Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 36:20-43
Most Christians believe Moses wrote the book of Genesis. That belief has been so entrenched within Christianity for so many centuries that it is difficult for many Christians to even consider reexamining who wrote the book of Genesis, let alone deal honestly with the evidence regarding who actually wrote it.
This is a problem because there are a couple verses in Genesis that indicate Moses did not write the book. Critics of Christianity have used those verses to attack the credibility of Christianity itself.
Today’s passage contains one of the verses that makes it clear Moses did not write the book of Genesis. This is important because if Christians want to have credibility, we need to deal honestly with what the Bible says and does not say.
The early verses of Genesis 36 tell us that Esau had so many possessions, he had to move out of the land that was given to Jacob. Esau traveled east and settled in the land of Seir. Next, the author of Genesis listed the descendants of Esau. In today’s passage we will read a list of the descendants of Seir. His descendants were the inhabitants of the land Esau moved into.
Gen. 36:20 ¶ These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan and Shobal and Zibeon and Anah,
Gen. 36:21 and Dishon and Ezer and Dishan. These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.
Gen. 36:22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna.
Gen. 36:23 These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan and Manahath and Ebal, Shepho and Onam.
Gen. 36:24 These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah—he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.
The author of Genesis wrote this verse as if his readers were familiar with the account of Anah finding the hot springs. The original recipients of the book of Genesis probably were familiar with that story, but the details of that discovery were lost, and all we know about it today is what we read in this verse.
Gen. 36:25 These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
Gen. 36:26 These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan and Eshban and Ithran and Cheran.
Gen. 36:27 These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan and Zaavan and Akan.
Gen. 36:28 These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
Gen. 36:29 These are the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah,
Gen. 36:30 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, according to their various chiefs in the land of Seir.
Gen. 36:31 ¶ Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king of the sons of Israel reigned.
Look at the words “king of the sons of Israel”.
The conventional wisdom is that Moses wrote the book of Genesis. However, the author of Genesis made reference to the kings of Israel. That means Genesis was written after some of the sons of Israel reigned as king. Saul was the first Israelite king. He lived several hundred years after Moses died; therefore, Moses did not write the book of Genesis.
Some people claim the New Testament credits Moses with writing the book of Genesis. However, there is no passage in the New Testament which quotes the book of Genesis and calls Moses the author of that passage.
Part of the problem with understanding the authorship of Genesis is that people assume the same person wrote the first five books of the Bible. There is no basis for that assumption.
The critics of Christianity use this verse as proof that Moses did not write the book of Genesis, and then claim that since Moses did not write the book of Genesis, then the book of Genesis is not authoritative, nor inspired by God. That is a false assumption. God did not need Moses to make Genesis authoritative.
This issue is important because when Christians hold to beliefs that are factually wrong, that gives ammunition to critics of Christianity.
Gen. 36:32 And Bela the son of Beor became king in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
Gen. 36:33 Then Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah became king in his place.
Gen. 36:34 Then Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites became king in his place.
Gen. 36:35 Then Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck down Midian in the field of Moab, became king in his place; and the name of his city was Avith.
This is another passage in which the author of Genesis assumed his readers were familiar with an historical event.
Gen. 36:36 Then Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah became king in his place.
Gen. 36:37 Then Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the River became king in his place.
Gen. 36:38 Then Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor became king in his place.
Gen. 36:39 Then Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar became king in his place; and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.
Gen. 36:40 ¶ Now these are the names of the chiefs descended from Esau, according to their families and their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth,
Gen. 36:41 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon,
Gen. 36:42 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar,
Gen. 36:43 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of the Edomites), according to their places of habitation in the land of their possession.
The conventional wisdom is that Moses wrote the book of Genesis. However, the author of Genesis made reference to the kings of Israel. That means Genesis was written after some of the sons of Israel reigned as king. Saul was the first Israelite king. He lived several hundred years after Moses died; therefore, Moses did not write the book of Genesis.
The critics of Christianity use this verse as proof that Moses did not write the book of Genesis, and then claim that since Moses did not write the book of Genesis, then the book of Genesis is not authoritative, nor inspired by God. That is a false assumption. God did not need Moses to make Genesis authoritative.
This issue is important because when Christians hold to beliefs that are factually wrong, that gives ammunition to critics of Christianity.
Why is it so hard for Christians to be honest about who wrote the book of Genesis?
How does it help critics of Christianity if Christians believe Moses wrote Genesis when today’s passage makes it clear Genesis was written hundreds of years after Moses died?
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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.”