seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Chapter 36:6 Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. 7 Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock. 8 So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.
This chapter is important or it wouldn't be in the Bible. That's what I keep telling myself because I really am not enjoying it at all.
Ok.... that said.... Here's where the "Edomites" that we will see in Exodus become prominent. Just as Jacob's name is changed to Israel, Esau's name is changed to Edom. Well not "just". It wasn't God that changed Esau's name exactly.
This is from bible-commentary.com.
Esau's move away from Jacob in Canaan to Seir.
These verses tell us that Esau moved away from Canaan to Seir, because the land of Canaan was not large enough to support both his flocks and those of Jacob. Obviously the move was made after Jacob's arrival in Canaan. We have to remember that although Canaan was a rich and fertile country, different tribes inhabited it. Esau and Jacob had to content themselves with the land that was not occupied by the original inhabitants.
Esau went to the mountains south of the Dead Sea. The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible tells us: "It is a mountainous and extremely rugged country, about 100 miles long, extending s. from Moab on both sides of the Arabah, or great depression connection the s. part of the Dead Sea with the Gulf of Akabah." This move put a distance of 60 to 70 miles between Esau and Jacob. This later becomes the country of Edom, which means "red." The name Edom is supposedly a reference to the red porridge Jacob sold to Esau in exchange for the latter's birth right. It could be linked to the name Adam, which has the same meaning "red," in which case it might refer to the fact that the descendants of Esau regarded themselves as the real offspring of Adam, more human than the rest of humanity. A trace of this kind of inflated pride is still found among primitive tribes. Several of the mountain Papua's in Irian Jaya call themselves "The real people."
These verses tell us that Esau moved away from Canaan to Seir, because the land of Canaan was not large enough to support both his flocks and those of Jacob. Obviously the move was made after Jacob's arrival in Canaan. We have to remember that although Canaan was a rich and fertile country, different tribes inhabited it. Esau and Jacob had to content themselves with the land that was not occupied by the original inhabitants.
Esau went to the mountains south of the Dead Sea. The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible tells us: "It is a mountainous and extremely rugged country, about 100 miles long, extending s. from Moab on both sides of the Arabah, or great depression connection the s. part of the Dead Sea with the Gulf of Akabah." This move put a distance of 60 to 70 miles between Esau and Jacob. This later becomes the country of Edom, which means "red." The name Edom is supposedly a reference to the red porridge Jacob sold to Esau in exchange for the latter's birth right. It could be linked to the name Adam, which has the same meaning "red," in which case it might refer to the fact that the descendants of Esau regarded themselves as the real offspring of Adam, more human than the rest of humanity. A trace of this kind of inflated pride is still found among primitive tribes. Several of the mountain Papua's in Irian Jaya call themselves "The real people."
Here's a link to the map of that time. You'll see that Edom was not the best place to raise livestock. Then again, Esau did sell his birthright to Jacob when they were much younger.
This is what the bible.org commentary has to say about the move.
This account sounds a lot like the episode between Abraham and Lot (13:1-13). Esau had begun to settle among his wives’ relations, in Seir, before Jacob came from Padan-aram, but after his father’s death, he now makes the move permanent. There are two reasons for this: First, there wasn’t sufficient water and pasture for both Esau’s and Jacob’s flocks and herds. Second, Esau had finally come to accept that the promised land of Canaan that God had covenanted to Abraham was to be passed on to Jacob.
I know it made Edom's wives happy to be closer to the family.
