¹sn Chapter 36 records what became of Esau. It will list both his actual descendants as well as the people he subsumed under his tribal leadership, people who were aboriginal Edomites. The chapter is long and complicated (see further J. R. Bartlett, “The Edomite King-List of Genesis 36:31-39 and 1 Chronicles 1:43-50,” JTS 16 [1965]: 301-14, and W. J. Horowitz, “Were There Twelve Horite Tribes?” CBQ 35 [1973]: 69-71). In the format of the Book of Genesis, the line of Esau is “tidied up” before the account of Jacob is traced . As such the arrangement makes a strong contrast with Jacob. As F. Delitzsch says, “secular greatness in general grows up far more rapidly than spiritual greatness” (New Commentary on Genesis, 2:238). In other words, the progress of the world far out distances the progress of the righteous who are waiting for the promise.
²tn Heb “from the daughters of Canaan.”
³tn Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24-25.
⁴tn Heb “from before.”
⁵tn Heb “land of their settlements.”
⁶tn Traditionally “Mount Seir,” but in this case the expression ryu!c@ rh^B= (B=h^r c@u!r) refers to the hill country or highlands of Seir.
⁷sn The term father in genealogical records needs to be carefully defined. It can refer to a literal father, a grandfather, a political overlord, or a founder.
⁸tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
⁹tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
¹⁰tn Heb “daughter,” but see Gen 36:24-25.
¹¹tn Or “sons.”
¹²tc The Samaritan Pentateuch omits the name “Korah” (see v. 11 and 1 Chr 1:36).
¹³tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
¹⁴tn Or “grandsons” (NIV); “descendants” (NEB).
¹⁵sn The same pattern of sons, grandsons, and chiefs is now listed for Seir the Horite. “Seir” is both the name of the place and the name of the ancestor of these tribes. The name “Horite” is probably not to be identified with “Hurrian.” The clan of Esau settled in this area, intermarried with these Horites and eventually dispossessed them, so that they all became known as Edomites (Deut 2:12 telescopes the whole development).
¹⁶tn Or “sons.”
¹⁷tn Heb “Hemam”; this is probably a variant spelling of “Homam” (1 Chr 1:39); cf. NRSV, NLT “Heman.”
¹⁸tn This name is given as “Shephi” in 1 Chr 1:40.
¹⁹tn The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain; Syriac reads “water” and Vg reads “hot water”.
²⁰tn Heb “sons,” but since a daughter is included in the list, the word must be translated “children.”
²¹tn Heb “Dishan,” but this must be either a scribal error or variant spelling, since “Dishan” is mentioned in v. 28 (see also v. 21).
²²tn Or perhaps “before any Israelite king ruled over [them].”
²³sn Typically the Hebrew expression the River refers to the Euphrates River, but it is not certain whether that is the case here.
²⁴tc Most mss of the MT read “Hadar” here; “Hadad” is the reading found in some Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and Syriac (cf. also 1 Chr 1:50).
²⁵tn The name of the city is given as “Pai” in 1 Chr 1:50.
²⁶tn Or perhaps “territories”; Heb “dwelling places.”