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Genesis 36b:

Reading #140   The new land

Now we learn about some other grandsons of Esau and of the people of the land that he moved into.

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Genesis 36:

17 And these are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son;

duke [chieftain] Nahas, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the dukes that came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the  [grand]sons of Bashemath Esau's wife. 

18 And these are the sons of Aholibamah, Esau's wife;

duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah: these were the dukes that came of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. 

19 These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes [his descendants]. 

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When Esau moved into the land of Seir he found the country already inhabited.  True to his warlike nature, he conquered its inhabitants and took over the territory.  But here we are told of their backgrounds.

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Genesis 36:

20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite [the son of Hori], who inhabited the land [before Esau occupied it];

Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, 21 and Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes [chiefs] of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. [This is why Esau’s land is sometimes called Seir, Deuteronomy 2:12.] 

 

22 And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam;

and Lotan's sister was Timna. [She later was concubine to Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau, and became the mother of Amalek.]

 

23 And the children of Shobal were these;

Alvan, and Manahas, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 

 

24 And these are the children of Zibeon;

both Ajah, and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.

25 And the children of Anah were these;

Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah. 

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This is the first mention of mules in the KJV Bible. 

But the meaning of the Hebrew word used here is not certain and some think that it means “hot springs” (RSV) which seems more likely, for much of the country was still unexplored.  Moreover, mules are a hybrid of selective breeding between donkeys and horses, engineered by man and not occurring naturally in the wild.  Maybe Anah was the one who pioneered the breeding? 

Although such practices were later forbidden to the Israelites (Leviticus 19:19), their kings favoured them as the royal steed because of their value, and imported them from the neighbouring countries.  2 Samuel 13:29 and 1 Kings 1:33. 

Because they were not natural products they did not produce offspring of their own and therefore were a luxury only the rich could afford, the “Rolls Royce” of their time.  The following quote may be of interest.

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What makes a mule different from a horse?

Let's clarify what a mule is first. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). A horse has 64 chromosomes and a donkey has 62. The mule ends up with 63. Mules can be either male or female, but because of the odd number of chromosomes, they can't reproduce. A male mule still needs to be gelded for the purpose of owning a safe and sociable animal…..

The term 'Mule' is used for either the cross of male donkey on female horse or the cross of female donkey on male horse, although the latter cross is more correctly known as a 'hinny'. Both mules and hinnies each have one horse and one donkey parent, however the two crosses generally differ from each other in appearance and stature and to some extent in temperament….

• A hinny resembles horse more than ass, more as a horse with long ears. It is hard to tell the difference from a mule. Has been used as a saddle animal from antiquity and is more difficult to produce than the mule.  A jennet does not conceive well to the stallion.

http://www.luckythreeranch.com/muletrainer/mulefact.htm#different

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The product of the opposite cross is even more rare than the donkey/horse.   It was one of these animals that Jesus used when He rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on the Sunday before the crucifixion, proclaiming His royal position as the King of Israel. 

Just before he died, Jacob prophesied…

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Genesis 49:

10 The sceptre [of kingly authority] shall not depart from [the tribe of] Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come [a reference to Christ’s first advent]; and to Him shall the gathering of the people be. 11 Binding His foal to the vine, and His ass's colt to the choice vine; He washed His garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes [a poetic picture of His death at Calvary] . . .   

 [Then, about 1,000 years later, the prophecy was enlarged.]

Zechariah 9:

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you: He is just, and having salvation; lowly [a carpenter’s son], and [yet] riding upon an ass [a king’s steed], and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

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Five hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Zechariah thus foretold the coming of the King to Israel. This prophecy was fulfilled by Christ. He who had so long refused royal honours came one day to Jerusalem as the promised heir to David's throne, the Messiah. 

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Matthew 21:

1 And when they drew nigh to Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, to the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village over against you, and straightway you shall find an ass tied [to a vine], and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them to Me. 3 And if any man say ought to you, you shall say, “The LORD has need of them”; and straightway he will send them.

4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “Tell you the daughter of Sion, Behold, your King comes to you, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass [the ass was a female].” 6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,  7 and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set Him thereon [on the colt, the hinny].

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It was on the first day of the week (Sunday afternoon) that Christ made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Multitudes who had flocked to see Him at Bethany where He had raised Lazarus accompanied Him, eager to witness His reception. Many people were on their way to the city to keep the Passover, and these joined the multitude attending Jesus.

At His birth the Saviour was dependent upon the hospitality of strangers. The manger [a feeding trough] in which He lay was a borrowed resting place. Now, although the cattle on a thousand hills are His, He was dependent on a stranger's kindness for an animal on which to enter Jerusalem as its King. But again His divinity was revealed, even in the minute directions given His disciples for this errand. As He foretold, the plea, "The LORD has need of them," was readily granted. Jesus chose for His use the colt on which never man had sat. (It was a “hinny”, i.e. the product of a male horse over a female donkey – a very hard and therefore expensive animal to produce.)  The disciples, with glad enthusiasm, spread their garments on the beast, and seated their Master upon it.

Before this Jesus had always travelled on foot, and the disciples at first wondered that He should now choose to ride. But hope brightened in their hearts with the joyous thought that He was about to enter the capital, proclaim Himself King, and assert His royal power. While on their errand they communicated their glowing expectations to the friends of Jesus, and the excitement spread far and near, raising the expectations of the people to the highest pitch.

No sooner was He seated upon the colt than a loud shout of triumph rent the air. The multitude hailed Him as Messiah, their King.  Jesus now accepted the homage which He had never before permitted, and the disciples received this as proof that their glad hopes were to be realized by seeing Him established on the throne. The multitude were convinced that the hour of their freedom was at hand. In imagination they saw the Roman armies driven from Jerusalem, and Israel once more an independent nation.

Never before in His earthly life had Jesus permitted such a demonstration.  He clearly foresaw the result.  It would bring Him to the cross in a few days. But it was His purpose thus publicly to present Himself as the Redeemer. He desired to call attention to the sacrifice that was to crown His mission to a fallen world. While the people were assembling at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, He, the antitypical Lamb, by a voluntary act set Himself apart as an oblation, the Washer away of sins.

It would be needful for His followers in all succeeding ages to make His death for the sins of the world a subject of deep thought and study. Every fact connected with it should be verified beyond a doubt. It was necessary, then, that the eyes of all people should now be directed to Him; the events which preceded His great sacrifice must be such as to call attention to the sacrifice itself. After such a demonstration as that attending His entry into Jerusalem, all eyes would follow His rapid progress to the final scene.  Each day would produce its particular details.  The events connected with this triumphal ride would remain the talk of every tongue, and would bring Jesus before every mind. After His crucifixion, many would recall these events in their connection with His trial and death. They would be led to search the prophecies, and would be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah; and in all lands converts to the faith would be multiplied.

In this one triumphant scene of His earthly life, the Saviour might have appeared escorted by heavenly angels, and announced by the trumpets of God; but such a demonstration would have been contrary to the purpose of His mission, contrary to the law which had governed His life. He remained true to the humble lot He had accepted. The burden of humanity He must bear until His life was given for the life of the world.

After that little aside, let’s get back to our story….. 

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Genesis 36:

26 And these are the children of Dishon;

Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran. 

 

27 The children of Ezer are these;

Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan. 

2

8 The children of Dishan are these;

Uz, and Aran. 

29 These are the dukes that came of the Horites;

duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah, 30 duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir. 

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As well as the chiefs of the nomadic tribes of Seir, there were rulers of some settled areas called cities.

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Genesis 36:

31 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel [before 1,000BC]. 

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These “kings” appear to be “elected” rather than sons inheriting from fathers.  See 1 Chronicles 1:43-51.  Rather like the “judges” of old Israel who preceded their kings.

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Genesis 36:

32 And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city [his political state] was Dinhabah.

33 And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.

34 And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead.

35 And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith [a change of political centre]. 

36 And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead. 

37 And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river [another change] reigned in his stead. 

38 And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead. 

39 And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

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The political centres obviously changed from time to time, but the idea of a geographical entity and a human ruler remained strong and was even eventually adopted by the people of God!

When women are mentioned by name in the Bible this is usually because of some special attribute or deed that they have done.  In this case I do not know any more about Mehetabel, or her mother Matred.  Maybe someone does and would share with us?

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Genesis 36:

40 And these are the names of the [other] dukes [chieftains] that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names;

duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth, 

41 duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon, 

42 duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, 

43 duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession:

he [Edom] is Esau the father of the Edomites.

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Bye for now,

RonP 

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