Genesis 36:17

Summary

The verse lists the sons of Reuel, son of Esau, naming four chiefs: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. It closes by identifying these as the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom, and as sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.

Key words

• 'Elleh ("these", H0428) — a demonstrative particle repeated three times in the verse (positions 2, 15, 21), structuring the text into three parallel statements: sons of Reuel, chiefs of Reuel, sons of Basemath.
• beney ("[the] sons of", H1121A) — masculine plural construct form of "son," linking to the following name in a genitive relationship; appears twice (positions 3, 22) framing the list.
• 'Aluf ("chief", H0441B) — masculine singular noun, repeated four times (positions 7, 9, 11, 13), each time immediately preceding a personal name, forming a fixed pattern "chief + name."
• 'Aluf ("[the] chiefs of", H0441B) — same noun but in plural construct form (position 16), 'alufey, governing the following name Reuel, shifting from listing individuals to summarizing them as a group.
• 'Eshet ("[the] wife of", H0802H) — feminine singular construct form of "woman/wife," linking Basemath to Esau at the very end of the verse.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built in three segments, each introduced by the demonstrative 'Elleh ("these", H0428). The first segment establishes genealogical descent: beney Re'u'El ben-'Esav ("sons of Reuel son of Esau"), followed by a list of four names, each preceded by the title 'Aluf ("chief", H0441B) in construct-like apposition — a repeated formula naming Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah as individual chiefs.

The second segment restates the same four men collectively using the plural construct 'alufey Re'u'El ("chiefs of Reuel", H0441B), followed by the locative phrase be'Eretz 'Edom ("in the land of Edom", H0776G), anchoring their status geographically. The third segment shifts the genealogical frame from patrilineal (son of Esau) to matrilineal, identifying the same group as beney Vasemat 'Eshet 'Esav ("sons of Basemath, wife of Esau") — connecting the chiefs back to their grandmother by name rather than to their father Reuel or grandfather Esau directly. The construct chains (beney, 'aluf, 'eshet) each link a title or kinship term to the next word without an intervening article, a standard feature of Hebrew genitive constructions.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) text shows an apparent transmission gap: after hēgemōn Nachoth ("chief Nahath"), the name corresponding to Zerah is missing, with only the bare title hēgemōn appearing before hēgemōn Moze ("chief Mizzah") and hēgemōn Some ("chief Shammah"); the LXX also reorders Shammah and Mizzah relative to the Hebrew sequence Nahath–Zerah–Shammah–Mizzah. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew order and includes all four names (Nahath, Zara, Samma, Meza). The BSB rendering "grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath" interprets beney ("sons of", H1121A) as "grandsons," a clarifying gloss not present as a distinct lexical choice in the Hebrew, which simply reads "sons."