Edom

• 2 min. read • grade level: 11

Name given to Esau because he craved the red pottage of Jacob, Edom signifying red (Gen. 25:30³⁰And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. (Genesis 25:30); Gen. 36:1,8,19¹Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom. (Genesis 36:1)
⁸Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom. (Genesis 36:8)
¹⁹These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes. (Genesis 36:19)); but the name is more usually given to his tribe and the territory they possessed. This extended from the land of Moab, southward to the Gulf of Akaba, in length about 100 miles, from about 29° 30' to 31° N, and about 35° 30' E. It is a remarkably mountainous district with lofty peaks and deep glens, but also with very productive plains. It had been called mount Seir (Gen. 36:8⁸Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom. (Genesis 36:8)). Some of the rocks were so precipitous that Amaziah killed 10,000 of the children of Seir (Edomites) by casting them down from the rocks, whereby they were dashed to pieces (2 Chron. 25:11¹¹And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand. (2 Chronicles 25:11)). Bozrah and Sela, or Selah, were its chief cities.

When Israel was approaching the land of Palestine, Moses appealed to Edom to let them pass through their country, but they refused. The Israelites therefore returned south by way of the Red Sea (Gulf of Akaba) in order to compass the land of Edom, and then kept to the east of Edom until they reached the land of Moab (Num. 21:4⁴And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. (Numbers 21:4)).

Edom is constantly referred to in the prophets as having had relations with Israel, and is judged because of its perpetual hatred against them (Ezek. 35:5⁵Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: (Ezekiel 35:5)). God at one time stirred up the king of Edom to punish Israel (1 Kings 11:14¹⁴And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom. (1 Kings 11:14)), and then again strengthened Israel to punish Edom (2 Chron. 25:10-11¹⁰Then Amaziah separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger. ¹¹And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand. (2 Chronicles 25:10‑11)). Some of the prophecies however extend to the future. Edom took pleasure in the punishment of Judah when judgment was falling upon it. Of Jerusalem they said, “Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof” Psalm 137:7⁷Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. (Psalm 137:7), evincing, as also do other passages, the hatred and jealousy of the descendants of Esau.

Many prophecies speak of its punishment. When the king of the north in a future day invades Palestine and overthrows countries as far as Egypt, “Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon” will escape, being reserved to be subdued by Israel (Dan. 11:41⁴¹He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. (Daniel 11:41); Isa. 11:13-14¹³The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. ¹⁴But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. (Isaiah 11:13‑14); Obad. 18-19¹⁸And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it. ¹⁹And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. (Obadiah 18‑19)). It is from “Edom” that the Lord Jesus is represented as coming “with dyed garments” because of His having executed judgments (Isa. 63:1¹Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. (Isaiah 63:1)). Its destruction will be complete (Obad. 10¹⁰For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. (Obadiah 10)).

During the captivity the Edomites extended their dominion in the West and possessed Hebron; and some 300 years B.C. the Nabatheans took Petra (which is supposed to be the same as Sela), and established themselves in the district. They settled down and engaged in commerce, and formed the kingdom called by Roman writers Arabia Petraea. Under the Maccabees the Edomites in the west were conquered, and Hebron was recovered. After possession by the Romans, under the withering influence of Mahometan rule the district came to ruin.

The Greek form of Edom is IDUMEA, which occurs only in Isaiah 34:5-6⁵For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. ⁶The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. (Isaiah 34:5‑6); Ezekiel 35:15¹⁵As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 35:15); Ezekiel 36:5⁵Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. (Ezekiel 36:5) and Mark 3:8⁸And from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. (Mark 3:8).

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