Genesis 36:13

Summary

Genesis 36:13 lists four descendants of Reuel — Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah — and then identifies them as belonging to Basemath, the wife of Esau. The verse closes a genealogical unit by circling back to the maternal line through which these names are counted.

Key words

• bene ("sons of", H1121A) — construct plural noun, appearing twice; it links a list of names to a named father/ancestor, marking a "belonging to X" relationship rather than a full independent clause.
• 'Elleh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle, also appearing twice, functioning to open and then close the list, framing it as a discrete genealogical unit.
• haYu ("they were", H1961) — qal perfect of the verb "to be", third person plural; it supplies the only finite verb in the verse, turning the second "these" clause into a full predication ("these were...") rather than a bare list.
• 'Eshet ("wife of", H0802H) — feminine singular construct noun, linking Basemath to Esau and specifying the female line through which the final ancestral claim is made.
• Re'u'El ("Reuel", H7467G) — proper name, the initial reference point for the first list of sons before the verse shifts to Basemath as the named genealogical anchor.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built in two parallel segments, each opened by the demonstrative 'Elleh ("these", H0428). The first segment simply juxtaposes 'Elleh with the construct phrase bene Re'u'El ("sons of Reuel") followed by the four names in apposition — no verb is needed, since Hebrew allows nominal sentences of this kind. The second segment repeats 'Elleh, but this time adds the finite verb haYu ("they were", H1961), followed by another construct phrase, bene Basemat ("sons of Basemath"), and then 'eshet 'Esav ("wife of Esau"). This shift from a verbless list to a verbal clause gives the second statement more of a concluding, summarizing force: it restates who the four names "were" in relation to Basemath, rather than merely appending another label.

Structurally, the repetition of bene ("sons of", H1121A) with two different named individuals — Reuel and Basemath — creates a layered genealogical statement: the four men are sons of Reuel, and (through that same relationship) they are also counted as belonging to Basemath's line, since Basemath is Reuel's mother and Esau's wife. The Hebrew text itself does not use a distinct term for "grandsons"; the word bene ("sons of") is used identically in both instances.

Differences between versions

The BSB renders the second occurrence of bene ("sons of", H1121A) as "grandsons," clarifying the generational distance from Basemath, whereas the Hebrew, LXX (υἱοὶ), and Vulgate (filii) all use the same word for "sons" in both places without distinguishing generations lexically.