פירוש על בראשית 36:25

AND THESE ARE THE CHILDREN OF ANAH: DISHON AND OHOLIBAMAH THE DAUGHTER OF ANAH. Such is the way of Scripture when referring to daughters, as in the expression, and his daughter Dinah.²⁹⁷Further, 46:15. Now this Anah was the fourth son of Se’ir the Horite, enumerated above,²⁹²Verse 20 here. after Zibeon his brother, for the section enumerates seven sons²⁹⁸Verses 20-21 here. of Se’ir the Horite in the order of their birth. This Anah had another son also called by the name Dishon as was his uncle,²⁹⁹Verse 21 here. and he had a daughter called Oholibamah, which was also the name of her relative, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon.³⁰⁰Verse 2 here. This is why Scripture says concerning Esau’s wife, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon,³⁰⁰Verse 2 here. in order to relate that she was the daughter of Anah who had found the mules, and granddaughter of Zibeon, not Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the son of Se’ir the Horite, Zibeon’s brother. However, in the opinion of some of our Rabbis²⁹⁴Pesachim 54a. there is in this entire section only one man called Anah, and he was Zibeon’s son.³⁰¹Verse 24 here. Since Zibeon committed incest with his mother, the wife of Se’ir the Horite, Scripture thus enumerates Anah among Se’ir the Horite’s sons²⁹²Verse 20 here. because people considered him as Se’ir’s son and called him “Anah the son of Se’ir,” and he grew up among his sons because Se’ir thought he was his son. Scripture, however, enumerates him a second time as Zibeon’s son³⁰¹Verse 24 here. in keeping with the true facts. This is the interpretation of the symbolizing interpreters as is mentioned in Tractate Pesachim,²⁹⁴Pesachim 54a. but it is not the consensus of opinion in the Gemara and is not at all the plain meaning of Scripture.

ואלה בני ענה, דישון ואהלבימה בת ענה, “this is the offspring of Anah; Dishon and Oholivamah daughter of Anah.” This is the way the Bible lists names of girls, as for instance in Genesis 46,15 ואת דינה בתו, “and his daughter Dinah.” This Anah was the fourth son of Seir, being a brother of Tzivon; he is listed after Tzivon, as they are listed in order of their prominence, not their ages. He had another son, named Dishon, the same name as that of his uncle, and this son had a daughter whose name was Oholivamah, the same name as her relative the Oholivamah who was a daughter of Anah, son of Tzivon. In order to avoid confusion, the Torah writes in connection with Oholivamah the wife of Esau, that she was the daughter of Anah who was the son of Tzivon, seeing that she had been the daughter of the Anah who had discovered the mules. In other words, she was a granddaughter of Tzivon. She was not the Oholivamah who was the daughter of Anah, who was the son of Seir the Chivi, a brother of Tzivon. Ibn Ezra writes that “Oholivamah the daughter of Anah,” does not refer to the Anah mentioned at the end of the verse (24 as the father of Oholivamah), for if it had been, there would have been no reason to mention him once more. He must therefore be the one mentioned at the end of the first verse, and there was only one Oholivamah. Our sages explain that there was only one man called Anah, the result of his father Tzivon having slept with his mother. This Anah was raised in the house of Seir the Chori together with his other sons. This is why he is enumerated together with the sons of Tzivon, seeing he was his son. Rabbeinu Tam believes that Anah was a woman and proves it from the line “Oholivamah, daughter of Anah” (verse 13). Anah herself was a daughter of Tzivon. As to the apparent contradiction, seeing the Torah writes: "הוא ענה" which means “he is the Anah, etc.;” this means that she inherited part of Seir’s estate together with Tzivon, her uncle’s other sons. (compare Talmud Baba Batra 116) Rashi claims that the reason why Oholivamah is described as the daughter of Anah was because Anah slept with his mother the wife of Tzivon and that he sired Oholivamah from that union. This is why she was referred to as “the daughter of Anah.and the daughter of Tzivon.”

ואלה בני ענה, “and these are the offspring of Anah:” even though the verse mentions both בני ענה as well as בת ענה they are the same person.