Chapter 36 of Genesis is all about genealogies, the genealogy of Esau’s family, and the genealogy of the people who occupied the land of Edom before Esau moved there.

Esau had three wives and they gave him five sons.

• • Adah, his Hittite wife, had Eliphaz
• • Oholibamah, his Hivite wife, had Jeush, Jalam and Korah
• • Basemath, also known as Mahalath, his Ishmaelite wife, had Reuel

The land where Esau settled was originally called Seir, named for an early king in that part of the world. After Esau arrived and his sons became tribal chiefs, the region was known as Edom and its inhabitants were called Edomites. Esau’s family dominated Seir as time went by.

Edom means “red” and it was Esau’s nickname. Keep the Edomites in mind as you read because these cousins of Israel are going to show up again when we get to Exodus, and they’ll be with us all the way to the end of the Old Testament.

Why So Many Genealogies?

After the record of Esau’s family in Genesis 36:1-18, we read a record of the other people in Seir, the Horites, who were already in Seir when Esau arrived. We might wonder why God included this genealogy of people who were not part of Abraham’s descendants. Why was it significant to record their names?

Compelling Truth Ministries has some answers regarding the purpose of genealogies in the Bible. In a nutshell, here are five reasons why genealogies are important in the Bible. This information is taken directly from Compelling Truth’s website.

“First, the Bible’s genealogies help confirm the historical reliability of the Bible. For example, the records from Abraham, to his son Isaac, to Jacob, to the descendants of Jacob up to the time of David and beyond reveal not only precision but that the events of the Bible involve actual people.

Second, the Bible’s genealogies reveal the importance of family to God and to the writers of the Bible. The family unit has served as the foundation of human society since Adam and Eve and their children. The importance of family is emphasized in each generation mentioned throughout the Bible.

Third, the Bible’s genealogies were also important in determining who could serve in certain roles. These included only Levites working in the tabernacle and temple, as well as descendants of Aaron who were to serve as high priest. In addition, many activities in the Mosaic Law were limited to those who could prove they were Jewish descendants.

Fourth, the Bible’s genealogies also prove many Bible prophecies. For example, Jesus would be a Jew from the tribe of Judah. He was also a descendant of both Abraham and David as Scripture predicted.

Fifth, the Bible’s genealogies also teach how God has used a wide diversity of individuals throughout history. For example, in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, four women were mentioned, emphasizing the importance of women (especially important in the original setting of the Gospel when women were often considered of less importance than men). In addition, unexpected people are included in this family list. Rahab the prostitute was mentioned as a direct ancestor of Jesus as was Ruth, a Moabite woman Jews would not typically view positively. Further, many kings were listed whose lives varied in integrity, yet were still used by God in the lineage of Jesus.”

People Come and Go . . .

The list of genealogies in Genesis 36 includes the people of Seir, also called Horites, who enter the scene in this chapter, then seem to disappear into the Edomites after a while.

We have already come across the Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Emites, Zuzites and Amorites (to name a few) in our reading. They are also grouped under the name Canaanites, and umbrella term that includes the many people groups already living in the land God promised to give to Abraham’s descendants.

God loved these people. He reached out to them in the same way that he reached out to Abraham’s family, but they were less inclined to listen to him. They chose other gods. In the next few chapters of Genesis we will see God send Jacob’s family to Egypt for four hundred years while he continues to work with the Canaanites. R.C. Sproul had this to say about God’s patience with the Canaanites (called the Amorites in this passage):

“God waited to give the promised land to Israel until the iniquity of the Amorites was “complete” (Genesis 15:16). The Lord does not arbitrarily punish; He allows people to run themselves into hell, which makes His verdicts fitting. In Abram’s day, the Amorites had not yet become corrupt enough to lose Canaan, and so it does not go immediately to Abram. When it does, God uses His people Israel to carry out His sentence (see Joshua and Judges). Men can sin brazenly only for a short time; judgment will surely fall when their evil works are complete.”

Will Not the God of All the Earth Do Right?

One of the things that is impossible for us to understand is how God’s mercy works with his justice.

On the one hand, we are amazed at what God allows people to get away with while he is patient and merciful. On the other hand, we are shocked when his justice brings wrath down upon sinners. Our minds simply are not big enough to understand God . . .  as the Bible reminds us over and over.

“For, who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” 1 Corinthians 2:16

God is aware of every person who ever lived. He knows our spiritual state and he is perfectly just toward all of us. As Abraham said when he interceded with God on behalf of Sodom, “Will not the God of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25.

The answer to that rhetorical question is yes. God may be unfathomable to us, but we know he will always do right by people.

https://www.compellingtruth.org/Bible-genealogies.html

https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/not-yet-complete/