Genesis 36:2

Verse 2. His wives] It appears that Esau's wives went by very different names. Aholibamah is named Judith, Ge 26:34; Adah is called Bashemath in the same place; and she who is here called Bashemath is called Mahalath, Ge 28:9. These are variations which cannot be easily accounted for; and they are not of sufficient importance to engross much time. It is well known that the same persons in Scripture are often called by different names. See the Table of variations, chap. xxv., where there are some slight examples. See Clarke on Ge 25:18.

Anah the daughter of Zibeon] But this same Anah is said to be the son of Zibeon, Ge 36:24, though in this and Ge 36:14 he is said to be the daughter of Zibeon. But the Samaritan, the Septuagint, (and the Syriac, in Ge 36:2,) read son instead of daughter, which Houbigant and Kennicott contend to be the true reading. Others say that daughter should be referred to Aholibamah, who was the daughter of Anah, and granddaughter of Zibeon. I should rather prefer the reading of the Samaritan, Septuagint, and Syriac, and read, both here and in Ge 36:14, "Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the SON of Zibeon," and then the whole will agree with Ge 36:24.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Esau took his wives] The list of Esau’s wives in this chapter does not agree with that in Gen_26:34 and Gen_28:9.

(a) In this passage and in Gen_36:9-14 Esau’s wives are (1) Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; (2) Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; (3) Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth.

(b) In Gen_26:34 (P) and Gen_28:9 (P) Esau’s wives are (1) Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite; (2) Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; (3) Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth. Thus there are two widely differing versions of P tradition. For the differences are too considerable to have arisen from corruptions in the text.

Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite] “Daughter,” as in Gen_36:14. But the reading “son” is found in LXX, Sam. and Syr. Pesh., and is to be preferred; see Gen_36:24. “Daughter” is probably a correction, on the assumption that “Anah” was a feminine name.

the Hivite] For “Hivite” should be read “Horite,” if the Anah of Gen_36:2 be the same as the Anah in Gen_36:24. Probably, in Gen_36:25, “the daughter of Anah” has been introduced as a gloss.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 2, 3. Esau took his wives (the expression refers in this place not to the marriage, but to the removal, of his wives) of the daughters of Canaan; i.e. who were of the daughters of Canaan (vide Gen_26:34) Adah "Beauty" (Gesenius); the name also of one of Lamech"s wives (cf. Gen_4:19) the daughter of Elon (Gesenius)the Hittite, and Aholibamah of the High Place" (Gesenius)the daughter of Anah (Gesenius) the daughteri.e. the grand-daughter, though, after the LXX and the Samaritan, some read the son, as in ver. 24 (Gesenius, Kalisch, Furst, et alii)of Zibeon (Gesenius); "Wild," "Robber" (Furst)the Hivite; and Bashemath (Gesenius)Ishmael"s daughter, sister of Nebajoth Place". (Gesenius) The difference between this account and that previously given. (Gen_26:34 Gen_28:9) will appear at a glance by setting the two lists of wives in parallel columns: 1. Judith, daughter of Beeri the 1. Aholibamah, daughter of Hittite. Anah, daughter of Zibeon the Hivite. 2. Bashemath, daughter of Elon 2. Adah, daughter of Elon the the Hittite. Hittite. 3. Mahalath, daughter of 3. Bashemath, Ishmael"s Ishmael, sister of Nebajoth. daughter, sister of Nebajoth. The two lists agree in saying

(1) that Esau had three wives,

(2) that one of them was the daughter of Elon the Hittite,

(3) that another of them was Ishmael"s daughter, the sister of Nebajoth, and

(4) that the name of one of them was Bashemath.

The discrepancy between the two is greatest in respect of the first wife, who appears with a different name and a different parentage in the two lists; while with reference to the second and the third wives, it is only the difference of name that requires to be accounted for. Now since the two lists belong to the so-called Elohistic document (Tuch, Bleak, Stahelin, Davidson, et alii), the hypothesis must be discarded "that the Hebrew text, though containing several important coincidences, evidently embodies two accounts irreconcilably different" (Kalisch) a conclusion which can only be maintained by ascribing to the author the most absolute literary incompetence. Equally the conjecture must be set aside that the two lists refer to different persons, the second three being names of wives which Esau took on the decease of the first. The solutions that appear most entitled to acceptance, though all are more or less conjectural, proceed upon the supposition that Esau had only three wives, or at most four.

1. On the hypothesis that Esau had not more than three wives, it is only needful to presume that each of them had two names, a not unusual circumstance in Oriental countries (Rosenm Havernick) one of them, probably that contained in the present list, bestowed on the occasion of marriage; and that Anah, the father of Aholibamah, was the same person with Beeri, or the Well-Man, who received that cognomen from the incident related in ver. 24, viz., that he discovered certain hot springs while feeding his father"s asses (Hengstenberg, Keil, Kurtz) the peculiarity that in one place (Gen_26:34) he is styled a Hittite, in another (Gen_36:2) a Hivite, and in a third (Gen_36:20) a Horite, being explained by the conjecture that the first was the generic term for the race, the second the specific designation of the tribe, and the third the particular name for the inhabitants of the district to which he belonged (Keil, Lange, "Speaker s Commentary).

2. Another solution gives to Esau four wives, by supposing Judith to have died without issue (Murphy, Jacobus), or, in consequence of being childless, though still living, to have been passed over in silence in the former genealogical register (Quarry), and Aholibamah to have been the fourth partner whom Esau espoused. The Samaritan version reads Mahalath for Bashemath in the second list, which it regards as an error of transcription (W. L. Alexander in Kitto"s " Cyclopedia"); while others think that Adah has been written by inadvertence for Bashemath (Inglis)"; but such conjectures are as unnecessary as they are manifestly arbitrary.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

36:2-3 Esau’s three wives—Adah, Oholibamah, and Basemath—are listed. Two of these wives’ names are different from those listed earlier (26:34; 28:9). Perhaps the others died, or Esau favored these three among a total of six, or these were just different names for the same three. There is not enough information to decide.

36:2 Oholibamah was a great-granddaughter of Seir the Horite, whose descendants lived in Edom when Esau went to live there (36:20, 25).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Besides those wives whereof is spoken, Gen. 26:34.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan--There were three, mentioned under different names; for it is evident that Bashemath is the same as Mahalath (Gen 28:9), since they both stand in the relation of daughter to Ishmael and sister to Nebajoth; and hence it may be inferred that Adah is the same as Judith, Aholibamah as Bathsemath (Gen 26:34). It was not unusual for women, in that early age, to have two names, as Sarai was also Iscah [Gen 11:29]; and this is the more probable in the case of Esau's wives, who of course would have to take new names when they went from Canaan to settle in mount Seir.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(2) Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite.—In Gen_26:34, she is called “Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite,” and is placed second. Here she is everywhere placed first. We do not often elsewhere find women possessed of two names, but it has not been sufficiently borne in mind that she was a Hittite, and her own name in her own language neither Adah nor Bashemath. As Adah means ornament, and Bashemath sweet-scented, both may possibly have been terms of endearment, arising from modifications of her Hittite name.

Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite.—She is supposed to answer to Judith the daughter of “Beeri the Hittite,” in Gen_26:34. But in Gen_36:24-25, we find her genealogy given again, and Zibeon, the father of Anah, the father of Aholibamah, is there described as a Horite. Now, as Hivi (Hivite) and Hori (Horite) differ in Hebrew only in the length of the top of the middle letter, and as mistakes in the transcription of Biblical names are of constant occurrence, it seems certain that Aholibamah was a Horite, and therefore, entirely distinct from Judith. Judith, the first wife, apparently had no children, and hence arose the temptation to Esau to marry some one besides. Hence, too, Adah comes in her proper order, as being the first wife who had sons; and Eliphaz as the son of the first wife who had children, has the right of primogeniture. Hence, too, Aholibamah in the genealogy is always placed third. She was the fourth and last wife taken, and her children are placed after those of Bashemath. And this was a matter of far too great importance in a genealogy for there to be any mistake made in it. And now we see the reason for giving the genealogy of the Horites, and also why Esau took the Horite land for a possession. In some expedition into the country of Seir, Esau had married the daughter of one of the dukes there, and through her had acquired a right to ducal rank. Through her family, moreover, he had friendly relations with one portion at least of the Horite people. Our knowledge of the princely Hittites has of late been too largely increased for us to be able to connect a Horite race with them, and Rebekah distinctly calls Judith and Adah-Bashemath daughters of Heth. Excepting the Semites, no race in Palestine stands so high as the Hittites, and no race so low as the Horites. But their rulers were probably of a higher breed; and Esau’s invasions of their country, his final settlement there, and the introduction of the genealogy of “Seir the Horite,” together with Aholibamah’s place as the last of Esau’s wives, all are facts which strongly confirm the supposition of his having contracted a Horite marriage during Jacob’s absence in Padan-aram.

The meanness of the Horites is not a deduction merely from their having dwelt in caves, for the country is so admirably adapted to this mode of living that it still exists there; but they are omitted from the table of nations in Genesis 10, and seem generally to have been a feeble aboriginal race.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan,.... Of the Canaanites, the posterity of cursed Canaan, most of them were of them, though not all, the two following were, and so those, if different from them in Gen 26:34, one of his wives was of the family of Ishmael, as after related:

Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; according to Jarchi and Aben Ezra, this is the same with Bashemath, Gen 26:34; and that she had two names:

and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; the daughter of the one, and the granddaughter of the other, it being usual in Scripture to call grandchildren children, for Zibeon and Anah were father and son, Gen 36:24; and the Samaritan, Septuagint, and Syriac versions read here, "the daughter of Anah the son of Zibeon": there are an Anah and a Zibeon who were brethren, Gen 36:20; wherefore Aben Ezra supposes that these two brothers, or the father and son, lay with the same woman, and it could not be known whose child it was that was born of her, and therefore this was called the daughter of them both. Jarchi supposes this wife of Esau to be the same with Judith, Gen 26:34; but not only the names differ, but also the names of their fathers, and of the tribe or nation they were of.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ada. These wives of Esau are called by other names, chap. xxvi. But it was very common amongst the ancients for the same persons to have two names, as Esau himself was also called Edom. (Challoner) --- Ana, the daughter of Sebeon. It is not certain that Ana was a woman. The Samaritan and Septuagint make him son of Sebeon, both here and ver. 14, (Haydock) as well as some Latin copies; and he is mentioned as such, ver. 24. The daughter of Sebeon may, therefore, designate his grand-daughter, which is not unusual. Sebeon is called Hevite, Hethite, and Horrite, on account of his dwelling in different countries; though some think they were different persons. (Calmet) --- This, and innumerable other difficulties, may convince Protestants that the Scriptures are not easy. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

If this account be compared with that Gen 26:34, we shall find some difficulties, which yet admit of an easy reconciliation, if these things be considered.

1. That it is very usual, and confessed by all, that the same persons are oft called by several names.

2. That the names of some persons are in Scripture given to others, because of a great resemblance between them. Upon which account the parents of the Israelites are called Armorites and Hittites, Eze 16:3; and the governors of Jerusalem are called the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah, Isa 1:10; and John the Baptist is called Elias, Mat 17:12.

3. That the same men ere ofttimes denominated from several countries, as Christ is noted to have a threefold country in Scripture; Bethlehem by his birth, Nazareth by his education, and Capernaum by his much residence and preaching there.

4. That the same names are sometimes common to men and women.

5. That persons are called the children, not only of their immediate parents, but of their grandparents, and of those who adopted them. These things premised, the seeming contradictions objected by infidels do vanish. She who was properly called Judith, Gen 26:24, is here called Aholibamah, a name which seems to be given her either by Isaac or by Moses, from her settledness in her idolatrous courses. And Adah was also called Bashemath, Gen 26:34; and Mahalath, Ishmael’s daughter, was called Bashemath, either because in her principles and manners she resembled Esau’s other wife so called, or to show that Ishmael’s marriage to a third wife was no less opprobrious to him and displeasing to his parents than the former.

Anah, a man, and the son of Zibeon, as appears from Gen 35:24, called here a Hivite, is called Beeri the Hittite, Gen 26:34, either because those two people were mixed together in habitation and by marriage, or because the one people were larger than the other, and comprehended under their name, or because he was a Hivite by birth, a Hittite by habitation or incorporation with them. Hence also we may learn how Aholibamah here comes to be the daughter both of Anah and of Zibeon; the one being either the natural or proper father, and the other either the grandfather, or father by adoption.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

עדה בת אילון ADAH THE DAUGHTER OF ELON — She is identical with Basemath daughter of Elon (cf. 26:34) and she was called Basemath because she offered spices (בשמים) as incense to idols.

אהליבמה OHOLIBAMAH is identical with Judith. He (Esau) changed her name to Judith (Jewess), suggesting that she had abandoned idol-worship, so that he might deceive his father.

בת ענה בת צבעון THE DAUGHTER OF ANAH THE DAUGHTER OF ZIBEON — If she was the daughter of Anah she could not have been the daughter of Zibeon, for Anah was the son of Zibeon as it is said (v. 24) “And these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah”! Scripture thus tells us that Zibeon took his daughter-in-law, Anah’s wife, and of them twain Oholibamah was born (so that being a daughter of Anah’s wife she is called also his daughter). This text informs you that these were all of illegitimate birth (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 1).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ADAH THE DAUGHTER OF ELON. She is identical with Basmath the daughter of Elon, and she was called Basmath because she burned incense (besamim) to the idols. And Oholibamah, (mentioned here), is identical with Judith. In order to deceive his father, the wicked Esau changed her name to Judith (Jewess) to suggest that she had abandoned idol-worship.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

עשו, these wives are not now described as having the names which had introduced them to the reader in 26,34 where they were called Yehudit and Bosmat. Each of these women was known by two names. This is a common occurrence throughout Scripture. Similarly, Tzivon had been introduced earlier as Beeri (26,34) and Bosmat in verse 3 of our chapter had previously been introduces as Machalat. (28,9)

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.