Basemath

Biblical Account

Basemath was a wife of Esau, the son of Isaac. Her name is commonly interpreted as related to the word for "fragrance."

According to Genesis 26:34, Esau took two wives when he was forty years old: Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. The very next verse (Genesis 26:35) records that these marriages "were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah."

The genealogy of Esau in Genesis 36 introduces Basemath differently. There she is the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebajoth (Genesis 36:3). She bore Esau a son, Reuel (Genesis 36:4, 10). The sons of Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah, and they became chiefs in the land of Edom (Genesis 36:13, 17). This Reuel is not the same person as Reuel (Jethro), the father-in-law of Moses.

Significance Within Scripture

Basemath appears in passages that set out the genealogy of Esau's household and explain the origins of the Edomites. No words or deeds of her own are recorded. The New Testament mentions Esau (Romans 9:13; Hebrews 12:16) but does not mention Basemath.

Interpretive Questions

The names of Esau's wives do not agree from one passage to another.

• In Genesis 26:34, the "daughter of Elon" is Basemath, whereas in Genesis 36:2 the daughter of Elon is named Adah.
• In Genesis 28:9, the wife Esau took who is described as "the daughter of Ishmael… the sister of Nebajoth" is named Mahalath. In Genesis 36:3, the same description is applied to Basemath.

Several explanations have been offered for these differences:

• Some hold that one woman bore two names.
• Some hold that the names became confused in the course of scribal copying.
• Some hold that the differences result from the combining of distinct traditions.

Rabbinic tradition in Judaism also preserves explanations of the differing names. These, however, are later interpretations rather than statements of the biblical text itself.

Another Person of the Same Name

1 Kings 4:15 mentions Basmath, a daughter of Solomon. She was the wife of Ahimaaz, the officer in charge of the district of Naphtali. She is a different person from the wife of Esau.

In the Korean Church

Basemath is rarely the subject of a sermon or Sunday school lesson in her own right. She is usually mentioned in passing when the story of Jacob and Esau is taught, particularly the passage stating that Esau's marriages grieved his parents.