Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #12 in Genesis 36, and we will read Genesis 36:12-19:

And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah Esau's wife. And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife. And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: and she bare to Esau Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah. These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz, 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. 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. 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. These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.

I will stop reading there.  We spent some time in our past studies looking at Adah, the daughter on Elon, and we realized she was the same woman that was called Bashemath in Genesis 26.  We are sure it was the same woman because in both Genesis 36:2 and in Genesis 26:34 the woman Esau married was said to be the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

We also realized that the woman named Bashemath mentioned in Genesis 36:3, who is said to be Ishmael’s daughter and the sister of Nebajoth, is the same woman spoken of in Genesis 28:9 regarding Esau going to Ishmael and taking to wife Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebajoth.  So Mahalath is the same woman as this Bashemath.  That is, she went by two names, according to the Bible.  Esau’s wife Adah is a different Bashemath, the woman mentioned in Genesis 26.  So Adah also went by Bashemath.  And the Bashemath that was Ishmael’s daughter also went by Mahalath.

So that leaves the third wife of Esau, Aholibamah.  She is mentioned in Genesis 36:2, and in a few other verses in this chapter.  It says in the second part of Genesis 36:2:

… and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;

It is unusual that we read, “the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon,” since we do not read that of these other women, but God tells us that.  So where we are told, “Aholibamah the daughter of Anah,” and then immediately it goes on to say, “the daughter of Zibeon,” is it referring to Aholibamah who is both the daughter of Anah and the daughter of Zibeon, which would mean Zibeon would be her grandfather?  Or is it telling us that the daughter of Zibeon is referring back to Anah?  That is, is this verse telling us that Aholibamah is the daughter of Anah, and Anah is her mother (not the father), and Anah is the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite?  And I think we have to go with the former.  That is,  Aholibamah is the daughter of a man named Anah and also the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite. I think we can say that accurately because of what we read in Genesis 36:14:

And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife…

We have the same layout as in verse 2, but that last part confirms to us that Aholibamah is the one who has been spoken of throughout the sentence because, again, it says, “the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife.”   The closing statement is, “Esau’s wife.”   Is Esau’s wife referring to Anah or Zibeon?  No – it is referring back to Aholibamah, and that lets us know that the whole verse and all the references to “daughter” are pointing to Aholibamah. And that would make her the granddaughter of Zibeon.

Then when we go a little further in this chapter, we read in Genesis 36:24:

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.

So you see, Anah is a man, and the children of Anah are listed in Genesis 36:25:

And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.

That lets us know that Anah is a man, and his daughter is Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah.  The language fits perfectly with the earlier verses, and Anah is a son of Zibeon. 

At least we have that understood, but there is a great deal more that has to be harmonized in the statements of this chapter.  If you love mysteries…and of course the child of God does love mysteries because that is how God has written the Bible.  We love the Bible, and God spoke in parables, or mysteries, so we find it very interesting and exciting when we read the mysteries of the Bible.  I believe the Lord has given us that kind of “new nature,” in being very curious, and the desire to search the Scriptures to see if these things are so.  If everything were “plain as day” and right there on the surface, we would not have to search the Scriptures to verify things.  But that is not the way the Bible was written.  The Bible is extremely complicated.  It is by far the most complex book in all the world.  There is nothing that comes close to it. 

In going through Genesis 36, you might make the mistake of just quickly reading through it, thinking, “Oh, this is just a genealogy of the unregenerate, and it is of no great interest, and it is just not attracting my attention, so I will just zoom right through it.”  And yet we would miss one of the most complex chapters I have ever seen in the Bible, as far as the statements God is making regarding Esau’s wives, and the children of Esau’s wives.  It is really fascinating to try to piece it together.  I do not know if we are going to learn any great spiritual things, and as of this moment we have not.  I am not seeing any deep truths emerging, but just the fact that we have to work so hard to get the genealogy correct is a testimony to the great complexity of the Word of God, the Bible.  I am also finding that this is helpful as we look up these people, their lineage, and who they are descendants from, and the reference to their being Hittites or Hivites, and so forth.  It is directing us into a great many other passages, and I think this is an excellent exercise for us to learn some information that will come in handy in the future as we studying other things, even it if does not produce any wonderful (spiritual) truths at this time.  It will certainly pay dividends, as the expression goes, down the road.

So we see that it said in Genesis 36:2:

… and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;

So we know that Aholibamah must be the woman mentioned in Genesis 26:34-35:

And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

Bashemath is Adah, as Elon the Hittite is the same here as in Genesis 36, but who in the world is this Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite?  We did not read of Beeri the Hittite in Genesis 36, and when we read of Aholibamah’s father Anah and his father Zibeon, neither of them were said to be Hittites.  I will read it again: “Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite.”  A Hittite is not a Hivite.  They may sound similar, but they are different.  Who is Judith the daughter of  Beeri the Hittite?  I think we can say this at the start: Judith must be Aholibamah.  And is Beeri another name for Anah, or for Zibeon?  I do not know right now because Berri is a Hittite, and as far as we know, Anah and Zibeon are Hivites.  So that presents a problem, but we are going to try our best to understand what we can.

The name “Beeri” is only found twice in the Old Testament.  It is found here, and it is also found in Hosea 1:1:

The word of JEHOVAH that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri…

The word “Beeri” means “my well,” or “my fountain,” so it would be a good name for an Israelite, identifying with the Word of God, like a “well of water” or as salvation is likened to a well in the Bible.

But here, this man Beeri is a Hittite, and the Hittites are a little complicated and difficult to understand regarding their origin.  The earliest mention of the Hittite that I could find is in Genesis 23.  This was after Sarah died, and then Abraham was engaged in purchasing a burying place for her, and we read in Genesis 23:7-10:

And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,

Ephron was a Hittite, and yet he dwelt among the children of Heth.  The children of Heth can be found early on in the Genesis account, if we go back to Genesis 10:15-17:

And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

So Heth came from the line of Canaan, the son of Ham, and Ham was the son of Noah.  This would have been after the first world was destroyed, and things were starting all over, so we have Noah, Ham, Canaan, and then Heth.  He was one of the sons of Canaan, and we are also told that the Hivites came forth from Canaan, so there is a family relationship between the children of Heth and the Hivites.  They can trace their lineage back to Canaan, a common ancestor. 

You might be thinking, “Why are we looking at the children of Heth because Ephron the Hittite simply dwelt among them?  It does not say he was of them.”  Yes, it is true that it said he dwelt among them, but the world Hittite is Strong’s #2850, and it comes from the word for “Heth,” which is Strong’s #2845.  Based on the language used in Genesis 23 when Abraham was purchasing the burial ground, we can see that the Hittites completely identified with the children of Heth, and that is why the purchase of the cave from Ephron the Hittite is spoken of as being purchased from the children of Heth themselves, as it says in Genesis 25:8-10:

Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

But he purchased it from Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, and yet we are told that he purchased it from the sons of Heth, and that is because the Hittites completely identify with the sons of Heth.  They were of Canaan, and that is how we can look at them.  Their beginning would be of Heth who was born of Canaan.

We will try to pick this subject up again, Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study.