Bible Strands
Genesis 36:43
Magdiel, and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. Esau was the father of the Edomites.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text functions as a historical summary within a genealogical record, closing a list of Edomite tribal leaders and attributing the nation’s origin to Esau. No speaker addresses a listener; the passage operates as a documentary conclusion to the preceding names.
The words — אַלּוּף ('a.Luf) translates literally as "chief" and denotes a tribal or military leader, while לְמֹשְׁבֹתָם (lemoshvotam) means "to their dwelling places." These terms ground the list in concrete territorial occupancy rather than abstract kinship.
The thread — The territorial settlement note connects directly to the land-capacity warning in Genesis 36:7 and recalls the etymology of the name Edom in Genesis 25:30. The genealogical format mirrors the structured chiefdom lists that open other patriarchal records, such as Genesis 25:12.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that biblical genealogies track political and geographic reality, not merely family trees. Readers must distinguish between ancestral names and the actual settlements those names governed.
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
Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites.
Cross-references
- Genesis 25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.
- Genesis 25:30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
- Genesis 36:7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together; the land where they stayed could not support them because of their livestock.
- Genesis 36:15 These are the chiefs among the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
- Genesis 36:18 These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. They are the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
- Genesis 36:30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. They are the chiefs of the Horites, according to their divisions in the land of Seir.
- Genesis 45:8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,
- 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,
- Deuteronomy 2:5 Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.