Verse Lens · Context pointer
Genesis 36:4 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 4. 4And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Adah bears Eliphaz and Bashemath bears Reuel. This line begins grouping Esau's sons by their mothers and continues directly into verse 5.
Read It With
- Genesis 36:1–8
Read verses 2–5 together. Verses 2–3 identify the mothers, verses 4–5 assign all five sons to them, and verse 5 closes by locating the births in Canaan.
Why It Needs Context
This verse supplies two mother-son relationships inside a larger genealogy. It cannot explain the full family list, the differing wife names, or the unit's movement to Seir by itself.
Read Genesis 36:1–5 together
Why these verses belong together: The toledot heading identifies Esau as Edom and the following wife-and-son list establishes the maternal branches born in Canaan.
Verse 1. 1 Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
Verse 2. 2 Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
Verse 3. 3 And Bashemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
Verse 4. 4 And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;
Verse 5. 5 And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these are the sons of Esau, which were born unto him in the land of Canaan.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 36:1–8 — Esau's Household Moves to SeirSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, Esau-Edom identity, wife and son lists, full household move, capacity explanation, Seir settlement, chronology, literary transitions, and canonical land restraint.
Exact location: Genesis 36:1–8 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 13:5–12; 25:25, 30; 26:34–35; 28:9; 32:3; 33:14, 16; 35:29; 36:9–43; 37:1–2; and Deuteronomy 2:4–5
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Hebrew literary heading, genealogy, household inventory, separation syntax, causal explanation, and geographical language.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 36:1–8; forms and syntax for toledot, Edom, wives and kinship labels, household persons, possessions, away from Jacob's presence, land of sojourning, bear or support, and Mount Seir
Open source ↗