창세기 36:2의 주석

עדה בת אילון ADAH THE DAUGHTER OF ELON — She is identical with Basemath daughter of Elon (cf. 26:34) and she was called Basemath because she offered spices (בשמים) as incense to idols.

ADAH THE DAUGHTER OF ELON. She is identical with Basmath the daughter of Elon,²⁴¹Above, 26:34. and she was called Basmath because she burned incense (besamim) to the idols. And Oholibamah, (mentioned here), is identical with Judith.²⁴¹Above, 26:34. In order to deceive his father, the wicked Esau changed her name to Judith (Jewess) to suggest that she had abandoned idol-worship.

עשו לקח את נשיו מבנות כנען, people who read the text carefully cannot help noting that when Esau’s wives’ names are mentioned for the first time in 26,34 they were referred to as יהודית בת בארי החתי and בשמת בת אלון החתי, as well as מחלת בת ישמעאל. In our paragraph no one by the name of בת בארי is mentioned at all, neither the woman’s name nor her father’s name. However אלון as well as ישמעאל the fathers of two of Esau’s wives have been mentioned here also. The names of the daughters have been inverted as happens in many instances. בשמת daughter of אלון is here referred to as עדה בת אלון whereas. It is therefore reasonable to assume that יהודית בת בארי died childless, whereas the other two wives of Esau bore children for him as is enumerated here. Esau took אהליבמה בת ענה בת צבעון החוי as a wife after his move to Seir, when he wanted to strengthen his political ties with the local inhabitants through intermarriage with them. This is why the Torah gave such a detailed account of Oholivamah’s genealogy. Timnah, concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn, was also from the original inhabitants of the region of Mount Seir, The reasom why she is mentioned ast, is that the marriage of Esau to Oholivamah occurred last. Chronologically, she belonged to an earlier generation.

ואת אהליבמה בת ענה. She was a member of the tribe of the Chori. She became Esau’s entry card to the whole region of Mount Seir. This is why the Torah reports already in verse 8 that Esau now settled in Mount Seir. His own children and grandchildren subsequently wiped out all the other members of that tribe that had not intermarried with his descendants. This is the reason why the Torah repeats in verse 9 ואלה תולדות עשו אבי אדום בהר שעיר, to inform us obliquely that in the interval Esau had conquered all these people and that Timna became his son’s concubine. Esau’s descendants now became אלופים, “great chiefs.”

עשו, these wives are not now described as having the names which had introduced them to the reader in 26,34 where they were called Yehudit and Bosmat. Each of these women was known by two names. This is a common occurrence throughout Scripture. Similarly, Tzivon had been introduced earlier as Beeri (26,34) and Bosmat in verse 3 of our chapter had previously been introduces as Machalat. (28,9)

In order to mislead his father. Question: Why did Eisov not call Bosmas, [too,] by a good name in order to trick his father? In Parshas Toldos (26:34), it should have mentioned that name, if she had it. The answer is: Eisov indeed called her by another, non-idolatry name. But [in Parshas Toldos], Scripture itself calls her Bosmas, denoting idolatry. This is because Scripture goes on to say (27:1), “Yitzchok’s eyesight faded and he could not see.” Rashi there explains that this was due to the smoke of these wives [who burned incense to idols]. And if Scripture would have called her by a different name there, we would ask: Where do we find [any hint] that they burned incense [to idols]? Thus Scripture calls her by the name of Bosmas (incense), to indicate this. See there. (Maharshal) [You might ask]: Yehudis was the daughter of Be’eri the Chittite (26:34), while Oholivomoh was the daughter of Anoh the Chivite, [as it says here. How then could Rashi say that Yehudis and Oholivomoh are the same? The answer is:] Anoh and Be’eri is the same person with two names. Although Scripture connects him here to the Chivites and there to the Chittites, it is possible that his father was a Chittite, and his mother, a Chivite. You might ask: How does Rashi know that Yehudis is Oholivomoh? Perhaps Yehudis died, and Oholivomoh is another wife? Re’m answers: Because it is written, “Eisov took his wives,” rather than, “Eisov took wives.” This implies they were the same wives who were mentioned before.

'עשו לקח את נשיו מבנות כנען וגו, “Esau had taken his wives from the daughters of the Canaanites, etc.;” here the Torah fails to mention the daughter of Beeri, although in Genesis 26,34 we have been told that Esau took Yehudit who was a daughter of Beeri, a Hittite as a wife. We must therefore assume that the reason she is not mentioned here is that she died without having provided Esau with any sons. All the sons mentioned in this chapter therefore must have been born by עדה בת אלון, who is identical with the wife called בשמת בת אלון, in Genesis 6,34 She had changed her name, just as had the daughter of Yishmael, which has now been called בשמת, whereas when she had first been introduced she had been called מחלת. (Compare 28,9.)

אהליבמה OHOLIBAMAH is identical with Judith. He (Esau) changed her name to Judith (Jewess), suggesting that she had abandoned idol-worship, so that he might deceive his father.

אהליבמה בת ענה, who according to Rashi is identical with יהודית. If you were to ask: is this not the יהודית בת בארי as we have been told in 26,34? How could she now have been the daughter of ענה? Moreover, if we deal here with a woman who was a bastard, why did Rashi not say that she was the combined product from these two fathers as he explained concerning ענה בת צבעון? We are forced to answer that בארי and ענה were one and the same person.

בת ענה בת צבעון THE DAUGHTER OF ANAH THE DAUGHTER OF ZIBEON — If she was the daughter of Anah she could not have been the daughter of Zibeon, for Anah was the son of Zibeon as it is said (v. 24) “And these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah”! Scripture thus tells us that Zibeon took his daughter-in-law, Anah’s wife, and of them twain Oholibamah was born (so that being a daughter of Anah’s wife she is called also his daughter). This text informs you that these were all of illegitimate birth (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 1).

בת ענה בת צבעון. In this paragraph you find that ענה was a brother of צבעון, as is written: ושובל וצבעון וענה (and Shoval and Tzivon and Anah.” (verse 20.) You also find written in verse 24 that “these were the sons of Tzivon and Ayah and Anah;” this is what Rashi referred to that Tzivon must have slept with his own mother and from this carnal union Anah was born. In other words, he was both his son and his (half) brother. This is why the Torah wrote the unusual phrase: הוא ענה, “this is the Anah,” i.e. the one we have read about earlier. (Mentioned in verse 20) It is also possible to say that the meaning of the words בת ענה בת צבעון, really is that he was the grandson, that Tzivon was the grandfather. It is not unusual in the Torah for grandchildren being described as the children of their grandfather. Examples cited are: בת מטרד בת מי זהב, in verse 39 of our chapter. There is an opinion voiced in the Talmud Baba Batra folio 115, that ענה is not the name of a male but of a female because the Torah wrote successively: בת ענת בת צבעון, “daughter of Anat, daughter of Tzivon.” If you were to counter that earlier we have read about הוא ענה אשר מצא את הימים, “he was the Anah who discovered the species yemim,” so how could that have been a female? We would have to answer that she inherited in lieu of Ayah who was a male, and whose brother was a brother of Anah. The fact that “he” is not listed among the sons who founded or became leaders of thousands, i.e. alufim, would lend support to the opinion that we are dealing with a female who could not qualify for such a rank