Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
Genesis 36:1 begins a record wholly taken up with Esau and the nations and descendants that sprang from him. It identifies Esau as Edom, marking him as the beginning of the Edomite nation. It identifies him also by whose son he was.
The record comes about ten or eleven years after Jacob's blessing at Peniel. It follows Jacob's meeting with Esau and his coming in peace to Shechem, and follows the destruction of Shechem. It follows the revival in Jacob's family when idols were put away, when God blessed Jacob and renewed the promises, when Rachel died and Benjamin was born, when Reuben sinned, and when Isaac died at 180 and Esau and Jacob met for the last time. At that time Jacob was about 109, Joseph was 17, and Benjamin was a small child two to four years old.
Jacob and Esau represent two classes, with Jacob representing those faithful to God and Edom representing those who place all their hopes in this world. Edom also symbolizes the great wicked world whose judgment is described in prophecy.
Genesis 36:1 begins a record wholly taken up with Esau and the nations and descendants that sprang from him. It identifies Esau as Edom, marking him as the beginning of the Edomite nation. It identifies him also by whose son he was.
The record comes about ten or eleven years after Jacob's blessing at Peniel. It follows Jacob's meeting with Esau and his coming in peace to Shechem, and follows the destruction of Shechem. It follows the revival in Jacob's family when idols were put away, when God blessed Jacob and renewed the promises, when Rachel died and Benjamin was born, when Reuben sinned, and when Isaac died at 180 and Esau and Jacob met for the last time. At that time Jacob was about 109, Joseph was 17, and Benjamin was a small child two to four years old.
Jacob and Esau represent two classes, with Jacob representing those faithful to God and Edom representing those who place all their hopes in this world. Edom also symbolizes the great wicked world whose judgment is described in prophecy.