John Gill Commentary Genesis 36

Now these [are] the generations of Esau, who [is] Edom .
] Who was surnamed Edom, from the red pottage he sold his birthright for to his brother Jacob, (Genesis 25:30) ; an account is given of him, and his posterity, not only because he was a son of Isaac, lately made mention of as concerned in his burial; but because his posterity would be often taken notice of in the sacred Scriptures, and so their genealogy would serve to illustrate such passages; and Maimonides ^F13 thinks the principal reason is, that whereas Amalek, a branch of Esau's family, were to be destroyed by an express command of God, it was necessary that all the rest should be particularly described, lest they should all perish together; but other ends are answered hereby, as partly to show the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham, concerning the multiplication of his seed, and the accomplishment of the oracle to Rebekah, signifying that two nations were in her womb, one of which were those Edomites; as also to observe how the blessing of Isaac his father has come upon him with effect, (Genesis 22:17) (25:23) (Genesis 27:39Genesis 27:40) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 50. p. 510.

And Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan Of the Canaanites, the posterity of cursed Canaan, most of them were of them, though not all, the two following were, and so those, if different from them in (Genesis 26:34), one of his wives was of the family of Ishmael, as after related.

Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, this is the same with Bashemath, (Genesis 26:34); and that she had two names.

and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; the daughter of the one, and the granddaughter of the other, it being usual in Scripture to call grandchildren children, for Zibeon and Anah were father and son, (Genesis 36:24Genesis 36:25); and the Samaritan, Septuagint, and Syriac versions read here, "the daughter of Anah the son of Zibeon": there are an Anah and a Zibeon who were brethren, (Genesis 36:20); wherefore Aben Ezra supposes that these two brothers, or the father and son, lay with the same woman, and it could not be known whose child it was that was born of her, and therefore this was called the daughter of them both.

Jarchi supposes this wife of Esau to be the same with Judith, (Genesis 26:34); but not only the names differ, but also the names of their fathers, and of the tribe or nation they were of.

And Bashemath, Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebaioth The eldest son of Ishmael, see (Genesis 28:9); called there Mahalath.

And Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz
This son of Esau, according to Jerome ^F14 , is the same with him mentioned in the book of Job, as one of his friends that came to visit him, (Job 2:11) ; and so says the Targum of Jonathan on (Genesis 36:10) ; but he rather was the grandson of this man, since he is called the Temanite: and Bashemath bore Reuel ;
the name is the same with Reuel or Raguel, the name of Jethro; but cannot be the same person as is said by some, for he was a Midianite and not an Edomite, (Exodus 2:18) (Numbers 10:29) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Trad. Heb. in Gen. fol. 71. L. tom. 3.

And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah
In this genealogy mention is made of another Korah among the sons of Eliphaz, (Genesis 36:16) ; which Jarchi thinks is the same with this, and takes him to be a bastard, and begotten in incest by Eliphaz, on his father's wife Aholibamah; but Aben Ezra observes, that some are of opinion that there were two Korahs, one the son of Aholibamah, and the other the son of Adah; but he thinks there were but one, which was the son of Aholibamah, and is reckoned among the sons of Eliphaz, because he dwelt among them; or perhaps his mother died when he was little, and Adah brought him up with her sons, and so was reckoned her son; such were the children of Michal, Saul's daughter:

these [are] the sons of Esau, which were born to him in the land of
Canaan ;
and we do not read of any born to him elsewhere; so that of all his wives, which some think were four, others five, he had but five sons; what daughters he had is not related, though from (Genesis 36:6) , it appears he had some.