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Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:3

(3) Bashemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.—The Samaritan text reads Mahalath here, and in Genesis 36:4; Genesis 36:10; Genesis 36:17, as in Genesis 28:9. There can be little doubt that Mahalath is the right reading, but the versions, nevertheless, agree with the Masoretic Hebrew text, so that the error must have been of very ancient date. As Mahalath was of a Semitic stock, she would have her own Semitic name, and there would be no double translation of it, as in the case of the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:5

(5) In the land of Canaan.—We find Esau with a band of armed men in Seir on Jacob’s return from Padan-aram, but he still had his home at Hebron with his father until Isaac’s death, twenty-two years afterwards. Evidently he had taken Aholibamah home thither, and she had borne him three sons. After Isaac’s death the land of Seir had so great attractions for him that he migrated thither with his share of Isaac’s wealth, and left Hebron to Jacob, who now moved down thither from the town of Eder,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:6

(6) Into the country from the face.—Heb. into a land away from the face, &c. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:7

(7) The land wherein they were strangers.—The large growth of their wealth made the separation of Esau and Jacob as inevitable as had been that of Abraham and Lot. It is a usual incident in the life of nomads, and a tribe can multiply only to the extent of the capabilities of their district to support them. When this is reached, one portion of the tribe must seek a new home. This necessity was in the present case aggravated by Esau and Jacob being only sojourners in Canaan, surrounded by tribes... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:8

(8) Mount Seir.—The land of Idumea extends from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Elath, and consists of a chain of mountains running parallel to the Akaba, or continuation of the deep depression through which the Jordan flows till it loses itself in the Dead Sea. The hills are of limestone, with masses here and there of basalt; and though large portions are so covered with stones as to be barren, the rest is moderately fertile, not indeed in corn, but in figs, pomegranates,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:9

(9) The father of the Edomites.—Heb., the father of Edom. He was himself the man Edom, but the word here means the country of which he was the colonizer. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:12

(12) Amalek.—We have already read of the “field of the Amalekite” in Genesis 14:7. As Balaam describes Amalek as “the beginning of nations” (so the Heb., Numbers 24:20), the race can scarcely have had so ignoble an origin as to have sprung from a concubine of Eliphaz; for we gather from Amos 6:1 that the phrase used by Balaam implied precedence and nobility. It was, moreover, one of the most widely spread races of antiquity, occupying the whole country from Shur, on the borders of Egypt, to... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:15

(15) Dukes.—Duke is the Latin word dux, a leader; but the Hebrew word alluph signifies a tribal prince, It is derived from eleph, a thousand, used in much the same way as the word hundred with us for a division of the country. Probably it was one large enough to have in it a thousand grown men, whereas a hundred in Saxon times was a district in which there were a hundred homesteads. For this use of it, see Micah 5:2. Each alluph, therefore, would be the prince of one of these districts,... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:16

(16) Duke Korah.—The Samaritan Pentateuch rightly omits this name. He was a son of the Horite wife, Aholibamah. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 36:18

(18) Duke Jeusn . . . —Aholibamah’s three sons are dukes, but only the grandsons of the other wives. The reason of this probably is that she belonged to the dominant family of Seir, and her sons took the command of districts and tribes of the Horite people in her right. read more

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