[³] In Genesis xxxvi. 26, Hemdan.
[⁴] In Genesis xxxvi. 27, and Akan.
40. Aiah and Anah] See Genesis xxxvi. 24.
43–51a (compare Genesis xxxvi. 31–39).
The early Kings of Edom.
⁴³Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor; and the name of his city was Dinhabah. ⁴⁴And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead. ⁴⁵And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.
43. kings] Note that the kings are of different families and localities. They may be compared with the “judges” of early Israel.
in the land of Edom] In early times the mountainous region of Seir, extending from the south-east of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba, but the precise territory of the Edomites is uncertain and of course must have varied from time to time. In the post-exilic period Edomites (Idumeans) pressed up into the south of Judah (compare ii. 42), and Edom (Idumea) continued to play an important and often sinister part in the history of Israel till long after the Chronicler’s lifetime. See (e.g.) 1 Maccabees v. 65; 2 Maccabees x. 14–17. The Herods were of Edomite descent.
before ... Israel] i.e. before Saul; or possibly “before David,” if the phrase means before the reign of the first Israelitish king over Edom. For the use made of this statement in the discussion of the date of the Hexateuch, see Chapman, Introduction to the Pentateuch, p. 40, in this series.
Bela the son of Beor] possibly the same as the familiar Balaam son of Beor, the consonants of the names differing in Hebrew only by the final m. See, however, Gray, Numbers (International Critical Commentary), pp. 315, 324.
⁴⁶And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, which smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith. ⁴⁷And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.