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Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.
Genesis 36:8 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.
  • BSB So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.
  • NKJV So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.
  • NASB So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.
  • NLT So Esau (also known as Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Esau settles in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.

Overview

Esau makes his home in Seir, the rugged region that becomes the homeland of Edom. The identification 'Esau is Edom' ties the man to the nation descended from him. His settlement fulfills God's earlier word that Esau would dwell apart and that two distinct peoples would arise from Isaac's sons.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Gen 32:3Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
  • Mal 1:3but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.”
  • Ezek 35:2–7Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
  • Gen 36:19–20These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.
  • Gen 14:6and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to El Paran, which is by the wilderness.
  • 2 Chr 20:23For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them: and when they had finished the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy another.
  • Josh 24:4I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
  • 1 Chr 4:42Some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to Mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.
  • 2 Chr 20:10Now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and didn’t destroy them;
  • Deut 2:5Don’t contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.
  • Gen 36:1Now this is the history of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 36:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 36:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.