Genesis 36:1

Summary

This verse introduces a new section of the text with a formulaic heading, announcing the toledot ("accounts/generations") of Esau. It then identifies Esau with Edom through an equational clause using the pronoun hu' ("he/that").

Key words

• ve ("and", H9002) — conjunction opening the verse, linking this section to what precedes and signaling the start of a new toledot unit, a structural marker used repeatedly in Genesis.
• 'Elleh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle pointing forward to the list that follows; combined with toledot it forms the standard superscription formula found elsewhere in Genesis.
• toledot ("accounts of", H8435) — feminine plural noun in the construct state, meaning it must be followed by a genitive; here it takes 'Esav as its complement, yielding "accounts of Esau."
• 'Esav ("Esau", H6215) — proper name in construct relation with toledot, functioning as the possessor/subject of the genealogical account.
• hu' ("he/that", H1931) — third person masculine singular pronoun used here as the copula-equivalent in a nominal (verbless) equational clause, linking the name 'Esav to 'Edom.

What the text says

The verse divides grammatically into two parts. The first part, ve-'Elleh toledot 'Esav ("and these are the accounts of Esau"), is a construct-state heading: toledot ("accounts of," H8435) is a plural noun that cannot stand alone semantically — it requires a following noun to complete its meaning, which here is 'Esav (H6215). This construct chain produces the sense "the accounts belonging to Esau," a formula used elsewhere in Genesis to open new genealogical or narrative sections.

The second part, hu' 'Edom ("he [is] Edom"), is a separate clause with no verb "to be," as Biblical Hebrew often omits copular verbs in the present tense. The pronoun hu' (H1931) stands between the two identified terms — Esau's name has already been given, and hu' now functions to equate the subject of the account, Esau, with the name 'Edom (H0123). This pronoun-based construction is common in Hebrew for stating identity ("X, he [is] Y") without a linking verb, and it links the toledot heading to a piece of identifying information not contained in the construct phrase itself.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders hu' with the Greek verb estin ("is"), explicitly supplying a copula that the Hebrew leaves implicit through the pronoun construction alone. The Vulgate similarly uses ipse est ("he himself is"), also inserting an explicit verb "to be." Both Greek and Latin versions thus make grammatically explicit what the Hebrew expresses through pronoun juxtaposition without a stated verb.