Esau's Descendants

Story: Esau’s Descendants

Passage: Genesis 36

Characters: Esau, others

Summary: Here we see a list of Esau’s descendants and where they lived. Esau moved far away from Jacob.

Notes: There is not too much here other than names. We do read that both Jacob and Esau had so many possessions they had to move far away from each other to sustain themselves. Esau was the one who moved. He left the land which God had given Abraham which left the land to only Jacob. We read that Amalek came from Easu. We will read more about the Amalekites later. It looks like there is also a list in this passage of the sons of the kings of the land Esau moved to. Four women are mentioned in this list. Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau. She bore Amalek. We also hear of Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab. I don’t know the significance of these names, but I suspect people of the time did. This passage also mentions a man named Anah who found hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured his father’s donkeys. Apparently this was a well known story. I love the way the Old Testament is so grounded in history. People’s names, historical events, and known locations were all utilized in the writing of this book.

Questions: Why were these specific women mentioned? Who was Anah? Did Esau mix with the people in the land he moved to?

Lessons: The biggest lesson I see here is that God promised Jacob the land, and here we see Esau leave it and let Jacob live in it alone. God’s plan is slowly working itself out. We need to remember that we may not immediately understand what God is doing, but He is slowly working us towards the land He has promised us, where we get to live in His presence forever.