Genesis 36:23

Summary

Genesis 36:23 lists the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. The verse is a simple genealogical notice consisting entirely of a construct phrase followed by a list of proper names.

Key words

• 'Elleh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle that opens the verse, pointing forward to the list of names that follows.
• benei ("[the] sons of", H1121A) — masculine plural noun in construct state, linking "sons" grammatically to Shoval, the father's name.
• Shoval ("Shobal", H7732G) — proper name, the person whose descendants are enumerated.
• ve. ("and", H9002) — conjunction repeated before Manachat, 'Eival, and 'Onam, structuring the list by joining some names while others appear without it.

What the text says

The verse opens with the construct chain 'Elleh benei Shoval — "these [are] the sons of Shobal" — a standard formula in Hebrew genealogical lists (compare the surrounding verses in Genesis 36). The construct form benei (H1121A) cannot stand alone; it requires the following name Shoval to complete its meaning, producing the sense "sons-of-Shobal" as a single grammatical unit.

After this introductory phrase, five names are listed: 'Alvan, Manachat, 'Eival, Shefo, and 'Onam. The conjunction ve ("and", H9002) appears before Manachat, before 'Eival, and again before 'Onam, but not before Shefo. This produces an asymmetrical pattern in the Hebrew — 'Alvan u-Manachat ve-'Eival Shefo ve-'Onam — rather than a uniform "A and B and C and D and E" structure. The grammar itself does not explain this irregularity; it simply reflects how the list is punctuated by conjunctions in the Masoretic text. No verb is present in the clause beyond the implicit "to be" carried by the demonstrative 'Elleh, which is typical of Hebrew nominal sentences used for lists and genealogies.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) renders the third name as Gōlōn and the fourth as Gaibēl, where the Hebrew has 'Alvan (H5935) and 'Eival (H5858B) respectively — a divergence in the transliterated form of these two proper names. The Vulgate's Alvan and Ebal align more closely with the Hebrew consonants than the LXX's Gōlōn and Gaibēl. The Hebrew's uneven use of the conjunction ve (present before Manachat, 'Eival, 'Onam, absent before Shefo) is smoothed out in the Spanish (RV1909, SBLIBRE) and English (BSB) translations, which render the list with uniform commas rather than reproducing the Hebrew's conjunction pattern.