Genesis 26:34

ESAU’S MARRIAGE WITH CANAANITISH WOMEN.

(34) Esau was forty years old. — He was there fore of exactly the same age as Isaac was when, sixty years before, he married Rebekah. But by thus inter marrying with idolaters Esau violated the great principle laid down by Abraham (Genesis 24:3), forfeited thereby his birthright, and, as such marriages were illegal, is even called a fornicator in Hebrews 12:16. As his conduct was regarded by his parents with “grief of mind” — Heb., bitterness of spirit: that is, with mingled anger and sorrow — Esau partially repented, and took as a third wife a daughter of Ishmael (Genesis 28:9). In the Tôldôth Esau (Genesis 36:2) the names are different, and a fourth wife, of the inhabitants of Seir, takes the place of Judith.

Judith. — The names are remarkable, as showing that the Hittites spoke a Semitic tongue. Judith is the feminine form of Judah, and means praised. Beeri can scarcely be the original name of her father, as it means well-finder, but was probably gained by his skill in discovering water. We find it, however, in the genealogy of Hosea (Hosea 1:1). Bashemath or Basmath, the fragrant, was the name also of a daughter of Solomon (1 Kings 4:15); and Elon, oak-grove, was the name of a judge (Judges 12:11).

As this conduct of Esau prepares the mind for his final rejection and loss of the birthright, the place of these two verses would rightly be at the beginning of Genesis 27. The Jews arrange them as a separate section.