seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 28:6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.
After all the drama, Esau went to Uncle Ishmael's place and married one of his daughters. I remember Ishmael. That's Hagar's son, the servant that Sarah insisted Abraham sleep with and then ran off. Well, she wasn't a Canaanite so that made Ishmael's daughter the perfect catch for Esau. I guess he said to himself, "If mom and dad want Jacob to marry outside of Canaan, then I will too."
Hold it! Esau married his cousin? I bet that went over big when Isaac and Rebekah heard.
Remember, there weren't any commandments yet.
Here's what the easy English commentary says.
Esau had married foreign women. And he did not realise that this caused great trouble to his parents. (See Genesis 26:35 and 27:46.) But Esau heard what Isaac said to Jacob. So he married another wife who was a relative. This probably did not improve the situation.
Apparently there's more to Esau's decision to marry Uncle Ishmael's daughter. I found this at the biblestudytools.com site.
Desirous to humor his parents and, if possible, get the last will revoked, he became wise when too late (see Matthew 25:10 ), and hoped by gratifying his parents in one thing to atone for all his former delinquencies. But he only made bad worse, and though he did not marry a "wife of the daughters of Canaan," he married into a family which God had rejected. It showed a partial reformation, but no repentance, for he gave no proofs of abating his vindictive purposes against his brother, nor cherishing that pious spirit that would have gratified his father--he was like Micah (see Judges 17:13 ).
Oh what a messed up family!
I found this commentary at Bible.org.
Thirty-seven years too late Esau has learned at least one of the reasons why he felt unloved: his wives displeased his parents. I say “parents,” but you will observe that Esau is not reported to have cared about his mother’s sentiments toward him, only his father’s (verse 8). He had long since given up hope of being loved and accepted by Rebekah. Desperately he sought to win the approval of his father.
If having a non-Canaanite wife was all that it took to please his father, that was a small price to pay for the approval he craved. Failing to see any problem in his actions, Esau took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael (verse 9). This woman was no Canaanite; she was of the family of Abraham. What could be more pleasing to Isaac than this? But Esau did not understand the matter of purity. Ishmael had been rejected to carry out the line of Abraham because he was a child of self effort. He was a product of fleshly striving, not spiritual dependence. Marriage to a descendant of Ishmael failed to achieve Esau’s intended goal. Without realizing it, he typified in this act the very thing which God most condemned, fleshly striving. Just as Abraham acted on his own to achieve a son, so Esau acted in a fleshly way to win the approval of his father. How appropriate this marriage was, and how ineffectual.
If having a non-Canaanite wife was all that it took to please his father, that was a small price to pay for the approval he craved. Failing to see any problem in his actions, Esau took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael (verse 9). This woman was no Canaanite; she was of the family of Abraham. What could be more pleasing to Isaac than this? But Esau did not understand the matter of purity. Ishmael had been rejected to carry out the line of Abraham because he was a child of self effort. He was a product of fleshly striving, not spiritual dependence. Marriage to a descendant of Ishmael failed to achieve Esau’s intended goal. Without realizing it, he typified in this act the very thing which God most condemned, fleshly striving. Just as Abraham acted on his own to achieve a son, so Esau acted in a fleshly way to win the approval of his father. How appropriate this marriage was, and how ineffectual.
Remember, there weren't any commandments yet.
