Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #20 in Genesis 36, and we will read Genesis 36:35-43:

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. And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead. And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead. And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead. 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. And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names; duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth, Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon, Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites.

I will stop reading there.  We are not looking at every single name.  That is, I am not discussing every name regarding what each of the names means.  We could do that, but I have looked at several of them, and it does not seem to lead anywhere as far as a spiritual understanding, so I did not think it was the best use of our time.

As we go through this passage, I am just looking for information that helps us to harmonize the things we are reading.  For example, it says in Genesis 36:35:

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.

This man Hadad, as well as this entire passage is mentioned in 1Chronicles 1, and we have gone there before.  It is a parallel passage that has much of the same information, with slight differences here and there.  We read in 1Chronicles 1:43-50:

Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel; Bela the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Dinhabah. And when Bela was dead, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead. And when Jobab was dead, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.  And when Husham was dead, Hadad the son of Bedad, which smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith. And when Hadad was dead, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead. And when Samlah was dead, Shaul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead. And when Shaul was dead, Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead. And when Baalhanan was dead, Hadad reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Pai; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

I will stop reading there.  Here, we basically see the same account as in Genesis 36, except in verse 50 we find a second reference to Hadad.  Again, it says in 1Chronicles 1:50:

And when Baalhanan was dead, Hadad reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Pai; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

And this matches up with Genesis 36:39, except that it says, “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.”  So “Hadad” and “Hadar” have the same wife, same daughter of Matred and daughter of Mezahab, so it has to be the same man.  But in Genesis 36:39 he is called Hadar, and in 1Chronicles 1:50 he is called Hadad.  So we will try to straighten that out.

As far as the city, we see in one place it is called “Pau,” and in the other places it is called “Pai,” but it is the same Hebrew word in both places.  Again, the King James translators translated it two ways, for whatever reason, but God used that for His own purposes.  It is Strong’s #6464, and it comes from Strong’s #6463 in the Hebrew concordance, and it is only found one time translated as “cry” of a travailing woman.  I am not sure of any spiritual meaning associated with that, but that is what “Pau” means.

But let us go back and look at Hadad, as it says in Genesis 36:35:

… and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab…

I tried to find any biblical record concerning the smiting of Midian in the field of Moab, and I was not able to find anything.  But as far as this man Hadad, the name “Hadad” is Strong’s #1908.  There is a man named Hadad who was an Edomite, and he is mentioned several times in 1Kings 11, so let us go there and see if this is the same Hadad.  We read in 1Kings 11:14:

And JEHOVAH stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom.

That is interesting.  So this Hadad was an Edomite, and that is what we are reading about in Genesis 36, which is all about Esau, who is Edom.  We also read that this Hadad was of the king’s seed, and in Genesis 36, we reading a list of kings that reigned over Edom.  And one of them is named Hadad, as we read in Genesis 36:35.  Actually, there is another man named Hadar in the Genesis account who is also called Hadad in the 1Chronicles account.  So is it possible that Hadad the Edomite is one of these two kings?  And we would have to say, “No.”  Let us continue reading and you will see why.  Let us continue reading in 1Kings 11:15-22:

For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom; (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:) That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child. And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land. And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh. And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country. Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.

The only other mention of this Hadad is in 1Kings 11:25:

And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

This verse refers to another man, and this statement, “beside the mischief that Hadad did,” is just sort of thrown in with the description of this other man who was an adversary to Solomon after the death of David.  And we know that David died in 967 B. C., and it was at that point that this Hadad wanted to leave Egypt, and he did return to cause mischief in the time of Solomon.  That is why  both of the men that were mentioned in Genesis 36 or in 1Chronicles 1 cannot be referring to this man because of what we read in 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.

The Hadad of 1Kings 11 lived at the time of David, and he was a little child when Joab, under David’s reign, slew all the men in Edom.  And David became king in 1007 B. C., and it was probably much later than that when this incident in the land of Edom took place.  Anyway, this Hadad does not qualify because the list of kings in Genesis 36 all reigned before King Saul, the first king of Israel.  So he is not one of those individuals, but he was “of the seed of the king” of Edom, so he would have been a descendant, in all likelihood, from one of the two that are mentioned.

Another curious thing is found in 1Kings 11 regarding the numerous references to Hadad.  Hadad is mentioned seven times in 1Kings 11, and in six out of the seven times, it is the same word that we see in Genesis 36, Strong’s #1908.  But in 1Kings 11:17 we read, “That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child.”  Where it says, “Hadad fled,” it is a different Hebrew word.  This word is Strong’s #111.  Now this may get a little complicated, but the word used back in Genesis 36 that is translated as “Hadad” begins with the Hebrew letter “He,” which gives it the “h” sound.  So this word, Strong’s #1908, begins with an “h,” and then it also has the “Daleth,” and it has two of them.  So it is like “He-Daleth-Daleth.”  But the word in 1Kings 11:17 begins with an “Aleph,” and then the two “Daleths.”  But it is also translated as “Hadad.”

But this word “Hadad,” Strong’s #111, comes from another word, Strong’s #2301, and this word is also translated as “Hadad.”  We find this word in 1Chronicles 1:29:

These are their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema,

This Hadad is a son of Ishmael.  He is not an Edomite.  It is a different man, but in the English we cannot tell these words apart.  They are all spelled the same and sound the same.  But in 1Chronicles 1:30, Hadad is Strong’s #2301, and this word begins with a different Hebrew letter, which is “Cheth,” so we have three Hebrew words that are all translated as “Hadad,” and each one begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, but they all have the similarity of the double “Daleth,” and they all have the vowel pointing that gives it the “a” sound.

And here is another similarity, and this is kind of odd, and I do not how it fits into anything spiritually.  This is just an observation of things that we find in our text, but in 1Chronicles 1:30 this son of Ishmael is called “Hadad,” Strong’s #2301, but we also find another reference to this man in Genesis 25:13-15:

And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

We did not read the word “Hadad” here, but instead it says, “Hadar.”  And keep in mind what we were looking at earlier in Genesis 36:39:

And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead…

But in 1Chronicles 1:50, this man was Hadad, but in 1Chronicles 1:30 the son of Ishmael was called “Hadad,” and in Genesis 25:15, the son of Ishmael is called “Hadar.”

And these are different words.  The word “Hadar” that is mentioned in Genesis 36 is Strong’s #1924, and it comes from #1926, which means “beauty” or “honor.”  And the word “Hadar” that is mentioned in Genesis 25:15 is Strong’s #2316, and it means “bed chamber,” or “inner chamber,” or “inward parts,” etc.  And why this is, I do not know, but it certainly is complex, is it not?  It is very complex how God has recorded the names of these men by giving them similar names, or the same names, but they are called by a different name in a different place, but it is the same person.  It is just amazing how God does this.

I hope you understand all this, although we are not learning much spiritual information.  But, hopefully, we are clarifying things that will avoid confusion down the road regarding these various people named “Hadad” or “Hadar.”  We are gaining little bits of information, here and there, and maybe down the line it may be helpful to us in coming to a more significant piece of understanding.  But right now we must be content to learn what little we can.

When we get together for our next Bible study, it will probably be our last Bible study in Genesis 36, and then we will move on to the next chapter.