Genesis 36 — Oh my darling Concubine
Genesis 36 — Oh my darling ConcubineNothing earth-shattering in Genesis 36. We have a long, boring list of descendants with virtually no action happening. Esau moves away from Jacob because the former has acquired just too much stuff (as we saw with Abraham and Lot , brothers who are too rich just can’t live next to each other). And if you have to pick between blood and wealth, we know what is more important in the Bible. So Esau moves away from Jacob with his extended family. We have plenty of names and occasional tidbits about Esau’s descendants. The Bible does take time to point out (and notably does not condemn) Esau’s son Eliphaz having a concubine (36:12). The men in the Bible seem plenty "fruitful" without having to take on extra wives and sleeping with slaves and concubines all the time. I guess they just couldn’t control themselves. Esau, aka Edom, fathers an entire nation of chiefs apparently (with a few daughters thrown in for good measure). What does all this mean? I’m not sure what happens to the Edomites, if anything, in the rest of the Bible. My guess is they will be peacemakers and spread the word that God is love. Sure… |
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