Commentary - Genesis 36:1-5

Bird's-eye view

Genesis 36 presents us with the generations of Esau, and it is a chapter that many modern readers are tempted to skim. It appears to be a dry list of strange names, a diversion from the main storyline of Jacob and his sons. But in the economy of Scripture, there are no throwaway chapters. This genealogy is placed here with deliberate theological purpose. It serves as a stark contrast to the line of promise, which is about to unfold through Jacob. While the line of Jacob is characterized by faith, failure, and God's persistent, electing grace, the line of Esau is a picture of worldly success, political power, and covenantal drift. Esau, the profane man who despised his birthright, nevertheless receives a blessing of earthly prosperity. God is no man's debtor. But this chapter is a chronicle of a dead end. It is the history of the seed of the serpent, deliberately intertwining with the Canaanites and establishing a kingdom of man that will stand in opposition to the kingdom of God for generations to come. This is not just a family tree; it is a battle roster.

The chapter begins by establishing Esau's identity and then immediately records his disastrous marriage choices. He turns his back on the covenant family and throws in his lot with the daughters of Canaan, the very people God had marked for judgment. His descendants become kings and dukes in Edom long before Israel has a king, showing that the path of worldly ambition often yields quicker results than the patient path of faith. But it is a path that leads away from the Promised Land and away from the promised Messiah. This genealogy is a solemn monument to the consequences of despising the things of God for the tangible rewards of this world.

Outline

Context In Genesis

This chapter is strategically placed. It follows the narrative of Jacob's return to Canaan, his wrestling with God, his reconciliation with Esau, and the death and burial of his father, Isaac. The story of the chosen line has been brought to a point of transition. Before the narrative plunges into the tumultuous story of Joseph and his brothers, which will propel the covenant family toward Egypt, the Holy Spirit pauses to close the book on the line of Esau. It is a formal setting aside of the elder brother to focus entirely on the younger, fulfilling the prophecy given to Rebekah that "the older shall serve the younger" (Gen 25:23). By detailing Esau's lineage and his establishment in Mount Seir, the text clears the stage. It shows that Esau's separation from Jacob was not just geographical but, more importantly, covenantal. He moves out of the land of promise to establish his own kingdom, leaving Canaan to the heir of the promise, Jacob. This chapter, therefore, functions as the final word on the branch of Isaac's family that God has chosen not to use for His redemptive purposes, thereby magnifying the sovereign grace extended to Jacob.

Key Issues

The Tale of Two Lines

From the very beginning, in the garden, God established the great antithesis. He put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Gen 3:15). This is the central conflict of all human history, and it is a spiritual, covenantal battle, not a biological one. The line of the serpent is composed of those who rebel against God's word, and the line of the woman is composed of those who trust His promise. This conflict is immediately visible in Cain and Abel, and it continues throughout Genesis. We see it in the line of Seth versus the line of Cain, in Noah versus the world, and in Shem versus Ham.

Here, in the family of Isaac, the division is made plain once more. It is Jacob and Esau. God's sovereign choice was made before they were even born: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" (Rom 9:13). This doesn't mean God had an arbitrary, emotional dislike for Esau. It is the language of covenant election. God chose Jacob to be the bearer of the covenant promise, and He passed over Esau. This chapter is the historical outworking of that divine choice. Esau, by his own actions, demonstrates his fitness for being passed over. He is a "profane person," one who treats holy things as common. And the first and most glaring evidence of this profanity is found in his choice of wives, where he deliberately mingles his seed with the seed of the serpent.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Now these are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).

The chapter begins with the standard formula for a genealogy, "these are the generations of..." This phrase, toledoth in the Hebrew, signals that we are getting an official family history. But right away, the Holy Spirit provides a crucial parenthetical note. Esau "is Edom." This is not just a nickname. Edom means "red," a name given to him after he sold his birthright for a bowl of red stew (Gen 25:30). By identifying him this way at the outset, Scripture is branding his entire line with the memory of that profane act. He is the man who traded the eternal for the immediate, the spiritual for the carnal. Every time you say "Edomite," you are saying "red stew people." This is the man who built his entire legacy on a moment of gluttonous unbelief. The name defines the nation that will spring from him.

2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite;

Here is the root of the problem. Esau's apostasy is cemented through his marriage covenants. Remember how much grief these same wives brought to Isaac and Rebekah (Gen 26:34-35). Abraham was adamant that Isaac not take a wife from the Canaanites, and Isaac gave the same charge to Jacob. Why? Because the Canaanites were a people under God's curse. They represented the seed of the serpent in its most concentrated form within the land. Marriage is not a private affair; it is a joining of legacies, households, and gods. By taking his wives from the "daughters of Canaan," Esau was deliberately rejecting the principle of covenantal separation. He was saying, in effect, "Their people will be my people, and their gods will be my gods." He yoked himself, and consequently his entire posterity, to a people ripe for judgment. He did not stumble into this; he walked into it with his eyes wide open.

3 also Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.

There appears to be a discrepancy here with the earlier accounts of Esau's wives (Gen 26:34, 28:9), where the names are different. This is not the sort of thing that should throw us. It is common for people in the ancient world to have more than one name, or for names to be slightly altered. What is significant is the pattern. Seeing his Canaanite wives displeased his parents, Esau tried to fix the problem in a thoroughly worldly way. He went and married a daughter of Ishmael, thinking this would be better because she was at least a granddaughter of Abraham. But this was just more of the same unbelief. Ishmael was the son of the flesh, the one who had been passed over for the promise just as Esau was. So Esau, the rejected line, marries into another rejected line. He is compounding his error, consolidating his identity outside the covenant of promise. He is trying to solve a spiritual problem with a carnal solution.

4 And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel,

The genealogy begins. Sons are born, and a nation begins to take shape. Notice the name Eliphaz. One of Job's "comforters" was Eliphaz the Temanite (Job 2:11), a descendant of Esau. This shows us how the influence of these lines spreads throughout the ancient world. The worldly wisdom that afflicted Job came down from this very line. The fruit of Esau's compromise was not long in coming. He is building a household, establishing a legacy. God is granting him the earthly blessing Isaac had pronounced over him, the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine (Gen 27:39). He is becoming a great man, a father of nations.

5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

The list of his first sons concludes, and the text makes a point of noting where they were born: "in the land of Canaan." This is significant because it is the land of promise. Esau is having his children and growing his family in the very land that God had promised to Jacob. This sets up the conflict that necessitates the separation later in the chapter. For a time, the two seeds are growing in the same field. But there cannot be two masters of one house. One line belongs in the land, and the other does not. Esau's presence there with his Canaanite family is a threat to the purity of the covenant line, and so, in the providence of God, the profane must give way to the holy. The kingdom of Edom will be established, but it will be established outside the borders of the inheritance.

Application

This chapter is a powerful reminder that our choices, particularly our choice of a spouse, have multi-generational consequences. Esau's casual disregard for the covenant had implications that shaped the destiny of an entire nation. He chose wives based on worldly criteria, and in so doing, he steered his family onto a course that led away from God. This is a sober warning to young people in the church today. Who you marry is the second most important decision you will ever make, and it must not be made lightly. To marry an unbeliever, or even a professing Christian who is worldly and profane, is to play the part of Esau. It is to yoke yourself to the seed of the serpent and invite strife and compromise into the heart of your home.

Furthermore, the story of Esau shows us that worldly success is no indicator of God's covenantal favor. Esau's line produced dukes and kings long before Jacob's did. The Edomites were a powerful and established nation while the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. If you measure blessing by worldly metrics, wealth, power, influence, then Esau looks like the winner. But God's economy is different. The blessing of the covenant is not a corner office, but rather a place in the story of redemption. Jacob's line, for all its struggles and sins, was the line that led to Christ. Esau's line led to a list of names in a chapter that chronicles a dead end. We must constantly ask ourselves what we truly value. Are we seeking the fleeting prosperity of Edom, or are we content to be pilgrims with Jacob, waiting for the city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God?