Genesis 36:8

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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שֵׂעִ֔יר

Sêʻîyr

H8165

“Seir”

Noun, Proper

Appears 39× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 14:6

Full BDB Definition

Origin: formed like H8163

TWOT: 2274h , 2274g

Seir = "hairy" or " shaggy" - patriarch of the Horites, the inhabitants of Edom before the descendants of Esau, the Edomites (noun proper masculine) - the land of Edom, south of the Dead Sea (noun proper territorial) - a mountain range in Edom extending from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf (noun proper mountain) - apparently also called 'Mount Seir' and extending most of the distance of the mountain range itself - a mountain in northern Judah lying westward from Kirjath-jearim (noun proper mountain)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

7: words
6: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

שֵׂעִ֔יר Seir H8165 occurs in 38 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

1 verb
5 nouns
1 pronoun

Verb forms

וַיֵּ֤שֶׁב Qal · Sequential Imperfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

עֵשָׂו֙ Esau H6215 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 11 words from the Hebrew and 10 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 7 Hebrew tokens and 11 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Genesis 36:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Genesis 32:3 Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
Malachi 1:3 but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness."
Ezekiel 35:2–7 Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
Genesis 14:6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness.
Genesis 36:1 Now this is the history of the generations of Esau (the same is Edom).
Genesis 36:19–20 These are the sons of Esau, and these are their chiefs. The same is Edom.
Deuteronomy 2:5 don't contend with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.
Joshua 24:4 I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it: and Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

1 Chronicles 4:42 Some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to Mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.
2 Chronicles 20:10 Now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and didn't destroy them;
2 Chronicles 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to kill and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy another.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Genesis 36:8 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֵּ֤שֶׁב עֵשָׂו֙ בְּהַ֣ר שֵׂעִ֔יר עֵשָׂ֖ו ה֥וּא אֱדֽוֹם

Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Genesis 36:8 Septuagint · lemma form

οἰκέω δέ ησαυ ἐν ὁ ὄρος σηιρ ησαυ αὐτός εἰμί εδωμ

And Esau lived in mount Seir; Esau, he is Edom.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וִיתֵיב עֵשָׂו בְּטוּרָא דְשֵׂעִיר עֵשָׂו הוּא אֱדוֹם

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וִיתֵיב עֵשָו בְּטַוָור גַבְלָא עֵשָו הוּא רַבָּא דֶאֱדוֹמָאֵי

And Esau dwelt in the mountain of Gabal. He is Esau the prince of the Edomites.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Genesis 36:8 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Gen 36:8. Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir — Whatever opposition may be made, God’s word will take place, and his counsels shall stand concerning the times before appointed, and the bounds of our habitation.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir--This was divinely assigned as his possession (Jos 24:4; Deu 2:5).

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

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) Mount Seir.—The land of Idumea extends from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Elath, and consists of a chain of mountains running parallel to the Akaba, or continuation of the deep depression through which the Jordan flows till it loses itself in the Dead Sea. The hills are of limestone, with masses here and there of basalt; and though large portions are so covered with stones as to be barren, the rest is moderately fertile, not indeed in corn, but in figs, pomegranates, and other fruits. The climate is pleasant, the heat in summer being moderated by cool winds, but the winters are cold. The border of it was distant only some fifty or sixty miles from Hebron, so that Esau’s transference of himself thither was an easy matter. (Comp. Note on Gen_27:39.)

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

8. mount Seir] The mountain country of Seir, a region, not a mountain, lying to the east of the Arabah.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

And these are the generations of Esau,.... Or the posterity of Esau, his children and grandchildren, as before and hereafter related:

the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir; from whom they of that mountain and in the adjacent country had the name of Edomites or Idumeans.

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

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

This seems to be mentioned by the Holy Ghost by way of contempt or reproach; this is he who sold his birthright for a mess of red pottage, and therefore was called

Edom or red.

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

The Pulpit Commentary

Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir (Gen_32:3; Deu_2:5; Jos_24:4) Esau is Edom. (vide Gen_25:30) The obvious continuation of this verse m to be found in Gen_37:1, so that vers. 9-40 are parenthetical in their character; but whether originally written by Moses, or inserted by a late redactor, as some maintain, may legitimately be regarded as an open question.

HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Ver. 8.

Esau separates from Jacob.

I GOD REQUIRES ENTIRE DEVOTEDNESS AND FAITH. Edom is allied to the true kingdom, but is not one with it. We may keep in mind the relationship between the descendants of the two brothers, that we may learn the more clearly to distinguish the true heirs of the blessing.

II THE TRUE BELIEVERS SET APART BY SPECIAL GRACE. The rest of the Book of Genesis follows the course of the one family in whose midst the ark of the covenant, as it were, was already resting, where was

(1) the revelation of God and

(2) the special manifestation of his favor, and out of which should come forth

(3) the people among the peoples, the kingdom among the kingdoms, the Goshen in the Egypt, the seed of life in the world of death. R.

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

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir - Whatever opposition may be made, God's word will take place, and even those that have opposed it will see themselves, some time or other, under a necessity of yielding to it. Esau had struggled for Canaan, but now he retires to mount Seir; for God's counsels shall certainly stand concerning the times before appointed, and the bounds of our habitation.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Genesis, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 7 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Sêʻîyr (“Seir”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “Seir” (Sêʻîyr) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Genesis 14:6, which shares the word «Seir», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “Esau” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«וַיֵּ֤שֶׁב» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Joseph Benson's Commentary and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 7 Hebrew ↔ 11 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 9 words in this verse.
“Esau” occurs 2× in this single verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 7 words in this verse.