Genesis 36:1-43

The Descendants of Esau

36:1 What follows is the account of Esau (also known as Edom). ¹ 

36:2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: ²  Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter ³  of Zibeon the Hivite, 36:3 in addition to Basemath the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

36:4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, 36:5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

36:6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to a land some distance away from ⁴  Jacob his brother 36:7 because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together and the land where they had settled ⁵  was not able to support them because of their livestock. 36:8 So Esau (also known as Edom) lived in the hill country of Seir. ⁶ 

36:9 This is the account of Esau, the father ⁷  of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.

36:10 These were the names of Esau’s sons:

Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

36:11 The sons of Eliphaz were:

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

36:12 Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons ⁸  of Esau’s wife Adah.

36:13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons ⁹  of Esau’s wife Basemath.

36:14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter ¹⁰  of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.

36:15 These were the chiefs ¹¹  among the descendants ¹²  of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, 36:16 chief Korah, ¹³  chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons ¹⁴  of Adah.

36:17 These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons ¹⁵  of Esau’s wife Basemath.

36:18 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

36:19 These were the sons of Esau (also known as Edom), and these were their chiefs.

36:20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite, ¹⁶  who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 36:21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants ¹⁷  of Seir in the land of Edom.

36:22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; ¹⁸  Lotan’s sister was Timna.

36:23 These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, ¹⁹  and Onam.

36:24 These were the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah (who discovered the hot springs ²⁰  in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon).

36:25 These were the children ²¹  of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

36:26 These were the sons of Dishon: ²²  Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

36:27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

36:28 These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

36:29 These were the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, 36:30 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chief lists in the land of Seir.

36:31 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites: ²³ 

36:32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

36:33 When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.

36:34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

36:35 When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.

36:36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.

36:37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth by the River ²⁴  reigned in his place.

36:38 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.

36:39 When Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad ²⁵  reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau. ²⁶  His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

36:40 These were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, 36:41 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, 36:42 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, 36:43 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements ²⁷  in the land they possessed. This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.

Genesis 8:5

8:5 The waters kept on receding ²⁸  until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible. ²⁹ 

Acts 10:1

Peter Visits Cornelius

10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea ³⁰  named Cornelius, a centurion ³¹  of what was known as the Italian Cohort. ³² 

Acts 21:32

21:32 He ³³  immediately took ³⁴  soldiers and centurions ³⁵  and ran down to the crowd. ³⁶  When they saw ³⁷  the commanding officer ³⁸  and the soldiers, they stopped beating ³⁹  Paul.

Acts 23:17

23:17 Paul called ⁴⁰  one of the centurions ⁴¹  and said, “Take this young man to the commanding officer, ⁴²  for he has something to report to him.”

Acts 23:23

23:23 Then ⁴³  he summoned ⁴⁴  two of the centurions ⁴⁵  and said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea ⁴⁶  along with seventy horsemen ⁴⁷  and two hundred spearmen ⁴⁸  by ⁴⁹  nine o’clock tonight, ⁵⁰ 

Acts 27:1

Paul and Company Sail for Rome

27:1 When it was decided we ⁵¹  would sail to Italy, ⁵²  they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion ⁵³  of the Augustan Cohort ⁵⁴  named Julius.

Acts 27:43

27:43 But the centurion, ⁵⁵  wanting to save Paul’s life, ⁵⁶  prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, ⁵⁷ 

[36:1]  ¹ sn Chapter 36 records what became of Esau. It will list both his actual descendants as well as the people he subsumed under his tribal leadership, people who were aboriginal Edomites. The chapter is long and complicated (see further J. R. Bartlett, “The Edomite King-List of Genesis 36:31-39 and 1 Chronicles 1:43-50,” JTS 16 [1965]: 301-14; and W. J. Horowitz, “Were There Twelve Horite Tribes?” CBQ 35 [1973]: 69-71). In the format of the Book of Genesis, the line of Esau is “tidied up” before the account of Jacob is traced (37:2). As such the arrangement makes a strong contrast with Jacob. As F. Delitzsch says, “secular greatness in general grows up far more rapidly than spiritual greatness” (New Commentary on Genesis, 2:238). In other words, the progress of the world far out distances the progress of the righteous who are waiting for the promise.

[36:2]  ² tn Heb “from the daughters of Canaan.”

[36:2]  ³ tn Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24-25.

[36:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “from before.”

[36:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “land of their settlements.”

[36:8]  ⁶ tn Traditionally “Mount Seir,” but in this case the expression בְּהַר שֵׂעִיר (bÿhar se’ir) refers to the hill country or highlands of Seir.

[36:9]  ⁷ sn The term father in genealogical records needs to be carefully defined. It can refer to a literal father, a grandfather, a political overlord, or a founder.

[36:12]  ⁸ tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).

[36:13]  ⁹ tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).

[36:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24-25.

[36:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “clan leaders” (so also throughout this chapter).

[36:15]  ¹² tn Or “sons.”

[36:16]  ¹³ tc The Samaritan Pentateuch omits the name “Korah” (see v. 11 and 1 Chr 1:36).

[36:16]  ¹⁴ tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).

[36:17]  ¹⁵ tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).

[36:20]  ¹⁶ sn The same pattern of sons, grandsons, and chiefs is now listed for Seir the Horite. “Seir” is both the name of the place and the name of the ancestor of these tribes. The name “Horite” is probably not to be identified with “Hurrian.” The clan of Esau settled in this area, intermarried with these Horites and eventually dispossessed them, so that they all became known as Edomites (Deut 2:12 telescopes the whole development).

[36:21]  ¹⁷ tn Or “sons.”

[36:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Hemam”; this is probably a variant spelling of “Homam” (1 Chr 1:39); cf. NRSV, NLT “Heman.”

[36:23]  ¹⁹ tn This name is given as “Shephi” in 1 Chr 1:40.

[36:24]  ²⁰ tn The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain; Syriac reads “water” and Vulgate reads “hot water.”

[36:25]  ²¹ tn Heb “sons,” but since a daughter is included in the list, the word must be translated “children.”

[36:26]  ²² tn Heb “Dishan,” but this must be either a scribal error or variant spelling, since “Dishan” is mentioned in v. 28 (see also v. 21).

[36:31]  ²³ tn Or perhaps “before any Israelite king ruled over [them].”

[36:37]  ²⁴ tn Typically the Hebrew expression “the River” refers to the Euphrates River, but it is not certain whether that is the case here. Among the modern English versions which take this as a reference to the Euphrates are NASB, NCV, NRSV, CEV, NLT. Cf. NAB, TEV “Rehoboth-on-the-River.”

[36:39]  ²⁵ tc Most mss of the MT read “Hadar” here; “Hadad” is the reading found in some Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac (cf. also 1 Chr 1:50).

[36:39]  ²⁶ tn The name of the city is given as “Pai” in 1 Chr 1:50.

[36:43]  ²⁷ tn Or perhaps “territories”; Heb “dwelling places.”

[8:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the waters were going and lessening.” The perfect verb form הָיָה (hayah) is used as an auxiliary verb with the infinitive absolute חָסוֹר (khasor, “lessening”), while the infinitive absolute הָלוֹךְ (halokh) indicates continuous action.

[8:5]  ²⁹ tn Or “could be seen.”

[10:1]  ³⁰ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). It was known as “Caesarea by the sea” (BDAG 499 s.v. Καισάρεια 2). Largely Gentile, it was a center of Roman administration and the location of many of Herod the Great’s building projects (Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 [15.331-341]).

[10:1]  ³¹ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.

[10:1]  ³² sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion (BDAG 936 s.v. σπεῖρα). The Italian Cohort has been identified as cohors II Italica which is known to have been stationed in Syria in a.d. 88.

[21:32]  ³³ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, the relative pronoun (“who”) was translated as a pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:32]  ³⁴ tn Grk “taking…ran down.” The participle κατέδραμεν (katedramen) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:32]  ³⁵ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[21:32]  ³⁶ tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:32]  ³⁷ tn Grk “seeing.” The participle ἰδόντες (idonte") has been taken temporally.

[21:32]  ³⁸ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

[21:32]  ³⁹ sn The mob stopped beating Paul because they feared the Romans would arrest them for disturbing the peace and for mob violence. They would let the Roman officials take care of the matter from this point on.

[23:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “calling…Paul said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:17]  ⁴¹ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:17]  ⁴² tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[23:23]  ⁴³ tn Grk “And.” Since this represents a response to the reported ambush, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[23:23]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “summoning…he said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:23]  ⁴⁵ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:23]  ⁴⁶ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was a journey of about 65 mi (just over 100 km).

[23:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “cavalrymen.”

[23:23]  ⁴⁸ tn A military technical term of uncertain meaning. BDAG 217 s.v. δεξιολάβος states, “a word of uncertain mng., military t.t., acc. to Joannes Lydus…and Theophyl. Sim., Hist. 4, 1 a light-armed soldier, perh. bowman, slinger; acc. to a scholion in CMatthaei p. 342 body-guard….Spearman Goodspd., NRSV; ‘security officer’, GDKilpatrick, JTS 14, ’63, 393f.”

[23:23]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “from.”

[23:23]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “from the third hour of the night.”

[27:1]  ⁵¹ sn The last “we” section in Acts begins here and extends to 28:16 (the previous one ended at 21:18).

[27:1]  ⁵² sn Sail to Italy. This voyage with its difficulty serves to show how God protected Paul on his long journey to Rome. From the perspective of someone in Palestine, this may well picture “the end of the earth” quite literally (cf. Acts 1:8).

[27:1]  ⁵³ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:1]  ⁵⁴ tn According to BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός, “In σπεῖρα Σεβαστή 27:1 (cp. OGI 421) Σεβαστή is likew. an exact transl. of Lat. Augusta, an honorary title freq. given to auxiliary troops (Ptolem. renders it Σεβαστή in connection w. three legions that bore it: 2, 3, 30; 2, 9, 18; 4, 3, 30) imperial cohort.” According to W. Foerster (TDNT 7:175), “In Ac. 27:1 the σπεῖρα Σεβαστή is an expression also found elsewhere for ‘auxiliary troops.’” In no case would this refer to a special imperial bodyguard, and to translate “imperial regiment” or “imperial cohort” might give this impression. There is some archaeological evidence for a Cohors Augusta I stationed in Syria during the time of Augustus, but whether this is the same unit is very debatable.

[27:43]  ⁵⁵ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:43]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “wanting to rescue Paul.”

[27:43]  ⁵⁷ tn BDAG 347 s.v. I. ἔξειμι has “ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν get to land Ac 27:43.”