Matthew Henry on Genesis 36:9-19
Observe here, 1. That only the names of Esau's sons and grandsons are recorded, only their names, not their history; for it is the church that Moses preserves the records of, not the record of those that are without. Those elders that lived by faith alone obtained a good report. It is Sion that produces men of renown, not Seir, Psa 87:5. Nor does the genealogy go any further than the third and fourth generation; the very names of all after are buried in oblivion. It is only the pedigree of the Israelites, who were to be the heirs of Canaan, and of whom were to come the promised seed, and the holy seed, that is drawn out to any length, as far as there was occasion for it, even of all the trib…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 36:8
Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir--This was divinely assigned as his possession (Jos 24:4; Deu 2:5).
Adam Clarke on Genesis 36:6
Esau took his wives, etc. - So it appears that Esau and Jacob dwelt together in Canaan, whither the former removed from Seir, probably soon after the return of Jacob. That they were on the most friendly footing this sufficiently proves; and Esau shows the same dignified conduct as on other occasions, in leaving Canaan to Jacob, and returning again to Mount Seir; certainly a much less fruitful region than that which he now in behalf of his brother voluntarily abandoned.
John Gill on Genesis 36:10
These are the names of Esau's sons,.... In this and some following verses, an account is given of the sons of Esau, which agrees with what is before observed, and of his sons' sons:
Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau: who seems to be his first wife, and this his first son:
Reuel the son of Bashemath and wife of Esau; his second son by another wife, a daughter of Ishmael, Genesis 36:3.
John Calvin on Genesis 36:9-23
And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites [130] Though Esau had two names, yet in this place the second name refers to his posterity, who are called Idumeans. For, to make it appear what God had bestowed upon him for the sake of his father Isaac, Moses expressly calls him the father of a celebrated and famous people. And certainly, it served this purpose not a little, to trace the effect and fulfillment of the prophecy in the progeny of Esau. For if the promise of God so mightily flourished towards a stranger, how much more powerfully would it put itself forth towards the children, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and consequently the inheritance of grace? Esau was an…
