Theologische Nuggets IV (Genesis 34 - 44:26)

Genesis 36 - Zusammenfassung

In diesem Kapitel haben wir eine kurze Pause von der Geschichte Jakobs. Wir halten kurz die Zeit an und schauen uns was parallel zu Jakob bei Esau passiert ist. Einige Informationen hatten wir schon. Er hat drei mal geheiratet, zwei mal mit Kanaanitern und einmal eine Ismaeliterin. Wir wissen, dass er nichts vom Vater ererben wird und deswegen zieht es ihn in eine andere Sippe um dort Führungspersönlichkeit zu werden. 

In diesem Kapitel wird seine Geschichte wie gewohnt in Form einer Genealogie dargestellt. Das besondere hier ist, wie auch bei Ismael, dass seine Nachkommen als Fürsten genannt werden, noch bevor wir in Israel eine monarchische Struktur haben. 

Aus Esau wird Edom, so wie aus Jakob Israel wurde. So wie aus Jakob die Israeliten stammen, so stammen aus Esau die Edomiter, diese lebten zur Zeit des Autors und waren dort eine wichtige Figur, wie wir noch erleben werden. 

 In den nächsten Kapiteln erwartet uns weiterhin die Geschichte Jakobs in Form seiner Söhne. 

The distinctive units that make up the two tōlĕdōt sections of Esau are marked by recurring superscriptions and colophons: "sons of" (bĕnê), "chiefs of" (ʾallûpê), and "kings" (mĕlākîm).

36:1–8"the account of (tōlĕdôt) Esau (that is, Edom)" (v. 1) vv. 2–5"These were the sons of (bĕnê) Esau" (v. 5) vv. 6–8"Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir" (v. 8)

The boundaries of the present tōlĕdôt section begin and end with the verbatim phrase, "Esau is Edom" (vv. 1, 8).16 Sandwiched between are two units: (1) Esau's genealogy of five sons born by three wives (vv. 2–5) and (2) the description of the family's move to Seir (vv. 6–8). Each unit begins similarly: S 636 Esau "took" (lāqaḥ) his wives from the women of Canaan" (v. 2), and he "took" (lāqaḥ) his wives and family to Seir (v. 6). Each unit also concludes with a reference to the residency of Esau: "(Sons) who were born to him in Canaan" (v. 5) and "settled in the hill country of Seir" (v. 8). The passage focuses on the migration of Esau from his indigenous home in Canaan to Seir, outside of Canaan. This geographical motif provides the contrast with Jacob and the favored line whose residence was in the promised land of Canaan. What is implied here is specifically stated in vv. 42–43. Especially important is the explanation for Esau's departure, stated twice in v. 7, echoing the language that described the separation of Abraham and Lot (13:6). The brothers enjoyed fruitful and peaceful relations, not the rancorous attitude that dominated their descendants.

The genealogy is built on the naming of the three wives of Esau.

Adah  Basemath Oholibamah

↓            ↓                   ↓

Eliphaz Ruel   Jeush, Jalam, Korah

The genealogical form is a modified version of the segmented (branched) type (e.g., 10:1–32), providing a brief family history; the history gives the names of Esau's three wives and includes the genealogy of their five sons (contrast the linear form of genealogy in 5:1–32 and 11:10–26). The nature of ancient genealogies often involved more than biological descent; the family relationships described may reflect social and commercial dependencies between tribes... This feature, however, does not necessarily mean that actual ancestral connections between the tribes did not exist. Although the names of women appear at times in patrilineal genealogies in Genesis (e.g., 4:19), the three wives of Esau are prominent in the identification of his descendants. The sons born to Esau are named according to their mothers. This genealogical feature also occurs in the listing of Jacob's sons in 35:23–26. What distinguishes the two lists is the identification of the women's ethnicity in Esau's case. Their foreign status recalls the disapproval Rebekah showed for Esau's intermarriage and which prompted the exile of Jacob (27:46–28:9).

K. A. Mathews, Genesis 11:27–50:26, Bd. 1B of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 635–636.