Catholic Commentary
The Kings of Edom Before Israel Had a King (Part 1)
31These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel.32Bela, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah.33Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place.34Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.35Husham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith.36Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.37Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river, reigned in his place.38Shaul died, and Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
Genesis 36:31–38 lists eight early kings of Edom, establishing the nation's political history before Israel had a monarchy. The passage emphasizes the succession pattern—each king dies and is replaced by an unrelated successor—illustrating the impermanence and lack of dynastic continuity that contrasts sharply with Israel's future Davidic covenant.
Eight kings rise and fall in Edom before Israel has a single monarch—a silent testimony that human power is always temporary, but God's covenant is forever.
Commentary
Genesis 36:31 — The Orienting Lens The list opens with a striking editorial note: these kings reigned "before any king reigned over the children of Israel." This phrase is not merely chronological — it is theological. The narrator writes from a vantage point aware that Israel will one day have kings. Many scholars note that this anticipatory clause is one of the reasons some ancient and modern readers debate the composition of this section of Genesis, since it seems to presuppose the Mosaic or post-Mosaic period. For Catholic readers following the tradition of Mosaic authorship under divine inspiration (cf. Dei Verbum §11), the phrase reflects God's foreknowledge embedded in the sacred text: even as Edom's dynasties are catalogued, Israel's future kingship — and ultimately the eternal kingship of the Messiah — already casts its shadow backward.
Genesis 36:32 — Bela, Son of Beor Bela is the first king, reigning from Dinhabah, a city whose location remains uncertain. The name "Bela" means destruction or swallowing, and "Beor" is the same name as the father of Balaam (Numbers 22:5), though the identity of the persons differs. This apparent coincidence of names invites attentiveness to the moral world surrounding Israel's neighbors. The city Dinhabah ("give judgment") may carry ironic weight given that Edom, by tradition, descends from Esau, who himself lost his birthright through impulsive judgment.
Genesis 36:33 — Jobab, Son of Zerah of Bozrah Jobab follows Bela. The mention of Bozrah, a major Edomite city, grounds the narrative geographically. Bozrah will reappear dramatically in prophetic literature (Isaiah 34:6; 63:1; Amos 1:12) as a place of divine judgment against Edom. That Edom's second king hails from the city Isaiah will later associate with the Divine Warrior walking in blood-stained garments is a detail charged with retrospective significance. The name "Zerah" (meaning rising or shining) also appears in the tribe of Judah (Genesis 38:30), reinforcing the interwoven genealogies of these Genesis chapters.
Genesis 36:34 — Husham of the Temanites Husham comes from Teman, the region that gives its name to Eliphaz's son (Genesis 36:11) and to one of Job's counselors, Eliphaz the Temanite (Job 2:11). Teman was proverbially associated with wisdom (Jeremiah 49:7: "Is wisdom no more in Teman?"), and yet here a Temanite king rises and falls with no legacy beyond his name. The pattern of the list — king rises, king dies, king is replaced — has the cadence of Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanities.
Genesis 36:35 — Hadad, Son of Bedad This is the most elaborated entry in the cluster. Hadad is distinguished by a military achievement: he "struck Midian in the field of Moab." This victory over Midian is significant. Midian will later vex Israel severely (Judges 6–8), and here an Edomite king defeats them before Israel even exists as a nation-state. Hadad's city, Avith, is otherwise unknown, but his battle record suggests Edom's early regional dominance. The name "Hadad" is a storm-deity name found across the ancient Near East, a reminder of the pagan cultural milieu surrounding the patriarchal world.
Verses 36–38 — Samlah, Shaul, Baal Hanan The remaining three kings continue the relentless rhythm. Samlah of Masrekah ("vineyard of choice vines") gives way to Shaul of Rehoboth-by-the-river — possibly the Euphrates, suggesting wide trade or territorial reach. Finally, Baal Hanan son of Achbor closes this cluster. The very name "Baal Hanan" ("Baal is gracious") embeds the name of a Canaanite deity, illustrating how thoroughly pagan nomenclature pervaded the Edomite world.
The Typological Pattern Read as a whole, the list enacts a theology of impermanence. Each king rises, reigns, and dies. No dynasty is established; succession is not hereditary. The contrast with the Davidic covenant — in which God promises David an everlasting dynasty (2 Samuel 7:16) — could not be sharper. Edom has kings, but no covenant. Israel will have kings, and behind their kingship stands the unbreakable Word of God.
Catholic Commentary
Catholic tradition has long read the Edomites as a type of worldly power that flourishes outside of covenantal relationship with God. St. Augustine, in The City of God (Book XVI, Ch. 16–17), reflects on Esau's descendants as representing the civitas terrena — the earthly city — whose glory is real but passing. The kingdoms of Edom arise, dominate, and fall with no reference to divine covenant; they are great by human measure and yet entirely absent from the economy of salvation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that God's providence "guides his creation towards this perfection" (CCC §302) and that even the history of nations outside Israel operates under divine governance. The list of Edomite kings, then, is not an embarrassing genealogical digression but a demonstration of providential contrast: while Edom cycles through eight kings with no covenant stability, God is quietly preparing the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for a kingship that will culminate in Christ the King.
The phrase "before any king reigned over Israel" carries profound Christological resonance in Catholic reading. The Davidic kingship anticipated here finds its ultimate fulfillment not in Saul or even David, but in Jesus Christ, of whom the angel declares: "The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever" (Luke 1:32–33). Pope Pius XI's Quas Primas (1925), establishing the Feast of Christ the King, draws precisely on this trajectory: all earthly kingship is provisional; only the kingship of Christ is eternal.
The Church Fathers also noted that Edom's very existence was permitted by God as a lesson in humility for Israel. Origen (Homilies on Genesis) sees in Esau's descendants a warning against despising one's spiritual birthright — the same birthright Esau traded for a meal.
For Today
This passage invites the contemporary Catholic to confront the seductive permanence of worldly structures. In an age of political turbulence — where governments rise and fall with bewildering speed, where institutions once thought permanent crumble, where cultural authority shifts within a generation — the Edomite king list is oddly consoling. Eight kings. Eight epitaphs. No dynasty. No covenant. No legacy beyond a name in a list.
The practical question this passage poses is: In what kingdom am I investing my deepest loyalty? It is easy for Catholics to become anxious about the fate of nations, political parties, or cultural institutions as if their collapse would unravel God's purposes. But the text reminds us that God was already writing history's deeper story even while Edom's kings were rising and falling. He was preparing David's throne and, through it, Christ's eternal reign.
Concretely: when we are tempted to despair over the condition of secular society or to place excessive hope in political solutions, we can return to this genealogy as a kind of memento mori for empires — and a quiet reassurance that the covenant God made in Christ is the only throne that will never be vacated.
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