Thursday, January 29, 2015

What is Chief in this Life? Genesis 36:9-19

May the mumbling commence!

It’s The Name Game – Esau style.  Read from Peterson’s The Message:

            So this is the family tree of Esau, ancestor of the people of Edom, in the hill country of Seir.  The names of Esau’s sons:
                Eliphaz, son of Esau’s wife Adah;
                Reuel, son of Esau’s wife Basemath.
                The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.  (Eliphaz also had a concubine Timna, who had Amalek.)  These were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.
                And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah – grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
                These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah the son of Zibeon.  She gave Esau sons Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

                These are the chieftains in Esau’s family tree.  From the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn, came the chieftains Teman, Omar, Zepho,  Kenaz, Korah, Gatam, and Amalek – the chieftains of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; all of them sons of Adah.
                From the sons of Esau’s son Reuel came the chieftains Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.  These are the chieftains of Reuel in the land of Edom; all these were sons of Esau’s wife Basemath.  
                These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: the chieftains Jeush, Jalam, and Korah – chieftains born of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah.
                These are the sons of Esau, that is, Edom, and these are their chieftains.  (Genesis 36:9-19)

Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:

This is the account of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. 
These are the names of Esau's sons:
Eliphaz, the son of Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath. 
The sons of Eliphaz:
Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. 
Esau's son Eliphaz also had a concubine named Timna, who bore him Amalek. These were grandsons of Esau's wife Adah. 
The sons of Reuel:
Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath. 
The sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau:
Jeush, Jalam and Korah. 
These were the chiefs among Esau's descendants:
The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau:
Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam and Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in Edom; they were grandsons of Adah. 
The sons of Esau's son Reuel: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in Edom; they were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath. 
The sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah. 
These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were their chiefs.  (Genesis 36:9-19)

Repetition – it happens in the Hebrew Scriptures.  The sons and grandsons of Esau had to be listed not once but twice – once as descendants and once as chiefs or chieftains.  I find that interesting.  It’s important to know that all of Esau’s descendants were chiefs.

There is also an addition of a grandson of Adah – Korah.  Korah is not included in the list of her grandchildren.  Korah is included in the grandsons of Oholibamah… but that happens in the chieftains list as well.  There are two Korah’s in the chieftains.

I also note that there is a switch in the order of the names from the descendants list and the chieftains list of Adah’s grandsons.  Kenaz and the mysterious Korah leapfrogged Gatam in the order.  I wonder what story is hidden there!

Tomorrow, we will look at the context of Esau’s life in Seir.  It will be The Seir Name Game!


Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out

No comments:

Post a Comment