Genesis 36:10-12 - Exposition

These are the names of Esau's sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau ( vide Genesis 36:4 ). And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman ,—the name was afterwards given to a district of Idumea ( Jeremiah 49:20 ), and borne by one of Job's friends ( Job 2:11 )— Omar ,—"Eloquent" (Gesenius), "Mountain-dweller" (Furst)— Zepho ,—"Watch-tower" (Gesenius); called Zephi in 1 Chronicles 1:36 — and Gatam ,—"their touch" (Gesenius), "dried up" (Furst)— and Kenaz —"Hunting" (Gesenius). And Timna —"Restraint" (Gesenius, Furst, Murphy)— was concubine — pilgash , (vide Genesis 16:3 ; Genesis 25:6 )— to Eliphaz Esau's son ; perhaps given to him by Adah, so that her children were reckoned Adah's (Hughes) and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek —"Inhabitant of the Valley," or "Warrior" (Furst); "a nation of head-breakers" (Lunge); "Laboring" (Gesenius, Murphy). It is probable that this was the founder of the Amalekite nation who attacked Israel at Horeb (Keil, Kalisch, Murphy), though by others (Gesenius, Michaelis, Furst) these have been regarded as a primitive people, chiefly on the grounds that Amalek is mentioned in Genesis 14:7 as having existed in the days of Abraham, and that Balaam calls Amalek the first of nations ( Numbers 24:20 ); but the first may simply be a prolepsis (Hengstenberg), while the second alludes not to the antiquity of the nation, but either to its power (Kalisch), or to the circumstance that it was the first heathen tribe to attack Israel (Keil). These (including Eliphaz for the reason ,specified above) were the sons of Adah Esau's wife .