Scripture Daily

Context No. 3375 of 4322 · Genesis

Context · Reflection

Genesis 36:1-8: in context

1Now this is the history of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). 2Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon, the Hittite; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite; 3and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth. 4Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz. Basemath bore Reuel. 5Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan. 6Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from his brother Jacob. 7For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn’t bear them because of their livestock. 8Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.

This genealogy of Esau records that the brother who once sold his birthright became the father of a nation, Edom. And a small detail stands out: Esau and Jacob had to separate because their possessions were too great for the land to hold them both, so Esau moved away to the hill country of Seir.

What is quietly striking is the peace of it. After all the old rivalry between the brothers, from the stolen blessing to the dreaded reunion, they part now without conflict, each prospering, each given his own place. God had blessed Esau too, granting him a land and a lineage of his own. There is room in God's providence for both brothers to flourish; the blessing of one did not require the ruin of the other. Even the line that was not chosen to carry the covenant was not abandoned or cursed, but given its own inheritance. God's goodness was wide enough for both.

Do I trust that God's blessing is wide enough for others to flourish too, so that another's prosperity need not feel like a threat to my own?

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