Design By Humans

Genesis 36. Where's the detail?

Genesis 36.

1 Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
    Esau is also called Edom? OK, I wonder if he had to wrestle with The LORD to get that name.

2 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;

    He had racially diverse wives.

3 And Bashemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth.

    One of which is his great-uncle's daughter, which is actually quite far removed in a familial sense for marriages at this time. Jacob married from his first cousins, Isaac the same, and Abraham married his sister. In this regard I'd say Esau is quite progressive.

4 And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;

    No dates! was record keeping not important to these people?

5 And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these are the sons of Esau, which were born unto him in the land of Canaan.

    Esau has five sons, while in Canaan.

6 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.

    They never really got on did they?

7 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.

    This happened to Abraham and his nephew, these people really seem to have problems with living harmoniously with each other.

8 Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.

    OK. We understand. Esau is Edom! is this important?

9 And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:

    Oh! I see, we are told repeatedly that Esau is Edom so that we can more easily associate the Edomites with their ancestor.

10 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.

    As stated above.

11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.

    I really wish there were dates or something I could date these events by. Perhaps I ought to put together a family tree.

12 And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau's wife.

    OK.

13 And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife.

    I really don't have any comments as may be the case for much of this chapter.
14 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.

    ...

15 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,

    ...

16 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.

    What makes them dukes?

17 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.

    OK. More dukes.

18 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.

    ...

19 These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.

    I have the feeling that we are setting up an Edomite empire, what do each of these dukes rule over.

20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,

    ...

21 And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
    ...

22 And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.

    ...

23 And the children of Shobal were these; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

    ...

24 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.

    A bit of info about Anah, This line reads like I should already know the story about Anah and the mules, although given that this chapter is introducing these characters, I don't see how I could. I wonder if this story will crop up later.
25 And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.

    Name recycling? I suppose it had to happen eventually.
26 And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.

    ...

27 The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.

    ...

28 The children of Dishan are these; Uz, and Aran.
    ...

29 These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,

    More dukes.

30 Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.

    Even more dukes.

31 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

    Ah. OK. So what we have established is that Esau's children set up kingdoms and proper hierarchical structures generations before the children of Jacob managed to get their act together. They are living in the lands promised to Jacob's seed too, it must seem like The LORD has backed out of his promise.
32 And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

    All hail Bela!

33 And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.

    Bela is dead! All hail Jobab!

34 And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead.

    Jobab is dead! All hail Husham!

35 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.

    Husham is dead! All hail Hadad!

36 And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.

    Hadad is dead! All hail Samlah!
37 And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.

    Samlah is Dead! All hail Saul! Anyone bored yet? don't worry, not far to go.

38 And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.

    Saul is dead! All hail Baalhanan! I notice that there is no hereditary line of kings here, also that each king is from a separate city. Are all of these successions by conquest?

39 And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

    Baalhanan is dead! All hail Hadar! Do we know of Matred or Mezahab, I get the feeling we are supposed to but they have not yet been mentioned in the text. Are there some stories missing from Genesis?

40 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,

    OK, More dukes. Are any of them rulers of Edom? it doesn't say.

41 Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
    ...More dukes...

42 Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,

    ...and yet more dukes...

43 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.

    He is indeed!

So a pretty dry chapter, has anything useful come of it?

Aside from the knowledge that Esau's progeny set up hierarchical nations before Jacob's progeny, we've learned pretty much nothing of value. There are a lot of nods to stories we aren't privy to and seemingly important lists of kings however the stories remain unknown and there are no data about the kings apart from their names.

This has been a thoroughly pointless chapter. Sorry Esau, I have nothing against your progeny it's just that the detail is lacking.

Let's hope Genesis 37. has something useful.

Genesis 35. God Can't See Through Oak!

Genesis 35.

1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

    Well this is a bit odd. At first I thought that this was God speaking in the third person however the specificity leads me to the conclusion that this is one god telling Jacob (are we really going to continue to ignore that his name has changed) to build an alter to an other god, specifically the god that he built the first pillar for after his ladder dream.

2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

    What does gods mean in this sentence? Are we talking Idols? or are there living, strange gods among his people? If they are idols, he has only asked them to be put away and not destroyed. Clearly the concept of many gods is not troubling to these people, are there any stories that aren't in this book about some of the other gods talking to people? Do people dream of these other gods? Does Jacob or did Isaac or Abraham speak with these other gods?

3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.

    The specificity with which Jacob identifies precisely which god he intends to build an alter to is confirmation that he acknowledges more than one god.

4 And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

    Ok, so these strange gods were idols. What is the deal with the earrings? Does the God of Jacob not like earrings? Is hiding the idols really enough? Can Jacob's god not see through oak?

5 And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

    That's an interesting, if short sentence. What this sentence tells us is that there is some reason why all of the cities that Jacob and his household pass by have reason to want to pursue them and that they are only prevented from doing this by the fear of God. Why would everyone want to pursue Jacob? Is it because he is the leader of a murderous tribe? The sentence has further implications. It seems that while Jacob's god can't see items hidden by oak, he does have the capability of protecting Jacob and all of his sons from cities full of people. I wonder if this kind of act will be consistent throughout the narrative or if the things that this god does for Jacob's progeny will be wildly inconsistent and have no detectable pattern.

6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.

    Good good.

7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
   
    So is this the site of the ladder dream? He's already erected a stone pillar here which I suppose is how he recognizes the place. He calls the place "El" Bethel, this is the god who is called El that he is referring to, but it is specifically stated that the dream he had was of the God of Abraham, The LORD. Are El and The LORD the same god?

8 But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth.

    What was Rebekah's nurse called? Her death is mentioned, is she important? Why was she buried under oak? We know that if you want to hide things from God, like your household gods, you should put them under oak, is it so that she is hidden from God? Why do they want to hide her from God?

9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.

    Was it in a dream this time or a physical manifestation? What was the nature of the blessing?

10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

    Didn't God already change his name Jacob's name to Israel? Is this a retelling of the renaming story with the wrestling removed for younger audience, or has God actually forgotten that he changed Jacob's name? Perhaps God took a blow to the dead during his grappling session with Jacob giving him amnesia.
11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

    This is is the same old promise doled out to Isaac and to Abraham before him. It's not much of a prediction either, Jacob has a lot of children who are proven capable of wiping out whole populations of cities, the vast likelihood is that they will at least briefly be locally important enough to be called kings.

12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
    Ok, is this more about which son of Isaac inherits the promise? We knew at least one of them would as that was what the promise was. I suppose God has to affirm the new head of the line at each generation?

13 And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

    Where did God go up to? Did he use a ladder?

14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

    Another pillar? this place is going to be littered with pillars and altars.

15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

    Beth-El? another reference to the name of this God?

16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

    Rachel is pregnant again? I lost count, has she won the baby battle with Leah?

17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.

    Ok, So her labour was difficult but the midwife was confident that the baby would be born safely.

18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

    The midwife was right, however Rachel has died. Why did Jacob (assuming he's the father, it doesn't say specifically) rename his son? Was the name his wife chose not good enough? Anyway. Benjamin is born and I have no good dating information to say when. Ho hum.

19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
    OK.

20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

    Unto this day again? When was this written?

21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

    So we are calling him Israel now, it only took him being renamed twice for it to take.

22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
    Was he married to her? I'm guessing not. I wonder what Simeon and Levi had to say about this. Did plan to punish their brother for premarital sex? Well it doesn't say so I can't condemn them as hypocrites however I suspect that if they did punish Reuben it would have been written about here. That being said, the text does say that Israel heard it, now, weather that means he heard the actual act of lovemaking or heard about it later the statement does seem oddly truncated. Was there more, now missing text that dealt with how Israel reacted to his son's transgression?

23 The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:

    ...

24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:
    ...

25 And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:

    ...

26 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.

    OK, Leah clearly won that one.

27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

    Wait! Isaac is still alive? After all this time. When we last saw Isaac he was on his death-bed and that has to be at least thirty years ago. Has he been at death's door all this time?
28 And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.

    At last, another datable event! Isaac was born in 2048AE and so died in 2228AE having lived one-hundred -and-eighty years, only out-living Eber by forty or so years.

29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

    As is fitting I suppose.
So what have we learned this chapter?

  • God cannot see things that are hidden behind or under oak, it might be though that it is only gods that can be hidden from God with the use of oak. I wonder then if the oak is applies universally to the ability of one god to see another. Can the gods being hidden under the oak see the god they are hidden from?
  • The tribe of Jacob (Israel) are hated by their neighbours. God intervenes to save them from probably just retribution by leveraging terror. Another demonstration that God favours liars and murderers.
  • Israel, who is Jacob,  is renamed Israel again. Is god forgetful, surely he remembers that he already did this.
  • For some reason the burial of an unnamed hand-maiden is important to the narrative. I can't think why though.
  • Leah clearly won the baby making race against her sister. I wonder if this granted her the favour she was expecting from her husband.


Moving on then... Next: Genesis 36.

Book Index

GENESIS

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|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|
|21|22|23|24|25|26|27|28|29|30|
|31|32|33|34|35|36|37|38|39|40|
|41|42|43|44|45|46|47|

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