Eliphaz (Son of Esau)

Biblical Record

Eliphaz was the son whom Esau had by his wife Adah (Genesis 36:4, 36:10). Genesis 36:15 calls him "the firstborn son of Esau." Scripture records none of his deeds and preserves only his genealogy.

• Sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz (Genesis 36:11).
• Timna the concubine and Amalek: Timna, the concubine of Eliphaz, bore him Amalek (Genesis 36:12). Verse 22 of the same chapter identifies Timna as the sister of Lotan, a Horite of the land of Seir.
• Chiefs: Genesis 36:15–16 lists the chiefs descended from Eliphaz as chiefs "in the land of Edom." Here the term refers to clan leaders, not to patriarchs of the faith such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The list includes Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam, and Amalek.

1 Chronicles 1:35–36 likewise names Eliphaz first among the sons of Esau. There, however, Timna and Amalek both appear in the list of Eliphaz's sons, a wording that differs from Genesis, which identifies Timna as a concubine.

Significance in Scripture

Eliphaz is a genealogical figure who shows the origins of the Edomite people. The name of his son Teman was later used for a place or region in Edom, and Jeremiah 49:7 associates Teman with wisdom. His son Amalek is understood to be the ancestor of the Amalekites, who long opposed Israel. The name Kenaz is sometimes discussed in connection with the description of Caleb as "the Kenezite" (Numbers 32:12) and with Kenaz, the father of Othniel, but scholars differ on whether these belong to the same line. The New Testament does not mention Eliphaz.

Interpretation and Issues

• Relationship to Eliphaz the friend of Job: One of Job's three friends in the book of Job is also "Eliphaz the Temanite" (Job 2:11). The two figures share a name and a connection to Teman, but the biblical text does not identify them as the same person. An addition at the end of the Septuagint version of Job is known to present Job's friend Eliphaz as a descendant of Esau. Most commentaries, however, regard him as a different person with the same name or, at most, as a possible descendant of the Temanite line.
• The problem of Chief Korah: Korah, who appears in the list of chiefs descended from Eliphaz in Genesis 36:16, is presented in verses 14 and 18 of the same chapter as a son of Aholibamah, another of Esau's wives. For this reason, some hold that the name was duplicated in the course of scribal transmission.
• Traditions outside the text: Jewish midrashic tradition and the commentary of the medieval Jewish commentator Rashi are known to relate a story in which Eliphaz pursued Jacob at his father's command but, rather than taking his life, seized only his possessions. This is a later tradition not found in the biblical text.