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Genesis 36:16

in Genesis 36

Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. They are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom, and they are the grandsons of Adah.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek: these are the chiefs that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.

KJV

Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek: these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.

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This verse in Genesis 36

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
Duke Korah,.... Only among the sons of Eliphaz is reckoned Duke Korah, not before mentioned among his sons, and is left out in the Samaritan version; See Gill on Gen 36:7; to which it may be added, that according to Gerundinsis (a), this is the same with Timna, related among the sons of Eliphaz, 1Ch 1:36; who was called by his father Korah: or this might be a grandson of Eliphaz. (a) Apud Menaasseh ut supra. (conciliator in Gen. Quaest. 57. p. 81.)

This site's exposition

These are the chiefs among the sons of Esau

on Genesis 36:15-19

The Berean gives chief where the King James gives duke, and Clarke traces that English to the Latin dux, a leader. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown count fourteen chiefs alive at once, out of Eliphaz, Reuel and Oholibamah, and Korah stands among the chiefs of Eliphaz in verse 16 though verse 14 makes him a son of Oholibamah. A grandson carrying the same name accounts for it.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Esau's sons were dukes when Jacob's sons were but plain shepherds, ch. xlvii. This is not a reason why such titles should not be used among Christians; but it is a reason why men should not overvalue themselves, or others, for the sake of them. There is an honour that comes from God, and a name in his house that is infinitely more valuable.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Duke Korah - This Dr. Kennicott pronounces to be an interpolation. “It is certain, from Gen 36:4, that Eliphaz was Esau’s son by Adah; and from Gen 36:11, Gen 36:12, that Eliphaz had but six sons, Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and Amalek. It is also certain, from Gen 36:5, Gen 36:14, that Korah was the son of Esau (not of Eliphaz) by Aholibamah; and as such he is properly mentioned in Gen 36:18: These are the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife: duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, Duke Korah.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The head of each tribe was called by a term which in our version is rendered "duke"--not of the high rank and wealth of a British peer, but like the sheiks or emirs of the modern East, or the chieftains of highland clans. Fourteen are mentioned who flourished contemporaneously.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

אלוף קרח. Korach had not been mentioned earlier as a son of Eliphaz, but merely as a son of Oholovimah. Perhaps this Korach was another son of Eliphaz who had become an Aluf, and has now been mentioned with the other Aluphim who were sons of Eliphaz.
Radak: Provence, 1160–1235 · Radak on Genesis 36:16:1, via Sefaria, Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
All the Alufim mentioned in this chapter are heads of cities of clans.
Rashbam: France, c. 1085–1158 · Rashbam on Genesis 36:15:1, via Sefaria, Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • אַלּֽוּף־chief

    ʾaluf-H441 →69 times

  • קֹ֛רַחKorah

    korachH7141 →26 times

  • אַלּ֥וּףchief

    ʾalufH441 →69 times

  • גַּעְתָּ֖םGatam

    ga'tamH1609 →

  • אַלּ֣וּףchief

    ʾalufH441 →69 times

  • עֲמָלֵ֑קAmalek

    ʾamalekH6002 →

  • אֵ֣לֶּהthese

    ʾelehH428 →746 times

  • אַלּוּפֵ֤י[were] [the] chiefs of

    ʾalufeiH441 →69 times

  • אֱלִיפַז֙Eliphaz

    ʾelifazH464 →15 times

  • בְּאֶ֣רֶץin [the] land of

    beeretzH776 →2504 times

  • אֱד֔וֹםEdom

    ʾedomH123 →99 times

  • אֵ֖לֶּהthese

    ʾelehH428 →746 times

  • בְּנֵ֥י[were] [the] sons of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • עָדָֽה׃Adah

    ʾadahH5711 →8 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

5 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Exodus 15:15

    Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,

    it leads to

    • Joshua 5:1

      Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until…

    • Joshua 2:9

      and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting…

    • Joshua 2:11

      When we heard this, our hearts melted and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.

    • Genesis 36:40

      These are the names of Esau’s chiefs, according to their families and regions, by their names: Chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

    • Psalms 68:2

      As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.

About Genesis

The Creation of Light, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Creation of Light, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 36 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 36 →