28The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.
29These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
30Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,
31Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.
32The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.
33The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.
34Abraham became the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.
35The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
36The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek.
37The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
38The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
39The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam; and Timna was Lotan’s sister.
40The sons of Shobal: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.
41The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hamran, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
42The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
43Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor; and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
44Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place.
45Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.
46Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Avith.
47Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.
48Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the River reigned in his place.
49Shaul died, and Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
50Baal Hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pai: and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
51Then Hadad died. The chiefs of Edom were: chief Timna, chief Aliah, chief Jetheth,
52chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon,
53chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar,
54chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom.
Drawn from the public-domain commentaries and Spurgeon sermons that cover this exact passage · ~724 words.
Matthew Henry. The posterity of Ishmael, and of Abraham's sons by Keturah, out of Gen. 25, (Ch1 1:29-35). They are still of some use for the illustrating of the scripture-story, and especially for the clearing of the pedigrees of the Messiah, that it might appear that our blessed Saviour was, according to the prophecies which went before of him, the son of David, the son of Judah, the son of Abraham, the son of Adam. The posterity of Noah's sons, by which the earth was repeopled, out of Gen. 10, (v. 5-23). The sons of Jokshan, the son of Keturah, are named also, and the sons of Midian (Ch1 1:32, Ch1 1:33), who became most eminent, and perhaps gave denomination to all these families, as Judah to the Jews. They had an inveterate enmity to God's Israel; yet because they descended from Esau, the son of Isaac, we have here an account of their families, and the names of some of their famous men, Ch1 1:35 to the end. Ishmael's twelve sons are just named here (Ch1 1:29-31), to show the performance of the promise God made to Abraham, in answer to his prayer for him, that, for Abraham's sake, he should become a great nation, and particularly that he should beget twelve princes, Gen 17:20. We shall have little to say of the Midianites, who descended from Abraham's children by Keturah. They were children of the east (probably Job was one of them), and were separated from Isaac, the heir of the promise (Gen 25:6), and therefore they are only named here, Ch1 1:32. Multitudes will be brought to heaven out of all nations (Rev 7:9), and we are willing to hope there were many, very many, good people in the world, that lay out of the pale of God's covenant of peculiarity with Abraham, whose names were in the book of life, though not descended from any of the following families written in this book. That is the holy nation which is the subject of the sacred story; and therefore we are next to shake off all the seed of Abraham but the posterity of Jacob only, which were all incorporated into one nation and joined to the Lord, while the other descendants from Abraham, for aught that appears, were estranged both from God and from one another. Of them he keeps an account, knows them by name; but those who are strangers to him he beholds afar off. All nations but the seed of Abraham are already shaken off from this genealogy: they have no part nor lot in this matter.
Jamieson–Fausset–Brown. SONS OF ISHMAEL. (Ch1 1:29-31) These are their generations--the heads of his twelve tribes. The great northern desert of Arabia, including the entire neck, was colonized by these tribes; and if we can recover, in the modern geography of this part of the country, Arab tribes bearing the names of those patriarchs, that is, names corresponding with those preserved in the original catalogue of Scripture, we obtain at once so many evidences, not of mere similarity, but of absolute identification [FORSTER]. Thus this writer [Historical Geography of Arabia] traces the names of all the heads of the twelve tribes of Ishmael as perpetuated in the clans or tribes of the Arabs in the present day. SONS OF KETURAH. (Ch1 1:32-33) sons of Keturah--These became founders of nomadic tribes in the north of Arabia and Syria, as Midian of the Midianites (Gen 36:35; Jdg 6:2). and Shuah--from whom Bildad sprang (Job 2:11). POSTERITY OF ABRAHAM BY ESAU. (Ch1 1:34-42) sons of Eliphaz--the tribe Adites, in the center country of the Saracens, so called from his mother, Adah (Gen 36:10). Gatam--Katam, inhabited by the tribe Al Saruat, or "people of Sarah." Kenaz--the tribe Aenezes, a tribe whose settlement lies in the neighborhood of Syria. But it is unnecessary to mention any more of these obscure nomads, except to notice that Jobab (Ch1 1:44), one of the kings of Edom, is considered to be Job, and that his seat was in the royal city of Dinahab (Gen 36:32; Ch1 1:43), identified with O'Daeb, a well-known town in the center of Al Dahna, a great northern desert in the direction of Chaldea and the Euphrates [FORSTER]. In the same way, the names of the other kings and dukes are traced in the modern tribes of Arabia.
Matthew Henry
chapter
This chapter and many that follow it repeat the genealogies we have hitherto met with in the sacred history, and put them all together, with considerable additions. We may be tempted, it may be, to think it would have been well if they had not been written, because, when they come to be compared with other parallel places, there are differences found, which we can scarcely accommodate to our satisfaction; yet we must not therefore stumble at the word, but bless God that the things necessary to salvation are plain enough. And since the wise God has thought fit to write these things to us, we should not pass them over unread. All scripture is profitable, though not all alike profitable; and we may take occasion for good thoughts and meditations even from those parts of scripture that do not furnish so much matter for profitable remarks as some other parts. These genealogies, 1. Were then of great use, when they were here preserved, and put into the hands of the Jews after their return from Babylon; for the captivity, like the deluge, had put all into confusion, and they, in that dispersion and despair, would be in danger of losing the distinctions of their tribes and families. This therefore revives the ancient landmarks even of some of the tribes that were carried captive into Assyria. Perhaps it might invite the Jews to study the sacred writings which had been neglected, to find the names of their ancestors, and the rise of their families in them. 2. They are still of some use for the illustrating of the scripture-story, and especially for the clearing of the pedigrees of the Messiah, that it might appear that our blessed Saviour was, according to the prophecies which went before of him, the son of David, the son of Judah, the son of Abraham, the son of Adam. And, now that he has come for whose sake these registers were preserved, the Jews since have so lost all their genealogies that even that of the priests, the most sacred of all, is forgotten, and they know not of any one man in the world that can prove himself of the house of Aaron. When the building is reared the scaffolds are removed. When the promised Seed has come the line that was to lead to him is broken off. In this chapter we have an abstract of all the genealogies in the book of Genesis, till we come to Jacob. I. The descents from Adam to Noah and his sons, out of Gen. 5, (Ch1 1:1-4). II. The posterity of Noah's sons, by which the earth was repeopled, out of Gen. 10, (v. 5-23). III. The descents from Shem to Abraham, out of Gen. 11, (Ch1 1:24-28). IV. The posterity of Ishmael, and of Abraham's sons by Keturah, out of Gen. 25, (Ch1 1:29-35). V. The posterity of Esau, out of Gen. 36, (v. 36-54). These, it is likely, were passed over lightly in Genesis; and therefore, according to the law of the school, we are made to go over that lesson again which we did not learn well.
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28–54
All nations but the seed of Abraham are already shaken off from this genealogy: they have no part nor lot in this matter. The Lord's portion is his people. Of them he keeps an account, knows them by name; but those who are strangers to him he beholds afar off. Not that we are to conclude that therefore no particular persons of any other nation but the seed of Abraham found favour with God. It was a truth, before Peter perceived it, that in every nation he that feared God and wrought righteousness was accepted of him. Multitudes will be brought to heaven out of all nations (Rev 7:9), and we are willing to hope there were many, very many, good people in the world, that lay out of the pale of God's covenant of peculiarity with Abraham, whose names were in the book of life, though not descended from any of the following families written in this book. The Lord knows those that are his. But Israel was a chosen nation, elect in type; and no other nation, in its national capacity, was so dignified and privileged as the Jewish nation was. That is the holy nation which is the subject of the sacred story; and therefore we are next to shake off all the seed of Abraham but the posterity of Jacob only, which were all incorporated into one nation and joined to the Lord, while the other descendants from Abraham, for aught that appears, were estranged both from God and from one another.
I. We shall have little to say of the Ishmaelites. They were the sons of the bondwoman, that were to be cast out and not to be heirs with the child of the promise; and their case was to represent that of the unbelieving Jews, who were rejected (Gal 4:22, etc.), and therefore there is little notice taken of that nation. Ishmael's twelve sons are just named here (Ch1 1:29-31), to show the performance of the promise God made to Abraham, in answer to his prayer for him, that, for Abraham's sake, he should become a great nation, and particularly that he should beget twelve princes, Gen 17:20.
II. We shall have little to say of the Midianites, who descended from Abraham's children by Keturah. They were children of the east (probably Job was one of them), and were separated from Isaac, the heir of the promise (Gen 25:6), and therefore they are only named here, Ch1 1:32. The sons of Jokshan, the son of Keturah, are named also, and the sons of Midian (Ch1 1:32, Ch1 1:33), who became most eminent, and perhaps gave denomination to all these families, as Judah to the Jews.
III. We shall not have much to say of the Edomites. They had an inveterate enmity to God's Israel; yet because they descended from Esau, the son of Isaac, we have here an account of their families, and the names of some of their famous men, Ch1 1:35 to the end. Some slight differences there are between some of the names here, and as we had them in Gen. 36, whence this whole account is taken. Three of four names that were written with a Vau there are written with a Jod here, probably the pronunciation being altered, as is usual in other languages. we now write many words very differently from what they were written but 200 years ago. Let us take occasion, from the reading of these genealogies, to think, 1. Of the multitudes that have gone through this world, have acted their part in it, and then quitted it. Job, even in his early day, saw not only every man drawing after him, but innumerable before him, Job 21:33. All these, and all theirs, had their day; many of them made a mighty noise and figure in the world; but their day came to fall, and their place knew them no more. The paths of death are trodden paths, but vestigia nulla retrorsum - none can retrace their steps. 2. Of the providence of God, which keeps up the generations of men, and so preserves that degenerate race, though guilty and obnoxious, in being upon earth. How easily could he cut it off without either a deluge or a conflagration! Write but all the children of men childless, as some are, and in a few years the earth will be eased of the …
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Jamieson–Fausset–Brown
29
SONS OF ISHMAEL. (Ch1 1:29-31)
These are their generations--the heads of his twelve tribes. The great northern desert of Arabia, including the entire neck, was colonized by these tribes; and if we can recover, in the modern geography of this part of the country, Arab tribes bearing the names of those patriarchs, that is, names corresponding with those preserved in the original catalogue of Scripture, we obtain at once so many evidences, not of mere similarity, but of absolute identification [FORSTER].
Nebaioth--gave rise to the NabathÃ&brvbrans of the classic, and the Beni Nabat of Oriental writers.
Kedar--the Arab tribe, El Khedeyre, on the coast of Hedgar.
Abdeel--Abdilla, the name of a tribe in Yemen.
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30
Dumah--Dumah and Tema, the great Arab tribes of Beni Teman. Thus this writer [Historical Geography of Arabia] traces the names of all the heads of the twelve tribes of Ishmael as perpetuated in the clans or tribes of the Arabs in the present day.
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32
SONS OF KETURAH. (Ch1 1:32-33)
sons of Keturah--These became founders of nomadic tribes in the north of Arabia and Syria, as Midian of the Midianites (Gen 36:35; Jdg 6:2).
and Shuah--from whom Bildad sprang (Job 2:11).
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POSTERITY OF ABRAHAM BY ESAU. (Ch1 1:34-42)
sons of Eliphaz--the tribe Adites, in the center country of the Saracens, so called from his mother, Adah (Gen 36:10).
Teman--gave rise to the land of Teman, near the head of the Red Sea.
Omar--the tribe Beni-Amma, settled at the northern point of Djebel Shera (Mount Seir).
Zephi--the tribe Dzaf.
Gatam--Katam, inhabited by the tribe Al Saruat, or "people of Sarah."
Kenaz--the tribe Aenezes, a tribe whose settlement lies in the neighborhood of Syria.
Amalek--the Beni Malak of Zohran, and the Beni Maledj of the Shat el Arab.
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37
Reuel--a powerful branch of the great Aeneze tribe, the Rowalla Arabs.
Shammah--the great tribe Beni Shammar. In the same way, the names of the other kings and dukes are traced in the modern tribes of Arabia. But it is unnecessary to mention any more of these obscure nomads, except to notice that Jobab (Ch1 1:44), one of the kings of Edom, is considered to be Job, and that his seat was in the royal city of Dinahab (Gen 36:32; Ch1 1:43), identified with O'Daeb, a well-known town in the center of Al Dahna, a great northern desert in the direction of Chaldea and the Euphrates [FORSTER].
Next: 1 Chronicles Chapter 2
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