Genesis 26:34-35

2008.Aug.01 14:49

They Brought Grief

Read Genesis 26:34-35 | Full Chapter

When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
(Genesis 26:34-35, NASB)

What to do with this passage. One of the key points is that Esau marries Canaanites, which has not been and will not be a popular move throughout the Old Testament. The basic problem here is that the Canaanites were by and large idolaters, and were likely to get their Abraham-descendant spouses interested in the same. The advantage of following a polytheistic religion is that you can easily adopt in other gods. For a monotheist, this is not an option, doing so entirely invalidates your faith (Of course, as with everything, all that is subject to interpretation; trinitarian view is naturally perceived as polytheism by some).

Actually, all this hits into a major point of why Yahweh chose to single out the Israelites. Remember, up through Jacob, who is renamed Israel, the marriages tend to stay “within the family”. Judaism is not a religion that easily assimilates or is assimilated into others. In fact, if you were going to “make up a religion”, I wouldn’t think Judaism would be an easy one to propose. History, of course, proves me wrong; I like to think that’s only because Judaism (and Christianity as the fulfillment of Judaic Law and prophecy) is true. Anyway, it seems to me that an emerging culture and nationality built around a monotheistic religion is going to have a much better chance of getting going if those who marry in come from a pretty similar background.

Remember, these comments are primarily just thoughts as I go through this Bible study.

Then again, it’s possible that the reason Esau’s wives grieved Isaac and Rebekah is something totally different, possibly even that the grief was to things that happened to Beeri and Elon, not things they caused. If I was a Biblical scholar, I might be able to feel more confident about what exactly is going on, but, alas.

On something of another track, neither Esau nor Jacob seem to take their parents emotions very seriously. Esau, in (possibly) marrying against his parents wishes (which is not inherently wrong) is following a course that will include him disregarding his birthright. Jacob, likewise, is willing to trick his brother to take that birthright and deceive his own father. They both seem a bit lost on the honoring parents concept. I wonder if Esau ever considered his parent’s advice on marriage.