Esau 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;
World English Bible
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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Esau 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;
World English Bible
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Genesis 26:34 names Esau's wife Bashemath as the daughter of Elon the Hittite. Genesis 36:2-3 names Esau's wife Bashemath as the daughter of Ishmael.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Genealogy
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Three statements inside Genesis 36 and 1 Chronicles can't all be true of the same person: Anah is Zibeon's daughter (Gen 36:2, 14), Anah is Seir's son and Zibeon's brother (Gen 36:20; 1 Chr 1:38), and Anah is Zibeon's son (Gen 36:24; 1 Chr 1:40). The Edomite genealogy preserves three mutually exclusive identities for Anah.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Genealogy
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
One of these tensions involves a difference in wording across manuscripts or translations. Examine the original language on Lemma →
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Genesis 36:2 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/genesis/36/2?version=WEB (retrieved 26 August 2026).