Genesis 36:24

_THESE ARE THE SONS OF SEIR THE HORITE, WHO INHABITED THE LAND; LOTAN, AND SHOBAL, AND ZIBEON, AND ANAH,_ These are the sons of Seir the Horite. Seir, with a colony of Horites from Lebanon, settled in the mountains south of Canaan a generation before the time of Abraham, and in their new possessions continued that mode of life to which they had been accustomed in their original settlement-namely, that of dwelling in caves on account of the intense heat (Jeremiah 49:7-22). Hence, they were called х_ CHORIYM_ (H2752)] (in our version, Horites) Troglodytes; and doubtless they were the excavators of those wonderful rock-habitations which abound in the ravines and the soft limestone cliffs around Petra, (Robinson's 'Biblical Researches,' 2: pp. 423, 4; Wilson's 'Lands of the Bible' 1:, p. 311, etc.) "The Horim dwelt in

24._This was that Anah that found the mules_. Mules are the adulterous offspring of the horse and the ass. Moses says that Anal was the author of this connection. (131) But I do not consider this as said in praise of his industry; for the Lord has not in vain distinguished the different kinds of animals from the beginning. But since the vanity of the flesh often solicits the children of this world, so that they apply their minds to superfluous matters, Moses marks this unnatural pursuit in Anah, who did not think it sufficient to have a great number of animals; but he must add to them a degenerate race produced by unnatural intercourse. Moreover, we learn hence, that there is more moderation among brute animals in following the law of nature, than in men, who invent vicious admixtures....

Verse Genesis 36:24. _THIS WAS THAT ANAH THAT FOUND THE MULES IN THE_ _WILDERNESS_] The words את הימם _eth kaiyemim_, here translated _mules_, has given rise to a great variety of conjectures and discordant opinions. _St. Jerome_, who renders it _aquas calidas,_ _warm springs_, or _hot baths_, says there are as many opinions concerning it as there are commentators. The _Septuagint_ has τον Ιαμειν, which seems to be the name of a _man_; but this is expressed in a great variety of ways in different MSS. of that version. The _Syriac_ renders it [Syriac] _mayé, waters_; the author of this version having read in the Hebrew copy from which he translated. מים _mayim, waters_, for ימם _yemim_, the two first letters being _transposed_. _Onkelos_ trans

- Section XII - Jacob - The History of Esau 2. אהלבמה _'ohŏlı̂ybâmâh_, Oholibamah, “tent of the high place.” ענה _‛__ǎnâh_, ‘Anah, “answering.” צבעון _tsı̂b‛ôn_, Tsib‘on, “dyer, colored.” 4. אליפז _'ělı̂yphaz_, Eliphaz, “God of strength.” רעוּאל _r__e__‛û'êl_ Re‘uel, “friend of God.” 5. יעוּשׁ _y__e__‛ûsh_, Je‘ush, “haste.” יעלם _ya‛lâm_, Ja‘lam, “hiding.” קרח _qôrach_ Qorach, “ice.” 11. תימן

§ 10. THE GENERATIONS OF ESAU (CH. 36:1-37:1). EXPOSITION GENESIS 36:1 NOW THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS (cf. Genesis 2:4; Genesis 5:1, c.) OF ESAU,—Hairy (vide Genesis 25:25)—WHICH IS EDOM—Red (_vide _Genesis 25:30). GENESIS 36:2,...

AND THESE ARE THE CHILDREN OF ZIBEON,.... The third son of Self, and who had two sons; BOTH AJAH AND ANAH; of the latter it is observed: THIS [WAS THAT] ANAH THAT FOUND THE MULES IN THE WILDERNESS, AS HE FED THE ASSES OF ZIBEON HIS FATHER; who observed, while he was feeding his father's asses in the wilderness, that the he asses coupled with mares, or horses with the she asses, and produced another sort of creatures called mules; and by this means found out the way how such creatures might be produced, and practised it: so Aelianus says d, that mules are not the produce of nature, but you may call it an adulterous invention of human contrivance and boldness, and a theft: this is the common interpretation, and to which our version leads: but against it it may be observed, that the word for "mules" is different from this here used, nor is this word ever used of mules, nor does it appear...

X. THE GENERATIONS OF ESAU _ 1. Esau in Canaan, his wives and sons (Genesis 36:1)_ 2. Esau leaving Canaan and in Edom (Genesis 36:6) XI. THE GENERATIONS OF ESAU IN MOUNT SEIR _ 1. Sons of Esau (Genesis 36:9)_ 2. Sons of Eliphaz (Genesis 36:11) 3. Sons of Reuel (Genesis 36:13) 4. Sons of Aholibamah (Genesis 36:14) 5. Dukes of Eliphaz ...

GENESIS 36. EDOMITE GENEALOGIES, CHIEFTAINS, AND KINGS. This chapter is not a unity but a compilation with a very complicated literary history behind it. There is an element of P in it, but its extent, the degree in which it is a revision of earlier sources, and the allocation of the other matter, is very uncertain. The historical value of the chapter is great, but the genealogies and lists cannot be discussed here. Some points of interest may be mentioned. There is a strange discrepancy as to Esau's wives between Genesis 36:2; Genesis 26:34; Genesis 28:9. The same names largely recur in both lists, but in different relationships. In Genesis 3

The Horites the aboriginal inhabitants of the country "the sons of Seir, the Horite," were possibly so called from the word _ḥor_, "a hole"; cf. 1 Samuel 13:6; 1 Samuel 14:11. This derivation has long been maintained, and is possibly correct, the Horites being regarded as troglodytes, or cave-dwellers. In Obadiah 1:3 Edom is apostrophized, "O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock." On the other hand another derivation has recently commended itself, Hor being identified with the Egyptian _Haru_which is found in Egyptian inscriptions for "Syria." But there is good support from the rocks of Petra and the excavations at Gezer for the "cave-dweller" explanation of the word....

FOUND THE MULES, &C.— It is difficult to come at the true meaning of this piece of ancient history. The rabbins, whom our version follows, render the word in the original ימים _iemim, mules:_ the Vulgate renders it, _aquas calidas, hot waters:_ but the interpretation of Bochart seems far the best, namely, that _imim_ is the name of a people, probably the same as the gigantic Emim, mentioned Deuteronomy 2:11. Accordingly the Targum renders it here by a word signifying _giants,_ and Aquila and Symmachus retain the Hebrew name τους Ιαμειμ, the _Emim;_ so that the passage should be rendered, _who found,_ lighted upon, _the Emims in the desert,_ who possibly attacked him there, when feeding, with his servants, his father's asses; these Emims, it is not unlikely, being a kind of free-booters, and used to make such excursions. The word מצא, _matsa,_