Bible Strands
Genesis 26:34
When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Esau’s actions at age forty, immediately following the naming of Beersheba and directly preceding the statement that his marriages caused grief to his parents.
The words — וַ/יִּקַּ֤ח (va/i.yi.Kach) translates as “and he took,” and אִשָּׁה֙ ('i.Shah) means “a wife,” establishing the literal act of marriage.
The thread — Genesis 36:2 lists Esau’s wives with variant names and lineages, Genesis 36:13 traces Basemath’s descendants, and Exodus 34:16 warns against taking foreign brides.
Why it lands — The text documents Esau’s marriage choice and its immediate result of parental grief, establishing a factual pattern of covenantal disregard that the narrative later traces through his lineage.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
Cross-references
- Genesis 36:2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite,
- Genesis 36:13 These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
- Exodus 34:16 And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.
- Genesis 24:3 and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,
- Genesis 28:9 Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.
- Genesis 36:5 and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
- 1 Corinthians 7:2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
- Hebrews 12:16 See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright.