Moses included this relatively short genealogy (toledot) in the sacred record to show God's faithfulness in multiplying Abraham's seed as He had promised. He also did so to provide connections with the descendants of Esau referred to later in the history of Israel. Among his descendants were the Edomites (v. 8) and the Amalekites (v. 12). Lot, Ishmael, and Esau all walked out of the line of promise.
We can divide this chapter as follows.
Esau's three wives and five sons, vv. 1-8
Esau's five sons and 10 grandsons, vv. 9-14
Chiefs (political or military leaders) descended from Esau, vv. 15-19
Chiefs of the Horites (with whom the Edomites intermarried and whom they dispossessed), vv. 20-30
Kings of Edom, vv. 31-39
A final list of chiefs, vv. 40-43
Different names of Esau's wives appear here as compared with what Moses recorded earlier (v. 2; cf. 26:34; 28:9).787People added surnames to given names later in life. Women often received new names when they married. Esau married a Hittite (v. 2), a Hivite (v. 2) who was a descendant of a Horite (Hurrian, v. 20), and an Ishmaelite (v. 3). Some commentators connected the Horites with cave dwellers since the Hebrew word for cave is hor.788This may be correct.
Esau's sons were born in Canaan and then moved out of the Promised Land to Seir. Jacob's sons, except for Benjamin, were born outside Canaan in Paddan-aram and later moved into the Promised Land.
The Kenizzites (vv. 11, 15) later affiliated with the tribe of Judah.789The Amalekites separated from the other Edomites and became an independent people early in their history (v. 12).790A group of them settled in what later became southern Judah as far as Kadesh Barnea and the border of Egypt (14:7; Num. 13:29; 14:43, 45). Another branch of the tribe settled in the hill country of Ephraim that was in central Canaan (Judg. 12:15). The largest group of Amalekites lived in Arabia to the southeast of Canaan and Edom. They united on occasion with their neighbors, the Midianites (Judg. 6:3; 7:12) and the Ammonites (Judg. 3:13). Saul defeated the Amalekites (1 Sam. 14:48; 15:2) as did David (1 Sam. 27:8; 30:1; 2 Sam 8:12). Some Simeonites finally exterminated them during Hezekiah's reign (1 Chron. 4:42-43).
"What is most interesting about the king list [vv. 31-39] is that it reflects an elective kingship rather than a dynastic one. . . .
"These kings' may have indeed been charismatic individuals who, like the judges, assumed their office without regard to heredity."791
This list of Edomite kings demonstrates the partial fulfillment of God's promise that kings would come from Abraham's loins (17:16).
"It might seem unusual that such detail concerning the descendants of Esau be included, but the relationship between Esau and Jacob, and then between the nations of Edom and Israel, is a theme of the entire Old Testament."792
"What Israelites did to Canaanites, Esauites did to Horites. Thus Gen. 36 is moving backward from the conquerors (vv. 9-19) to the conquered (vv. 20-30)."793
Jacob was living at Hebron when Joseph's brothers sold him, and he may have continued living there until he moved to Egypt (37:1; cf. 35:27).
"Verse 1 [of chapter 37] belongs structurally to the preceding narrative as a conclusion to the Jacob story. It shows Jacob back in the Land of Promise but still dwelling there as a sojourner like his father before him. The writer's point is to show that the promises of God had not yet been completely fulfilled and that Jacob, as his fathers before him, was still awaiting the fulfillment."794
Perhaps the major lesson of this genealogy is that secular greatness develops faster than spiritual greatness. Consequently the godly must wait patiently for the fulfillment of God's promises.
