Bible Strands
Genesis 36:31
These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The verse functions as a chronological heading within the Esau genealogy, marking the transition from Edomite tribal chiefs to a formalized list of early monarchs. It establishes a historical baseline prior to the emergence of Israel’s own royal line.
The words — מָלְכ֖וּ (mal.khu) literally means they reigned, while לִפְנֵ֥י (lifnei) denotes temporal precedence, together framing Edom’s early rule as preceding Israel’s monarchy.
The thread — This structural marker appears identically in 1 Chronicles 1:43 and echoes the covenantal framework of kings and nations established in Genesis 17:6 and Genesis 17:16.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to track God’s sovereign pacing across distinct nations, noting that Edom’s early kingship stands as a historical precursor rather than a replacement for the promised line of Israel.
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 these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
Cross-references
- Genesis 17:6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
- Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
- 1 Chronicles 1:43 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites: Bela son of Beor. His city was named Dinhabah.
- Genesis 25:23 and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
- Numbers 20:14 From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,
- Numbers 24:17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth.
- Deuteronomy 17:14 When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”
- Deuteronomy 33:5 So the LORD became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered, when the tribes of Israel came together.
- Deuteronomy 33:29 Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”