Bible Summary:

Esau, also called Edom, had three wives: (1) Adah who gave him Eliphaz and six grandsons, (2) Oholibamah who bore him Jeush, Jalam, Korah, and (3) Basemath, daughter of Uncle Ishmael, who gave him Reuel and four grandsons.

All Esau’s sons and daughters were born in Canaan. But, Esau moves his family to Edom when the land can no longer support his family and Jacob’s.

My Thoughts:

Genealogy: In biblical times, a man’s lineage was his most important contribution. Historically, large families were the norm across the world when more hands were needed on the farm. Today, families continue to shrink as the world moves to expensive city life.

Curiously, each person’s family tree branches out towards descendants and also back through ancestors. With so many branches, we all must be related somehow? I could be your cousin, 200 times removed!

Over-Population: At the time of Jacob and Esau, only 20 million people lived around the entire world (see middle of the Wikipedia World Population page), so it was easy to pick up and move when an area got crowded. With 7 billion people on the planet today (actually on 10/31/2011), it is getting much harder to find new ground.