Genesis 36:15-16 - Exposition

These were dukes of the sons of Esau . The אַלּוּפים , derived probably from אָלַף , to be familiar, whence to join together, or associate, were Edomite and Horite phylarchs or tribe-leaders, ἡγεμόνες, ( LXX .), chieftains of a thousand men (Gerlach). At a later period the term came to be applied to the Jewish chiefs or governors of the Restoration ( Zechariah 9:7 ; Zechariah 12:5 ). The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kemaz (vide on Genesis 36:11 ), duke Korah ,—inserted here probably by clerical error from Genesis 36:18 (Kennicott, Tuch, Knobel, Delitzsch, Keil, Murphy, Quarry), and accordingly omitted in the Samaritan Pentateuch and Version, though still retained by Onkelos and the LXX ; and on the hypothesis of its genuineness explained by some as the name of a nephew of Eliphaz (Junius); of a son by another mother (Ainsworth); of a son of Korah ( Genesis 36:18 ) by the widow of Timua ( 1 Chronicles 1:36 ), who, having died without issue, left his wife to his brother (Michaelis); of some descendant of Eliphaz by intermarriage who subsequently rose to be the head of a clan (Kalisch),— duke Gatam ( vide Genesis 36:11 ), and duke Amalek ( vide Genesis 36:12 ): these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.