Genesis 36 · Verse 31

Genesis 36:31

And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
Genesis 36:31, King James Version

Genesis 36:31 in other translations

BSBThese are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:
WEBThese are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel.
ASVAnd these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
YLTAnd these are the kings who have reigned in the land of Edom before the reigning of a king over the sons of Israel.
DARBYAnd these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned a king over the children of Israel.
BBEAnd these are the kings who were ruling in the land of Edom before there was any king over the children of Israel.
WebsterAnd these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

What does Genesis 36:31 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 36:31-39
31-39. kings of Edom--The royal power was not built on the ruins of the dukedoms, but existed at the same time.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 31 Before there reigned any king over - Israel - I suppose all the verses, from Gen 36:31-39 inclusive, have been transferred to this place from 1Chr 1:43-50, as it is not likely they could have been written by Moses; and it is quite possible they might have been, at a very early period, written in the margin of an authentic copy, to make out the regal succession in Edom, prior to the consecration of Saul; which words being afterwards found in the margin of a valuable copy, from which others were transcribed, were supposed by the copyist to be a part of the text, which having been omitted by the mistake of the original writer, had been since added to make up the deficiency; on this conviction he would not hesitate to transcribe them consecutively in his copy. In most MSS. sentences and paragraphs have been left out by the copyists, which, when perceived, have been added in the margin, either by the original writer, or by some later hand. Now, as the margin was the ordinary place where glosses or explanatory notes were written, it is easy to conceive how the notes, as well as the parts of the original text found in the margin, might be all incorporated with the text by a future transcriber; and his MSS., being often copied, would of course multiply the copies with such additions, as we have much reason to believe has been the case. This appears very frequently in the Vulgate and Septuagint; and an English Bible now before me written some time in the fourteenth century, exhibits several proofs of this principle. See the preface to this work. I know there is another way of accounting for those words on the ground of their being written originally by Moses; but to me it is not satisfactory. It is simply this: the word king should be considered as implying any kind of regular government, whether by chiefs, dukes, judges, etc., and therefore when Moses says these are the kings which reigned in Edom, before there was any king in Israel, he may be only understood as saying that these kings reigned among the Edomites before the family of Jacob had acquired any considerable power, or before the time in which his twelve sons had become the fathers of those numerous tribes, at the head of which, as king himself in Jeshurun, he now stood. Esau, after his dukes, had eight kings, who reigned successively over their people, while Israel were in affliction in Egypt.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Genesis 36:31 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ve.'E.lehand theseH428
הַמְּלָכִ֔יםha.me.la.Khim[were] the kingsH4428
אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherwhoH834
מָלְכ֖וּmal.Khuthey reignedH4427
בְּאֶ֣רֶץbe.'E.retzin [the] land ofH776
אֱד֑וֹם'e.DomEdomH123
לִפְנֵ֥יlif.Nei<to> beforeH6440
מְלָךְ\־me.lokh-reignedH4427
מֶ֖לֶךְMe.lekha kingH4428
לִבְנֵ֥יliv.Neiof [the] people ofH1121
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל\׃Yis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 36:31

  • Genesis 17:6

    And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

  • Genesis 17:16

    And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

  • 1 Chronicles 1:43-50

    Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel; Bela the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Dinhabah. And when Bela was dead, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead. And when Jobab was dead, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead. And when Husham was dead, Hadad the son of Bedad, which smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith. …

  • Numbers 24:17-18

    I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.

  • Numbers 20:14

    And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:

  • Deuteronomy 17:14-20

    When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. …

  • Deuteronomy 33:5

    And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.

  • Genesis 25:23

    And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

  • Deuteronomy 33:29

    Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the kings.
17:6,16; 25:23; Nu 20:14; 24:17,18; De 17:14-20; 33:5,29
1Ch 1:43-50
before there.Moses may here allude to the promise which God made to Jacob (ch. 35:11,) that kings should proceed from him; and here states that these kings reigned before that prophecy began to be fulfilled.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 36:30

    Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.

  • Genesis 36:31

    And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

  • Genesis 36:32

    And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

Read all of Genesis 36

Genesis 36:31 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y los reyes que reinaron en la tierra de Edom, antes que reinase rey sobre los hijos de Israel, fueron estos:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et ce sont ici les rois qui régnèrent dans le pays d’Édom, avant qu’un roi règne sur les fils d’Israël.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und dies sind die Könige, die im Lande Edom regiert haben, ehe ein König über die Kinder Israel regierte:
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Reges autem qui regnaverunt in terra Edom antequam haberent regem filii Israël, fuerunt hi: