to check your own texts; I have removed all but the essential hyphens from the BibleNet version)? All hyphens are Masoretic additions, not Ezraic originals.
36:25 VE ELEH VENEY ANAH DISHON VE AHALI-VAMAH BAT ANAH
וְאֵלֶּה בְנֵי עֲנָה דִּשֹׁן וְאָהֳלִיבָמָה בַּת עֲנָה
KJ: And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
BN: And these are the children of Anah: Dishon and Ahali-Vamah the daughter of Anah.
Some kind of tribal intermarriage, or inter-alliance? Worth doing a full family tree or at least a table to show all the details of the family of Esav. Dishon and Ahali-Vamah have both come up before - see above.
But it gets us to Esav at last.
36:26 VE ELEH BENEY DIYSHAN CHEMDAN VE ESHBAN VE YITRAN U CHERAN
וְאֵלֶּה בְּנֵי דִישָׁן חֶמְדָּן וְאֶשְׁבָּן וְיִתְרָן וּכְרָן
KJ: And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
BN: And these are the children of Diyshan: Chemdan and Eshban and Yitran and Cheran
Having had a series of Ba'al names earlier, this is another series.
CHEMDAN: 1 Chronicles 1:41 gives CHAMRAN (חמרן), which is almost certainly wrong, though it would make another link to CHAMOR = "donkey". From the root CHAMAD (חמד), whence also NECHMAD (נחמד) = "nice" and CHAMUD (חמוד) = "darling"; and others having the general sense of pleasantness.
ESHBAN (אשבן): root obscure; perhaps ISH-BEN (איש-בן), though this seems unlikely; perhaps CHESHBON (חשבון) which Song of Songs 7:5 notes was a royal city of the Amorites famous for its artificial pools, on the borders of Gad and Re'u-Ven and assigned in Joshua 13:17 and 1 Chronicles 6:66 to the Levites; Isaiah 15:4 and Jeremiah 48:2 place it in Mo-Av.
YITRAN (יתרן): root obscure, but logically TARAN (תרן), of which there is no evidence in Yehudit - it is entirely likely that these roots are only obscure because the names were never Yehudit in the first place. TOREN (תרן) = "a mast" or "a banner signal set on a mountain top", but this is probably a corruption of the root RANAN (רנן), which is untranslatable except by saying that it suggests the sound of wind and wood vibrating as a boat sails. The only other word that comes close to the root here is the Chaldean TREYN (תרין) = "two", but there is no obvious connection.
CHERAN (כרן): root again obscure; the other viable hypothesis for these unexplainable roots is that the tales came down orally, so the scribe had to make decisions about how to phoneticise them: CHERAN could just as well have had a first-letter Chet (ח) and been CHARAN, the ancestral home in Padan Aram, though we have to assume, in this instance anyway, that the Redactor would have written it that way if he had thought Charan was intended. Not necesarily so with some of the others.
36:27 ELEH BENEY ETSER BILHAN VE ZA'AVAN VA AKAN
אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי אֵצֶר בִּלְהָן וְזַעֲוָן וַעֲקָן
KJ: The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.
BN: These are the children of Etser: Bilhan and Za'avan and Akan.
BILHAN (בלהן): cf notes on Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid.
ZA'AVAN (זעון): = disturbed, troubled, oppressed, maltreated - not a name one normally gives one's child.
AKAN: Numbers 33:31, Deuteronomy 10:6 and 1 Chronicles 1:42 give YA'AKAN (יַעֲקָן), but there is no root AKAN (עקן) or YA'AK (יעק) to be found.
A large number of Nun (ן) endings these past dozen verses; it usually suggests ON = place, and the name therefore "resident of..." said place. Were these then villages, or even just nomadic caravanserai? If "Esav is Edom", as we were told in verse 8, then a list of his "children" could very well be a map of Edom.
36:28 ELEH VENEY DIYSHAN UTS VA ARAN
אֵלֶּה בְנֵי דִישָׁן עוּץ וַאֲרָן
KJ: The children of Dishan are these; Uz, and Aran.
BN: These are the children of Diyshan: Uts and Aran.
UTS (עוץ): whom we have encountered before, in Genesis 10:23, 22:21 = "soft and sandy earth"; a region of the North Arabian desert.
ARAN (ארן): = "a wild goat". But also Oren (ארן) = "a tree whose wood was used for carving idols"; probably some kind of pine. 1 Chronicles 2:25 has a town called Oren.
36:29 ELEH ALUPHEY HA CHORI ALUPH LOTAN ALUPH SHOVAL ALUPH TSIV'ON ALUPH ANAH
אֵלֶּה אַלּוּפֵי הַחֹרִי אַלּוּף לוֹטָן אַלּוּף שׁוֹבָל אַלּוּף צִבְעוֹן אַלּוּף עֲנָה
KJ: These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,
BN: These are the clan-chiefs that came out of the Chori: Chief Lotan, Chief Shoval, Chief Tsivon, Chief Anah.
Again cross-check these names; is there something going on here between the Chorites and Esavites and Ya'akov's own clan?
36:30 ALUPH DISHON ALUPH ETSER ALUPH DIYSHAN ELEH ALUPHEY HA CHORI LE ALUPHEYHEM BE ERETS SE'IR
אַלּוּף דִּשֹׁן אַלּוּף אֵצֶר אַלּוּף דִּישָׁן אֵלֶּה אַלּוּפֵי הַחֹרִי לְאַלֻּפֵיהֶם בְּאֶרֶץ שֵׂעִיר
KJ: Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these arethe dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.
BN: Chief Dishon, Chief Etser, Chief Diyshan. These are the chiefs that came out of the Chori, each clan its own chieftain, in the land of Se'ir.
What we can say for certain is that the inhabitants of Se'ir were held to be Chorites, and that Esav married into the tribe and became the patriarch of Edom, whose capital was Se'ir. The Yishma-Elites are also a part of this confederacy, if that is what it was. Do Se'ir and Esav and Edom and Yishma-El thus become interchangeable terms? If so, look ahead to the Yoseph story.
Pey break
36:31 VE ELEH HA MELACHIM ASHER MALCHU BE ERETS EDOM LIPHNEY MELACH MELECH LI VENEY YISRA-EL
וְאֵלֶּה הַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר מָלְכוּ בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם לִפְנֵי מְלָךְ מֶלֶךְ לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
BN: And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, long before any king was anointed to reign over the Beney Yisra-El.
MELACHIM (מלכים): The pey break here tells us that verse 31 is not a summary of what we have just read, but an introduction to what we are about to read. The word MELACH is connected to the god MOLOCH, king of the universe, but only because both are rooted in the Pi'el form of LALECHET = "to go"; as such the word simply means "leader".
36:32 VA YIMLOCH BE EDOM BELA BEN BE'OR VE SHEM IYRO DINHAVAH
וַיִּמְלֹךְ בֶּאֱדוֹם בֶּלַע בֶּן בְּעוֹר וְשֵׁם עִירוֹ דִּנְהָבָה
KJ: And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
BN: And Bela ben Be'or reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhavah.
BELA BEN BE'OR (בלע בן בעור): from the root BALA (בלע) = "to swallow, devour". Situated on the southern shore of the Dead Sea, and called TSO'AR (צוער) in Genesis 14:2 and 8 as well as Genesis 19:20 ff, where it was Lot's refuge after the other Cities of the Plain had been "swallowed" and "devoured". The name Bela appears again in the genealogy of Re'u-Ven in 1 Chronicles 5:8. BE'OR (בעור) comes from the root OR (עור) = "torch" or "lamp".
Impossible not to register the similarity of names between Bela ben Be'or here, and Bil'am (Balaam) ben Be'or in Numbers 22. There are links to the god Ba'al here (in the next verse his name will be given as Bala rather than Bela, emphasising this), and possibly in the Bilam story as well; though we shall see that Balaam is simply an English error for Bil'am, and that Bilam anyway was really Bli-Am.
DINHAVAH (דנהבה): properly DI NEHAVAH (די נהבה), DI being a relative pronoun in Aramaic, used to mean "a place" (cf Deuteronomy 1:1 where DI ZEHAV/די זהב is the ancient name for DAHAB/דהב = place of gold). NEHAVAH (נהבה) + PLUNDER - therefore DINHAVAH = "a plunderer's hideout".
Is it feasible that the kings ruled cities and the chiefs ruled rural clans? Or is it that the kings were sacred priests only and not secular rulers? The inference here is that Dinhava was the capital city of Edom, under Bela's rule, but we know that this was not the case - the capital of Edom was Batsrah, though later Petra replaced it. Unless it moved to Batsrah when Bela died - see the next verse.
36:33 VA YAMOT BALA VA YIMLOCH TACHTAV YOVAV BEN ZERACH MI BATSRAH
וַיָּמָת בָּלַע וַיִּמְלֹךְ תַּחְתָּיו יוֹבָב בֶּן זֶרַח מִבָּצְרָה
KJ: And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
BN: And Bala died, and Yovav the son of Zerach of Batsrah reigned in his stead.
BALA: The Masoretic pointing changes Bela to Bala here, allowing a strong hint at the very least that the name was never a name, but a dialect variation of the title Ba'al (בעל).
YOVAV (יובב): YAVAV (יבב) = "to exclaim" or "cry out", especially joyfully; also used for "to blow a trumpet". A region of Yaktanite arabs (Genesis 10:29, 1 Chronicles 1:23). Here as an Edomite king, and also in 1 Chronicles 1:44/5; but as a Kena'anite king in Joshua 11:1; see also 1 Chronicles 8:9 and 18.
ZERACH (זרח): is this the same Zerach who was a chief of Se'ir?
BATSRAH (בצרה): cf Isaiah 63:1
But at what period of history did these men rule: right now, at the time Esav was alive, or is there a sense of remembering what is rememberable? If we did a potted history of Rome now, we would mention Julius Caesar and Augustus in much the same way.
36:34 VA YAMAT YOVAV VA YIMLOCH TACHTAV CHUSHAM ME ERETS HA TEYMANI
וַיָּמָת יוֹבָב וַיִּמְלֹךְ תַּחְתָּיו חֻשָׁם מֵאֶרֶץ הַתֵּימָנִי
KJ: And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead.
BN: And Yovav died, and Chusham of the land of the Teymani succeeded him.
CHUSHAM (חשם): from CHUSH (חוש) = "to make haste".
ERETS HA TEYMANI (ארץ התימני): see v11 above.
The word TACHAT (תחת) is interesting here and needs explaining. These kings are not dynastic, which is unusual for the time. This one came from a long way removed.
And again, did the kingdom move? Or did each area have its own king, and consecutivity a better explanation than death and succession?
Or was it a matter of foreign conquest?
36:35 VA YAMAT CHUSHAM VA YIMLOCH TACHATAV CHADAD BEN BEDAD HA MAKEH ET MIDYAN BISDEH MO-AV VE SHEM IYRO AVIT
וַיָּמָת חֻשָׁם וַיִּמְלֹךְ תַּחְתָּיו הֲדַד בֶּן בְּדַד הַמַּכֶּה אֶת מִדְיָן בִּשְׂדֵה מוֹאָב וְשֵׁם עִירוֹ עֲוִית
KJ: And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith.
BN: And Chusham died, and Chadad ben Bedad, who smote Midyan in the field of Mo-Av, succeeded him; and the name of his city was Avit.
CHADAD (חדד): the name of an Assyrian idol, indeed the storm-god - here as a king-name. The root = "to break".
BEDAD (בדד): = "to disjoin, divide, scatter".
MIDYAN (מדין): see also Genesis 25:2, where Midyan is a son of Av-Raham by Keturah.
AVIT (עוית): = "ruins"; on the borders of Edom.
SHEM IYRO (שם עירו): where he ruled, or whence he came? If the former, then this list becomes more complex. The method suggests a unified list for one place.
Same questions again as above.
36:36 VA YAMAT CHADAD VA YIMLOCH TACHTAV SAMLAH MI MASREKAH
וַיָּמָת הֲדָד וַיִּמְלֹךְ תַּחְתָּיו שַׂמְלָה מִמַּשְׂרֵקָה
KJ: And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.
BN: And Chadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah succeeded him.
Unless perhaps there was a rotational arrangement for kingship? Ancient politics was always an attempt to mirror the movements of the heavenly bodies, which is why there are always twelve tribes or city-states, one per constellation; and just as those constellations circle once every 2160 years, placing a different constellation at the head of the Round Table, it is imaginable that some parallel rotation of the twelve political "chiefs" on Earth mirrored this. Possible, and therefore worth hypothesising, but also unsupported by any known evidence: in the heavens the sun always sat at the head of the Round Table, and the king with his twelve ministers did the same on Earth (Ya'akov, Arthur, Jesus,et al).
SAMLAH MI MASREKAH (שמלה ממשרקה): Why MI (מי) = "from" and not HA MASREKI (המשרקי) as is the usual style? SAMLAH (שמלה), as SIMLAH (שמלה) means "a garment". For MASREKAH (משרקה), investigate the root SARAK (שרק) - though isn't Masrekah "a comb" (see the link to his name)?
36:37 VA YAMAT SAMLAH VA YIMLOCH TACHTAV SHA'UL ME RECHOVOT HA NAHAR
וַיָּמָת שַׂמְלָה וַיִּמְלֹךְ תַּחְתָּיו שָׁאוּל מֵרְחֹבוֹת הַנָּהָר
KJ: And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.
BN: And Samlah died, and Sha'ul of Rechovot by the river suceeded him.
SHA'UL (שאול): usually reckoned to root from SHA'AL (שאל) = "to ask", but the explanation doesn't mean much. What cannot be avoided is that SHE'OL (שאול) = "Hades" is spelled the same when unpointed; although SHE'OL probably ought to be with an Ayin (שעול) and not an Aleph and thus meaning "a hollow" or "a subterranean place", which of course it was. SHA'UL occurs several times; here as an Edomite king; in Genesis 46:10 as a son of Shim'on, whence Numbers 26:13 derives a tribe called the Sha'ulim; and in 1 Samuel 8 ff where he is the first king of Yisra-El, being then a Benjamite.
RECHOVOT (רחבות): again the use of ME (מי) = "from". The town is mentioned in Genesis 10:11 and 26:22.
36:38 VA YAMAT SHA'UL VA YIMLOCH TACHTAV BA'AL CHANAN BEN ACHBOR
וַיָּמָת שָׁאוּל וַיִּמְלֹךְ תַּחְתָּיו בַּעַל חָנָן בֶּן עַכְבּוֹר
KJ: And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
BN: And Sha'ul died, and Ba'al Chanan ben Achbor succeeded him.
BA'AL CHANAN BEN ACHBOR (בעל חנן בן-עכבור): reckoned to mean "lord of benignity", from CHANAN (חנן) = "to be merciful" etc. ACHBOR (עכבור) = "mouse". Again a god name seems to be being used for a king name.
This is a particular favourite of mine. Reverse the two halves of his name and you get Chanan Ba'al, who we know as Hannibal, the great mountain-crossing elephant-king who defeated Rome. Same name anyway, if not the same man. It means "Ba'al is favourable".
36:39 VA YAMAT BA'AL CHANAN BEN ACHBOR VA YIMLOCH TACHTAV HADAR VE SHEM IYRO PA'U VE SHEM ISHTO MEHEYTAV-EL BAT MATRED BAT MEY ZAHAV
וַיָּמָת בַּעַל חָנָן בֶּן עַכְבּוֹר וַיִּמְלֹךְ תַּחְתָּיו הֲדַר וְשֵׁם עִירוֹ פָּעוּ וְשֵׁם אִשְׁתּוֹ מְהֵיטַבְאֵל בַּת מַטְרֵד בַּת מֵי זָהָב
KJ: And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead: and the name of his city wasPau; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
BN: And Ba'al-Chanan ben Achbor died, and Hadar succeeded him; and the name of his city was Pa'u; and his wife's name was Meheytav-El bat Matred bat Mey Zahav.
HADAR (הדר): possibly = "to be large, swollen, tumid" whence it is used poetically to mean "pride" and "honour". Alternatively, or obscurely from the above, HADAR = "ornament".
PA'U (פעו): from PA'AH (פעה) = "to bleat, cry out, bellow".
MEHEYTAV-EL (מהיטבאל): Chaldean rather than Yehudit; if it were the latter it would be MEYTIV-EL (מיטב-אל); connected to the root TOV (טוב) in the Piel form = "to benefit, to do good for".
MATRED (מטרד): from the root TARAD (טרד) = "to thrust, drive out, cast out". Nothing here suggests the feminine except the text itself.
MEY ZAHAV (מי זהב): English versions make one word out of it, but it is written as two, and clearly means "waters of gold", whatever that means.
Why on this occasion give his wife's name, and indeed his grandmother's? Whatever the reason, it is useful to us commentators, because once again it provides evidence of a matrilocal society and helps us understand why sometimes the mother names the child, but at other times the father.
Maphtir
36:40 VE ELEH SHEMOT ALUPHEY ESAV LE MISHPECHOTAM LIM'KOMOTAM BISH'MOTAM ALUPH TIMNA ALUPH ALVAH ALUPH YETET
וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת אַלּוּפֵי עֵשָׂו לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לִמְקֹמֹתָם בִּשְׁמֹתָם אַלּוּף תִּמְנָע אַלּוּף עַלְוָה אַלּוּף יְתֵת
KJ: And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names; duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth, BN: And these are the names of the chiefs that came out of Esav, according to their clans, after their locations, by their names: Chief Timna, Chief Alvah, Chief Yetet.
BN: And these are the names of the chiefs, according to their clans and their locations and their names: Chief Timna, Chief Alvah, Chief Yetet...
MISHPECHOT: Most translations give "families", and this is indeed a correct usage; however the context here, and on many other occasions, suggests the larger "clan" rather than the smaller "nuclear family", and as this had great social significance at that time, I have translated it as "clan".
YETET (יץץ): most ducal names have already been mentioned and are then repeated; not so here. Some reckon YETET is a corruption of YETEDET (יתדת) = "a nail"; though it looks like an early form of LATET (לתת) = to give.
36:41 ALUPH AHALI-VAMAH ALUPH ELAH ALUPH PIYNON
אַלּוּף אָהֳלִיבָמָה אַלּוּף אֵלָה אַלּוּף פִּינֹן
KJ: Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
BN: Chief Ahali-Vamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon.
AHALI-VAMAH (אהליבמה): see v5 above; but here it is given as masculine.
ELAH (אלה): possibly from the root ALAH (אלה/Hey + dagesh) = "to worship a deity, to adore, to be stunned, smitten with fear". Possibly from the root ALAH (אלה) = "to be round, thick", especially used for buttocks and abdomen, or for rams with fat tails. Possibly one of several verbs made out of EL (אל) = "god": "to swear, to curse, to lament, to cry out, to bind with an oath, to make a covenant" et al. Possibly a mis-pointing of ELAH (אלה) = "a terebinth oak". On the other hand ELAH (אלה) in the Book of Daniel specifically means the deity, with the Aramaic plural ELAHIN (אלהין) as an alternate form of ELOHIM (אלהים) - and indeed a dialect form of al-Lah as well).
PIYNON (פינון): possibly an error for PUNON (פונון) = "darkness, obscurity", a town of Edom between Petra and Tso'ar, known for its mines.
36:42 ALUPH KENAZ ALUPH TEYMAN ALUPH MIVTSAR
אַלּוּף קְנַז אַלּוּף תֵּימָן אַלּוּף מִבְצָר
KJ: Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,
BN: Chief Kenaz, Chief Teyman, Chief Mivtsar.
MIVTSAR (מבצר): from the root BATSAR (בצר) = "restrain, withhold, make inaccessible". Used to describe any fortified city - does it also give Batsrah?
36:43 ALUPH MAGDI-EL ALUPH IYRAM ELEH ALUPHEY EDOM LE MISHVOTAM BE ERETS ACHUZATAM HU ESAV AVI EDOM
אַלּוּף מַגְדִּיאֵל אַלּוּף עִירָם אֵלֶּה אַלּוּפֵי אֱדוֹם לְמֹשְׁבֹתָם בְּאֶרֶץ אֲחֻזָּתָם הוּא עֵשָׂו אֲבִי אֱדוֹם
KJ: Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites.
BN: Chief Magdi-El, Chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esav, the father of Edom.
MAGDI-EL (מגדיאל): MAGAD (מגד) = "nobility, honour, glory"; used for a chief or noble and thereby probably an alternate form of NAGID (נגיד) = "prince". MAGED (מגד) = anything "precious" or "valuable" or "esteemed". However, from the same basic root comes MEGIDO (מגידו) and MEGIDON (מגידון), a fortified city of Menasheh within Yisaschar, formerly a royal city of Kena'an. Also MIGDOL (מגדול), a town of lower Egypt which appears to be the word from which Yehudit took MIGDAL (מגדל) = "a tower", especially a watchtower in a fortified wall. MAGDI-EL (מגדי-אל) could thus mean "Prince of El", or suggest a fortified town whose deity was EL.
IYRAM (עירם): usually reckoned to root in IR (עיר) = "town/city". Unpointed it reads EROM or ARUM = "naked, cunning".
The inference of all this is that one of Esav's wives was a royal princess, and through her he became the next king; which would help explain why he was both happy to welcome Ya'akov home, able to guarantee his safety, and rich enough not to require the birthright and blessing he had lost.
But what on Earth is all this Edomite history doing in a book about the Beney Yisra-Elim anyway?
Pey break; end of chapter 36; end of scroll.
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