Zerah (Son of Reuel)

Biblical Record

Zerah was the second son of Reuel, the son of Esau. Genesis 36:13 reads, "And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah," and identifies them as descendants of Bashemath, Esau's wife. Genesis 36:3 identifies Bashemath as the daughter of Ishmael. Genesis 36:17 calls these four men "the dukes that came of Reuel." Here the term duke (chief) refers to the leader of a clan or tribe. 1 Chronicles 1:37 repeats the same genealogy.

The text records only Zerah's name, his lineage, and his status as a chief. Nothing is recorded about his life or deeds.

Significance Within Scripture

Zerah's name appears in a genealogy that traces how the descendants of Esau branched into several clans headed by chiefs in the land of Edom. Genesis 36 sets out the line of Esau before the narrative turns to the story of Jacob. The chapter records the origins of Edom, a neighboring people related to Israel by blood.

The New Testament does not mention this Zerah. The Zerah (Zara) of Matthew 1:3 is a different person, the son of Judah and Tamar.

Interpretation and Discussion

Genesis 36:33 names Jobab, who succeeded Bela as king of Edom, as "the son of Zerah of Bozrah" (as does 1 Chronicles 1:44). Some interpreters identify this Zerah of Bozrah with Zerah the son of Reuel. Others hold that the identification cannot be made with certainty, since the list of chiefs and the list of kings are different kinds of records and Zerah was a common name.

At the end of the book of Job in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament), a short passage not found in the original text has been appended. This passage reportedly identifies Job with Jobab, king of Edom, and presents his father as "Zare" (Zerah), one of the descendants of Esau. This is a later tradition; the Hebrew text does not specify Job's lineage.

Several other people in the Bible bear the same name and should be distinguished from him:

• Zerah the son of Judah (Genesis 38:30)
• Zerah the son of Simeon (Numbers 26:13)
• Zerah the Ethiopian (2 Chronicles 14:9)

Moses' father-in-law is also called Reuel (Jethro; Exodus 2:18), but he is a different person from Reuel the father of Zerah.

In the Korean Church

Because Zerah appears only in genealogies, he is rarely treated on his own in sermons or Sunday school. No widely known sermons or worship songs centered on him have been identified.