Genesis 36:4 Daily Devotional & Meaning – Adah Bare Eliphaz and Bashemath Bare Reuel
Daily Verses Everyday! Day 237
“And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel;”
Genesis 36:4 begins moving from Esau’s marriages into the children who came from those unions: “And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath bare Reuel.” At first glance, this may seem like a simple genealogical statement, but it marks the next stage in the development of Edom. In the previous verses we saw the women Esau chose as wives; now we begin seeing the sons through whom his household would expand into clans, chiefs, and eventually a nation. Scripture is showing us, step by step, how the word God spoke before Esau was even born continued unfolding through ordinary human generations. Genesis 25:23 had declared, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels.” Here, those words are continuing to become history. Esau had become a husband, now he was a father, and his sons would become fathers themselves. God’s declaration concerning Edom was not fulfilled in a single moment but through the slow unfolding of generations.
Adah bore Eliphaz, and Bashemath bore Reuel. These names matter because both sons would become important branches within Esau’s descendants. Genesis 36 will later tell us that Eliphaz fathered Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and Amalek, while Reuel fathered Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. Those descendants would become chiefs among the Edomites. Therefore, when we read Genesis 36:4, we are looking at the beginning of entire family lines. Two births that may have appeared ordinary within Esau’s household would eventually produce tribes and rulers.
This is one of the recurring lessons of Genesis: God often accomplishes enormous things through ordinary generations. A child is born, grows, marries, has children, and from that simple sequence entire peoples emerge. We tend to look for dramatic events when considering the work of God, but Scripture frequently shows God accomplishing His purposes through years of ordinary faithfulness, ordinary family life, and ordinary human history. Abraham’s descendants did not become nations overnight. God worked through births, marriages, migrations, conflicts, and generations until the promises He had spoken became visible.
Genesis 12:2 records God telling Abraham, “I will make of thee a great nation.” At that time Abraham did not even have the promised son. Years passed before Isaac was born. Then Isaac grew, married Rebekah, and waited twenty years before Jacob and Esau were born. Jacob and Esau grew, married, and had children. Now Genesis 36 begins listing Esau’s sons. God had already seen all of this when He first spoke to Abraham.
That should strengthen our confidence in God’s promises. We often struggle because we can see only the present stage of what God is doing. Abraham once saw only barrenness. Isaac once saw only Rebekah’s inability to conceive. Rebekah once felt two children struggling within her without understanding why. Jacob once saw himself fleeing alone toward Padanaram. Esau once saw himself merely hungry after returning from the field. Yet God saw nations.
God sees the end from the beginning.
Isaiah 46:9–10 records the Lord saying, “I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” Genesis demonstrates this truth repeatedly. What appears to us as a developing story is already fully known to God. He did not discover that Esau would become Edom after these sons were born. He had already declared that Esau would become a nation while Esau was still in Rebekah’s womb.
This should give us peace when our own lives appear uncertain. We may not understand what God is building through the stage we are presently experiencing, but He does. We see one day at a time. God sees generations.
Psalm 90:1 says, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.” That phrase “in all generations” is especially appropriate when reading genealogies such as Genesis 36. Human lives come and go, but God remains. One generation is born, another dies, children become parents, and parents become ancestors, yet God remains the same Lord over them all.
There is also a sober lesson in the movement from Esau to Eliphaz and Reuel. Esau’s personal decisions were no longer affecting only Esau. He now had children who would grow within the household he had built. This is why the choices we examined in the previous verses were so important. Esau’s marriages established the environment into which Eliphaz and Reuel were born.
Every parent eventually discovers that personal choices become family realities. Before children arrive, we may think certain habits, priorities, compromises, or beliefs belong only to us. But when children enter the household, they begin observing and inheriting the environment we have created. They hear what we say. They watch how we treat people. They notice whether prayer matters. They learn whether Scripture is central or merely decorative. They see how we respond to hardship, money, anger, forgiveness, work, marriage, and worship.
Deuteronomy 6:6–7 says, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.” Notice the order. God’s words must first be “in thine heart,” and then they are taught to the children. Biblical discipleship within a family begins with the parent personally loving and obeying God.
Children quickly recognize the difference between religion that is spoken and faith that is lived.
Psalm 78:5–7 similarly says that God commanded the fathers to make His truth known “That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God.” The goal was not merely that children memorize information about God. The goal was that “they might set their hope in God.”
This is the kind of generational inheritance every believer should desire to leave.
Esau would leave Eliphaz and Reuel a substantial earthly inheritance. His household became wealthy. Genesis 36:6 will soon describe Esau taking “his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance.” Esau was clearly successful materially. His sons would inherit a strong household and eventually become connected with powerful Edomite clans.
Yet material inheritance is not the greatest inheritance a parent can give a child.
Proverbs 13:22 says, “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children.” There is certainly wisdom in providing materially for future generations, but Scripture consistently places spiritual inheritance above earthly wealth. A parent may leave land, money, property, education, or opportunities, but none of those things can substitute for teaching a child to know the Lord.
Jesus asks in Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” The same principle should shape how we think about our families. What profit is there if we provide our children with every earthly advantage but never teach them to know Christ?
This becomes even more striking when we consider Eliphaz’s descendants. One of Eliphaz’s sons would be Amalek. Genesis 36:12 will say, “and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek.” The Amalekites would later become one of Israel’s most persistent enemies. Exodus 17 records Amalek attacking Israel soon after the exodus from Egypt, and Exodus 17:16 says, “the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
That later history gives additional weight to the simple statement before us. Eliphaz is born here, but generations later one branch coming through him would become violently opposed to Israel. A child named in a genealogy becomes the ancestor of a people whose actions echo through centuries.
We must be careful, of course, not to hold Eliphaz responsible for every sin committed by later Amalekites. Scripture teaches personal responsibility. Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father.” Each generation makes its own moral choices before God.
Still, Scripture also shows that family and cultural patterns can extend across generations. Values are taught. Hostilities can be inherited. Idolatry can become tradition. Pride can become national identity. Sin does not remain contained when it is normalized.
The opposite is also true. Faithfulness can echo across generations.
Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5, “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice.” Timothy possessed his own genuine faith, but Paul recognized the faithful influence of the generations before him. His grandmother Lois believed. His mother Eunice believed. Timothy grew within the influence of that faith.
Later Paul reminded him in 2 Timothy 3:15, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Timothy’s family gave him something far greater than wealth: they gave him familiarity with the Word of God.
That is the kind of legacy worth building.
Genesis 36:4 therefore forces us to think beyond one generation. Adah bore Eliphaz. Bashemath bore Reuel. Those sons would have children, those children would have children, and eventually entire peoples would emerge. God sees family history in ways we often do not.
Our culture often encourages us to think primarily in terms of individual fulfillment: What do I want? What makes me happy? What benefits me? Scripture repeatedly expands our vision. It asks what our choices mean for our household, our children, our church, and those who come after us.
This does not mean we must live under the impossible pressure of controlling future generations. We cannot guarantee what our children will choose. Faithful parents sometimes have children who rebel, and ungodly parents sometimes have children who turn wholeheartedly to Christ. Salvation belongs to God, and every individual must personally respond to Him.
But we can choose the environment we create.
Joshua declared in Joshua 24:15, “as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua could not personally believe for every member of his household, but he could determine what would govern his home. The Lord would be honored. Idols would not be placed beside Him. The household would be directed toward covenant faithfulness.
Esau’s household demonstrates a different kind of generational development. His sons were born into a family increasingly separated from Jacob and eventually established in Seir. Esau became Edom, and Eliphaz and Reuel became branches within Edom.
Yet another important truth appears here: God was still fulfilling His word concerning Esau.
It would be easy to read the contrast between Jacob and Esau and assume that everything associated with Esau must be failure. Scripture does not present it so simplistically. Esau had made serious spiritual mistakes, but God had nevertheless promised that he would become a nation.
When Isaac blessed Esau in Genesis 27:39, he said, “Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.” God later gave Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. Deuteronomy 2:5 says, “I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.”
Now we see God multiplying Esau’s family.
This reveals something important about the goodness and sovereignty of God. God’s special covenant purpose through Jacob did not mean He was incapable of blessing Esau materially. God can distribute earthly blessings according to His wisdom while simultaneously carrying forward His redemptive plan through a particular line.
Jesus later says in Matthew 5:45 that the Father “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” God’s common grace extends far beyond those who belong to the covenant of salvation. He gives life, families, food, ability, prosperity, and countless earthly blessings to people throughout the world.
Therefore, material blessing should never be confused with spiritual standing.
Esau’s family was growing. His sons would become powerful. His descendants would possess territory. Yet none of this changed the fact that the covenant line moved through Jacob.
This distinction is extremely important because people often assume that success proves God’s approval. If someone becomes wealthy, influential, healthy, famous, or powerful, we may imagine that God must therefore approve of their choices. Scripture repeatedly destroys that assumption.
Psalm 73 describes Asaph struggling because he saw “the prosperity of the wicked.” Their success confused him until he entered the sanctuary of God and understood their end. Earthly prosperity is temporary and cannot reveal a person’s eternal relationship with God.
Likewise, earthly difficulty does not prove God’s rejection. Jacob experienced years of hardship while carrying the covenant promise. Joseph would soon be sold into slavery despite God’s purpose resting upon him. David would be hunted by Saul after being anointed king. Paul would suffer imprisonment, beatings, shipwrecks, and persecution while faithfully serving Christ.
We must therefore judge life according to God’s Word rather than appearances.
Eliphaz and Reuel were evidence of God’s temporal blessing upon Esau, but the redemptive promise continued elsewhere.
There is also something interesting about the name Eliphaz because later Scripture introduces another man named Eliphaz in the book of Job: “Eliphaz the Temanite.” Job 2:11 says, “Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite.” Teman would become an important Edomite clan descending from this Eliphaz through his son Teman.
It is possible that Job’s Eliphaz came from that later Temanite people, though we should be careful not to claim more certainty than Scripture gives us. What is clear is that Teman became associated with Edom and later became known for wisdom. Jeremiah 49:7 asks concerning Edom, “Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent?”
This reminds us again how a single name in Genesis can grow into something much larger throughout the rest of Scripture. Eliphaz is introduced here simply as Esau’s son. But from him comes Teman, from whom comes a recognized Edomite region and people that appear repeatedly in prophetic literature.
Genealogies reward patience because names introduced quietly in Genesis often reappear hundreds of years later carrying enormous historical significance.
The same is true of Reuel. Reuel’s descendants would become chiefs in Edom. Genesis 36:17 later says, “And these are the sons of Reuel Esau's son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah.” The word translated “duke” refers to a tribal chief or leader. Thus the child born to Bashemath here becomes the father of men who would lead clans within Edom.
Again we see the movement from one household to national structure.
Esau could not see all of this when Eliphaz and Reuel were born. Adah and Bashemath could not know everything their sons’ descendants would become. But God knew.
This should make us humble about our own place in history. We do not know what God may do through people whose lives intersect with ours. We cannot see the future influence of our children, grandchildren, students, church members, friends, or people to whom we minister.
That is why faithfulness matters even when immediate results appear small.
Zechariah 4:10 asks, “For who hath despised the day of small things?” God frequently begins large works through beginnings that seem insignificant.
A baby named Eliphaz did not look like a nation.
A baby named Reuel did not look like a collection of Edomite chiefs.
A baby named Isaac did not look like Israel.
A baby named Jacob did not look like twelve tribes.
A baby named Joseph did not look like the future administrator who would preserve countless lives during famine.
And many generations later, a baby laid in a manger in Bethlehem would not look to the world like the King of kings.
Yet God delights in accomplishing His purposes through beginnings that human beings easily overlook.
Micah 5:2 foretold concerning Bethlehem, “though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.” God often chooses what appears small in order to display the greatness of His power.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”
Genesis 36:4 therefore reminds us not to despise beginnings.
When a child is born, we do not know everything that life will contain. When we begin a ministry, we do not know its eventual reach. When we faithfully teach one person, we do not know who that person may later influence. When we write one reflection, pray one prayer, share the gospel once, or encourage one struggling believer, we cannot see where God may carry that act of faithfulness.
Our responsibility is not to see the entire future.
Our responsibility is to obey God today.
Ecclesiastes 11:6 says, “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that.” We sow faithfully and leave the increase to God.
At the same time, the later history of Esau’s descendants gives us a warning: growth itself is not enough. A family can multiply without becoming godly. A nation can become powerful without becoming righteous. An organization can expand without honoring God. Numbers, influence, wealth, and success are not substitutes for holiness.
This lesson matters tremendously in the church. We can become impressed by large crowds, successful ministries, impressive buildings, book sales, followers, influence, or public recognition. None of these things necessarily prove faithfulness.
Jesus did not command His church merely to become large. He commanded His disciples in Matthew 28:19–20 to “teach all nations,” baptizing them and “Teaching them to observe things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
The goal is faithful discipleship.
Esau’s descendants would multiply significantly. Genesis 36 will give us an entire chapter demonstrating their growth. Yet later prophets would pronounce severe judgment upon Edom because multiplication without righteousness eventually became pride and hostility toward God’s people.
Obadiah 1:3 says concerning Edom, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.” Edom became secure in its mountain strongholds and assumed that its position made it untouchable. God answered in Obadiah 1:4, “Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down.”
The nation that begins here through ordinary births would eventually become proud of its strength.
That progression contains an important warning for every generation. Blessings can become idols if we forget the One who gave them.
Deuteronomy 8:18 told Israel, “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.” God knew that prosperity could tempt His people to imagine that they had produced everything through their own strength.
The same danger exists for us. We pray for growth, success, families, careers, ministries, opportunities, and provision. When God grants these things, we must remember Him even more, not less.
If God blesses us with children, they belong ultimately to Him.
If He blesses us with influence, it should be used for Him.
If He blesses us with resources, they should serve His purposes.
If He blesses us with success, it should produce gratitude rather than pride.
Psalm 127:3 says, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” Children are not merely possessions belonging to parents. They are entrusted to us by God.
Adah bore Eliphaz. Bashemath bore Reuel. These mothers participated in the continuation of a family that would become a nation. Yet God was the sovereign Lord over the entire process.
Psalm 127:1 says, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” That verse should govern the way we think about every family.
We can provide structure, instruction, discipline, affection, education, and opportunity, but only God can build a household into something that truly honors Him.
Therefore we should pray for our families constantly.
We should pray that our children know Christ rather than merely know about Him. We should pray that they love Scripture rather than merely hear it. We should pray that they resist the idols of their generation. We should pray that they become wiser, more faithful, more courageous, and more devoted to God than we have been.
Our goal should not merely be to reproduce ourselves in the next generation.
Our goal should be to point the next generation toward Christ.
John the Baptist expressed the proper attitude toward Christ in John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” That should be true within our homes as well. Our children do not ultimately need to become copies of us. They need to become faithful followers of Jesus.
Genesis 36:4 may only contain a few names, but those names represent the beginning of generations. Eliphaz and Reuel would become fathers, their sons would become chiefs, and their descendants would help form Edom. What began within Esau’s home would spread outward through history.
The verse therefore reminds us that God works through generations, that our choices affect those who follow us, that earthly blessing does not automatically equal spiritual favor, and that small beginnings can grow into things we cannot yet imagine.
Most importantly, it should lead us to ask what kind of inheritance we are building.
Esau could give Eliphaz and Reuel a name, possessions, territory, and a growing nation. But the greatest inheritance any parent can give is a household that points toward God.
May we therefore build our families with eternity in view, remembering the words of Psalm 145:4: “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” That is the legacy worth pursuing: not merely that another generation carries our name, but that another generation knows His.
If you would like to explore Genesis in a sustained, verse-by-verse way with space to reflect, journal, and trace how these foundational truths unfold through Scripture the Verse by Verse book expands these reflections into a unified reading experience. The book gathers these meditations into a structured journey through Genesis, designed to help readers linger in the text and engage God’s Word more deeply over time.
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