Esau 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.
Parallel Translations
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Esau 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.
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And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.
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And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the souls of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan; and went into a land away from his brother Jacob.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Genesis 36:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 32:3 Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
- Genesis 12:5 Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go into the land of Canaan. They entered into the land of Canaan.
- Genesis 13:6 The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together; for their possessions were so great that they couldn’t live together.
- Genesis 13:11 So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves from one other.
- Genesis 17:8 I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”
- Genesis 25:23 Yahweh said to her, “Two nations are in your womb. Two peoples will be separated from your body. The one people will be stronger than the other people. The elder will serve the younger.”
- Genesis 28:4 and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which God gave to Abraham.”
- Revelation 18:13 and cinnamon, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, sheep, horses, chariots, and people’s bodies and souls.
- Ezekiel 27:13 “ ‘ “Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your traders. They traded the persons of men and vessels of bronze for your merchandise.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 6. And went into the country from the face…
6. And went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob. Moses does not mean that Esau departed purposely to give place to his brother; for he was so proud and ferocious, that he never would have allowed himself to seem his brother’s inferior. But Moses, without regard to Esau’s design, commends the secret providence of God, by which he was driven into exile, that the possession of the land might remain free for Jacob alone. Esau removed to Mount Seir, through the desire of present advantage, as is elsewhere stated. Nothing was less in his mind than to provide for his brother’s welfare; but God directed the blind man by his own hand, that he might not occupy that place in the land which he had appointed for his own servant. Thus it often happens that the wicked do good to the elect children of God, contrary to their own intention; and while their hasty cupidity pants for present advantages, they promote the eternal salvation of those whose destruction they have sometimes desired. Let us, then, learn from the passage before us, to see, by the eyes of faith, both in accidental circumstances (as they are called) and in the evil desires of men, that secret providence of God, which directs all events to a result predetermined by himself. For when Esau went forth, that he might live more commodiously apart from his father’s family, he is said to have departed from the face of his brother, because the Lord had so determined it. It is stated indefinitely, that he departed “into the country;” because, being in uncertainty respecting his plan, he sought a home in various places, until Mount Seir presented itself; and as we say, he went out at a venture.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Herein appeareth God’s providence, which causeth the wicked to…
Herein appeareth God’s providence, which causeth the wicked to give place to the godly, that Jacob might enjoy Canaan according to God’s promise.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 36:6 And Esau took his wives, and his…
Gen 36:6 And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.
Ver. 6. From the face of his brother Jacob.] Or, Before the coming of his brother Jacob; by a special providence of God, to make room for the right heir. It is he that "determineth the bounds of our habitations." {Act 17:26} It was he that espied out this land for his peculiar people; and that kept the room empty all the time of the Babylonish captivity, till the return of the natives; though it were a pleasant country, left destitute of inhabitants, and surrounded with many warlike nations. Piscator renders this text, propter Iacobum, and expounds it, Because he knew that the land of Canaan should be Jacob’s, according to God’s promise made to him in his father’s blessing of him. But I doubt whether Esau would yield to him for any such reason.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain 1. Why went he thither?
1740
Quest.
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1. Why went he thither?
Answ. Partly by his own choice, that wild and mountainous country being very commodious for hunting, to which he wholly addicted himself; partly by his wives’ persuasions, who were both utterly averse from cohabitation with Isaac or Jacob, and strongly inclined to their own country; but principally from the secret conduct of Divine Providence, thus accomplishing his promises. See Jos 24:4; Mal 1:3.
Quest.
2. When went he thither?
Answ. He went thither before this time in discontent at his parents, and dwelt in Seir before Jacob’s return to Canaan, as appears from Gen 32:3; 33:14,16; yet so as he came sometimes to Canaan, and to his father’s house, and did not quit his interest in his father’s estate. But when his father was dead, and Jacob and he agreed about the partition of the estate, he did totally and finally forsake Canaan, partly, for the reason here following; partly, for the other reasons now alleged; and partly, to avoid all occasion both of communication and contention with his brother.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For their riches were more than that they might…
For their riches were more than that they might dwell together,.... And therefore it was proper to part, as Abraham and Lot had done before, Gen 13:6,
and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them, because of their cattle; their cattle were so numerous that they could not get pasturage for them, there not being enough left them by the inhabitants of it for them to occupy; nor could they hire land of them sufficient for them both; they being not possessors but sojourners in it, and therefore could have no more of it than the inhabitants thought fit to let unto them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Esau had begun to settle among his wife's relations…
Esau had begun to settle among his wife's relations in Seir, before Jacob came from Padan-aram, chap. xxxii, 3. Isaac it is likely, had sent him thither, that Jacob might have the clearer way to the possession of the promised land: yet probably during the life of Isaac, Esau had still some effects remaining in Canaan; but after his death, he wholly withdrew to mount Seir, took with him what came to his share of his father's personal estate, and left Canaan to Jacob, not only because he had the promise of it, but because he saw, if they should both continue to thrive, as they had begun, there would not be room for both.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. Esau took his wives, c.] So it…
Verse 6. Esau took his wives, c.] So it appears that Esau and Jacob dwelt together in Canaan, whither the former removed from Seir, probably soon after the return of Jacob. That they were on the most friendly footing this sufficiently proves and Esau shows the same dignified conduct as on other occasions, in leaving Canaan to Jacob, and returning again to Mount Seir; certainly a much less fruitful region than that which he now in behalf of his brother voluntarily abandoned.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 36:6. Esau took his wives and all his…
Gen 36:6. Esau took his wives and all his substance, &c. — Although he had begun to settle among his wives’ relations in Seir, before Jacob came from Padan-aram, Gen 32:3; yet, it is probable, that during the life of Isaac, he had still some effects remaining in Canaan; but after his death, he wholly withdrew to mount Seir, took with him what came to his share of his father’s personal estate, and left Canaan to Jacob, not only because Jacob had the promise of it, but because he saw, if they should both continue to thrive, as they had begun, there would not be room for both.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Jacob, by the divine Providence, as Chanaan was to…
Jacob, by the divine Providence, as Chanaan was to be his inheritance. (Menochius) --- He had returned from Seir about the same time as Jacob came home. (St. Augustine, q. 119.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Esau . . . went into the country from…
Esau . . . went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob--literally, "a country," without any certain prospect of a settlement. The design of this historical sketch of Esau and his family is to show how the promise (Gen 27:39-40) was fulfilled. In temporal prosperity he far exceeds his brother; and it is remarkable that, in the overruling providence of God, the vast increase of his worldly substance was the occasion of his leaving Canaan and thus making way for the return of Jacob.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6–8. Esau in Mount Seir
6–8. Esau in Mount Seir
6. a land away from his brother Jacob] The Syr. reads “the land of Seir,” which is possibly the original reading. The Lat. abiit in alteram regionem. The present passage ignores the previous mention of Esau’s residence in “the land of Seir, the field of Edom,” Gen_32:3. Seir was the mountainous country between the Dead Sea and the Elamitic Gulf.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Into the country from the face.—Heb. into a…
(6) Into the country from the face.—Heb. into a land away from the face, &c.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and…
And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons (literally, souls) of his house, and his cattle (mikneh), and all his beasts (behe-mah), and all his substance (literally, all his acquisitions), which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country literally, into a land; not ejk thv ghv (LXX), or in alteram regionem (Vulgate), but either into the land, so. of Seir (Keil), or, taking the next as a qualifying clause, into a land apart (Murphy, Lange)from the face of or, on account of (Rosenm Kalisch) his brother Jacob.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 which he had gathered in the land of Canaan
which he had gathered in the land of Canaan
This refers to all of the things that he had accumulated while living in the land of Canaan. AT: "which he had accumulated while living in the land of Canaan" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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went into a land
This means to moved to another place and live there. AT: "went to live in another land" (See: Idiom)
their possessions
"Esau's and Jacob's possessions"
could not support them because of their livestock
The land was not large enough to support all of the livestock that Jacob and Esau owned. AT: "was not big enough to support all of their livestock" or "was not big enough for both Esau's flocks and Jacob's flocks" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
where they had settled
The word "settled" means to move somewhere and live there. AT: "where they had moved to" (See: Idiom)
translationWords
Esau
household
Canaan
Jacob
Edom
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.