Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 35:22 - 36:19

One of the vulnerabilities of males is sexual desire. A male’s sex drive can and often does cause him to do foolish things. One of the reasons men do those foolish things is because they don’t think about the future ramifications of what they are about to do. They either can’t, or don’t, think about how others may respond to their sexual activity.

The 35th chapter of Genesis contains a brief tidbit about Reuben acting on sexual impulse. Initially, there were no repercussions. However, years later, he did suffer consequences, reminding us that it is wise to think years down the road and not just give in to the desire of the moment.

Gen. 35:22 ¶ Now it happened while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. ¶

And there were twelve sons of Jacob—

Reuben was the son of Leah. Bilhah was the servant-woman of Rachel. Leah and Rachel were rivals, so Reuben’s act of laying with Rachel’s servant-woman, while an affront to his father, could also be seen as an act of aggression against Rachel.

Look at the phrase “Israel heard of it.” That is all it says. It appears that Isaac did not confront Reuben or punish him in any way. However, in a couple weeks we will read in Genesis 49 that Reuben’s act against his father resulted in him losing the preeminence he should have had as the firstborn.

Reuben gave in to a sexual impulse, and initially he got away with it, but in the long term there were consequences. Likewise, if men living in the 21st century give in to a sexual impulse, there may not be an immediate cost. However, there could be a long term negative effect.

Gen. 35:23 the sons of Leah:

Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn,

then Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun;

Gen. 35:24 the sons of Rachel:

Joseph and Benjamin;

Gen. 35:25 and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant-woman:

Dan and Naphtali;

Gen. 35:26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant-woman:

Gad and Asher.

These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

Gen. 35:27 ¶ And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

It was about 15 miles / 24 km from Bethlehem to Hebron. That was a one day journey.

Gen. 35:28 ¶ Now the days of Isaac were 180 years.

Isaac was 60 years old when Esau and Jacob were born (see Genesis 25:26). That means Jacob was 120 years old when his father died. When Jacob was 130 years old, he moved to Egypt (we will read about that in Genesis 47:9). Jacob moved to Egypt in the 2nd year of the famine (see Genesis 45:6), which came after 7 years of plenty. That means Isaac died one year before the 7 years of plenty started, which means Isaac died well after Joseph was sold into Egypt. The selling of Joseph is recorded in Genesis 37. The tells us the events in Genesis were not always recorded in sequential order.

Gen. 35:29 And Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, an old man and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

The phrase “was gathered to his people” is a reflection of their burial practices.

Archaeologists have excavated many tombs that were carved out of bedrock. A typical burial cave has several benches for laying dead bodies. They know they were for bodies because there are headrests carved into the rock. There is also a repository with bones from dozens of different people.

The explanation of what they found is that when a person died, his body was laid in the family tomb. After the flesh decayed, the bones were gathered up and thrown into the repository on top of the bones of his ancestors; thus, yielding the phrase “gathered to his people”.

Gen. 36:1 ¶ Now these are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).

Gen. 36:2 ¶ Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite;

Esau’s Canaanite wives brought bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah (see Genesis 26:35).

Gen. 36:3 also Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.

Gen. 36:4 And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel,

Gen. 36:5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

Gen. 36:6 ¶ Then Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all his household, and his livestock and all his cattle and all his acquired goods, which he had accumulated in the land of Canaan, and he went to a land away from his brother Jacob.

Gen. 36:7 For their possessions had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they sojourned could not sustain them because of their livestock.

Gen. 36:8 So Esau lived in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.

As we read this passage, it appears that Esau went to Seir after he and Jacob buried Isaac. However, Genesis 32:3 tells us when Jacob left Haran to come back to Canaan, he sent a message to Esau in the land of Seir, indicating Esau was already living in Seir when Jacob came back from Haran.

The explanation may be that Isaac was very wealthy. Since he gave Jacob the blessing, that meant Jacob would inherit most of Isaac’s wealth. After Isaac blessed Jacob and Jacob went to Haran to find a wife, Esau became wealthy on his own. While Jacob was in Haran, Esau became too wealthy for he and his father to both live in the land, so Esau went to Seir. Verse 6 says Esau went away from Jacob because when Esau went away from his father, he was essentially moving away from Jacob’s inheritance.

Seir was roughly 100 miles / 160 km south of Hebron. That would have been at least a four day journey.

Gen. 36:9 ¶ These then are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.

Gen. 36:10 These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Esau’s wife Adah, Reuel the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

Gen. 36:11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho and Gatam and Kenaz.

Gen. 36:12 Timna was a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Adah.

Notice the name “Amalek”. The Amalekites eventually became rivals of the Israelites.

Gen. 36:13 These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

Gen. 36:14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon: she bore to Esau, Jeush and Jalam and Korah.

Gen. 36:15 ¶ These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, are chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz,

Gen. 36:16 chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These are the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.

Gen. 36:17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

Gen. 36:18 These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These are the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

Gen. 36:19 These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

One of the vulnerabilities of males is sexual desire. A male’s sex drive can and often does cause him to do foolish things. One of the reasons men do those foolish things is because they don’t think about the future ramifications of what they are about to do. They either can’t, or don’t, think about how others may respond to their sexual activity.

Reuben laid with one of his father’s wives. At the time it may have seemed like a good idea, and while he initially got away with, in the long term he suffered a very negative consequence. Whether Reuben failed to anticipate the fact that his father might learn about his action and do something about it, or whether Reuben didn’t care if his father punished him in some way, Reuben’s action resulted in a reaction.

This reminds us that our actions may cause a reaction. Before we act on sexual impulse, we should think about how others may respond to what we are about to do.

What sexual activity have you done in the past that has resulted in negative repercussions?

What do you need to change in your life to protect yourself from making a sexual mistake that may have long term consequences?

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”