Genesis 36:35

Summary

The verse records the death of the Edomite king Husham and the succession of Hadad son of Bedad, noting that Hadad had defeated Midian in the region of Moab, and that his city was named Avith.

Key words

• va-yimlokh ("and he reigned", H4427A) — qal narrative verb, continuing the chain of successive events typical of the king-list formula in this chapter.
• ha-makeh ("the one defeating / who defeated", H5221) — hiphil participle with definite article ha ("the", H9009); functions as a substantive description ("the one who struck/defeated") attached to Hadad, marking a completed but ongoing-relevant action rather than a simple past verb.
• ben ("son of", H1121A) — construct noun linking Hadad to his father Bedad, standard patronymic construction.
• sedeh ("region/field of", H7704G) — construct noun specifying location, "field of Moab," locating the battle geographically.
• shem ("name of", H8034) construct + iro ("his city", H5892B + H9023 suffix) — construct chain naming the city belonging to Hadad.

What the text says

The verse is built on two narrative verbs in sequence: va-yamot ("and he died", H4191) and va-yimlokh ("and he reigned", H4427A), both qal forms marked by the narrative vav (H9001), which in Biblical Hebrew signals sequential action — "he died, and then he reigned." This chain structure is characteristic of the king-lists in Genesis 36, where each ruler's death directly triggers the notice of his successor, with no independent clause breaking the sequence.

The description of Hadad is appended through a participial clause: ha-makeh ("the one defeating", H5221), a hiphil participle with the article ha (H9009). Hebrew participles with the article often function like a relative clause ("who defeated" / "the one who defeated"), attaching a biographical note to Hadad without requiring a separate finite verb or explicit relative pronoun such as asher. The direct object marker 'et (H0853) before Midyan (H4080H) confirms Midian as the object struck, and the phrase bi-sdeh Mo'av ("in the field/region of Moab", H7704G + H4124G) is a construct chain locating this event.

The closing clause uses a construct pair, shem ("name of", H8034) plus ir-o ("his city", H5892B with suffix H9023), to introduce the city name Avit (H5762), following the same naming pattern used elsewhere in the king-list for identifying each ruler's city of origin.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Husham as Ἀσόμ (Asom) and Bedad as Βαράδ (Barad), differing in transliteration from the Hebrew Chusham (H2367) and Bedad (H0911). The city name Avith (H5762) appears in the LXX as Γεθθόιμ (Geththoim), a notably different form from the Hebrew and from the Vulgate's Avith, which matches the Hebrew more closely. The LXX also renders the participle ha-makeh ("the one defeating", H5221) with the aorist participle ὁ ἐκκόψας ("the one who cut down/destroyed"), a stronger or more specific verb than the Hebrew's general "striking/defeating."