Genesis 36:19

Summary

The verse closes the list of Esau's descendants with two parallel demonstrative statements: identifying "these" as the sons of Esau, and "these" as their chiefs. It ends with a short identifying clause stating that he (Esau) is Edom.

Key words

• 'Elleh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle, repeated twice to introduce two parallel groups: sons and chiefs.
• venei ("sons of", H1121A) — masculine plural construct form of ben, linking the sons directly to the following name, Esav.
• alluphei ("chiefs of", H0441B) — masculine plural construct noun, structurally mirrors venei in the second clause, paired with the pronominal suffix hem ("their", H9028).
• hu ("he/that", H1931) — independent personal pronoun, functions here as a copula-like identifier connecting the referent to the following name.
• Edom ("Edom", H0123H) — proper name, the final word of the verse, syntactically the predicate of the identifying clause with hu.

What the text says

The verse is built on two symmetrical clauses, each opened by the demonstrative 'Elleh ("these"): the first identifies benei 'Esav ("sons of Esau", using the construct chain venei + proper name), and the second identifies alluphei-hem ("their chiefs", construct noun + third-person plural suffix "their"). This parallel construction ties the preceding genealogical list to two categories — descendants and leaders — without a verb "to be," which Biblical Hebrew often omits in nominal clauses; English and Spanish translations must supply "were" or "are" to render the sense.

The final clause, hu 'Edom ("he [is] Edom"), is a separate nominal sentence using the independent pronoun hu as a copula linking the subject (understood as Esau, from context) to the predicate Edom. This clause functions as an explanatory identification: it clarifies that the person just named, Esau, is also known as Edom. The grammar keeps this identification as a distinct, trailing statement rather than embedding it within the earlier clauses about sons and chiefs.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew places hu 'Edom ("he is Edom") as an independent closing clause, and the Vulgate mirrors this exactly with ipse est Edom ("he himself is Edom"), as does RV1909 ("él es Edom"). The LXX (Swete), however, restructures the verse: it repeats "chiefs" (οἱ ἡγεμόνες) and ends with huioi Edom ("sons of Edom"), attaching the Edom identification to the descendants of the chiefs rather than to Esau as a separate copular statement. BSB and SBLIBRE both relocate the identification earlier, rendering it as a parenthetical modifying "Esau" ("the sons of Esau, that is, Edom") rather than preserving it as the final independent clause found in the Hebrew and Vulgate.