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Genesis 36:17

in Genesis 36

These are the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom, and they are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And these are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah: these are the chiefs that came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

KJV

And these are the sons of Reuel Esau’s son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the dukes that came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Bashemath Esau’s wife.

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This verse in Genesis 36

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

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.

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. Korah stands among the chiefs of Eliphaz in verse 16, though verse 14 makes him a son of Oholibamah. Gill allowed a grandson carrying the same name.

This site's exposition

Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah

Jobab, Edom's second king at verse 33, is a son of Zerah. The name returns in Judah's son by Tamar at Genesis 38:30, and Matthew 1:3 names him beside Perez.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And these are the sons of Reuel.... See Gill on Gen 36:15.

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.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

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

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

23 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.

  • וְאֵ֗לֶּהand these

    veelehH428 →746 times

  • בְּנֵ֤י[were] [the] sons of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • רְעוּאֵל֙Reuel

    reuelH7467 →11 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • עֵשָׂ֔וEsau

    ʾesavH6215 →97 times

  • אַלּ֥וּףchief

    ʾalufH441 →69 times

  • נַ֙חַת֙Nahath

    nachatH5184 →

  • אַלּ֣וּףchief

    ʾalufH441 →69 times

  • זֶ֔רַחZerah

    zerachH2226 →21 times

  • אַלּ֥וּףchief

    ʾalufH441 →69 times

  • שַׁמָּ֖הShammah

    shamahH8048 →

  • אַלּ֣וּףchief

    ʾalufH441 →69 times

  • מִזָּ֑הMizzah

    mizahH4199 →

  • אֵ֣לֶּהthese

    ʾelehH428 →746 times

  • אַלּוּפֵ֤י[were] [the] chiefs of

    ʾalufeiH441 →69 times

  • רְעוּאֵל֙Reuel

    reuelH7467 →11 times

  • בְּאֶ֣רֶץin [the] land of

    beeretzH776 →2504 times

  • אֱד֔וֹםEdom

    ʾedomH123 →99 times

  • אֵ֕לֶּהthese

    ʾelehH428 →746 times

  • בְּנֵ֥י[were] [the] sons of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • בָשְׂמַ֖תBasemath

    vasematH1315 →7 times

  • אֵ֥שֶׁת[the] wife of

    ʾeshetH802 →781 times

  • עֵשָֽׂו׃Esau

    ʾesavH6215 →97 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

    Genesis 36:4

    And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath gave birth to Reuel,

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 1:35

      The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

    • Exodus 2:18

      When the daughters returned to their father Reuel, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

    • Job 2:11

      Now when Job’s three friends—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite—heard about all this adversity that had come upon him, each of them came from his home, and they met together…

    • Numbers 10:29

      Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us,…

  • Through

    Genesis 36:13

    These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

    it leads to

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 36 →