sealchan
Well-Known Member
I am reposting this under a new title in the hopes of getting more interest and response. This originally comes from my thread Gradual Dominance: Esau's Descendants and The Rulers of Edom: Genesis 36
In the Bible there is the following conflict in reporting on Esau's wives...
Genesis 26
When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemathdaughter of Elon the Hittite
Genesis 36
Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamahdaughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite— also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
Granted that in Genesis 26 we might allow that Esau only married two wives at that time, we have one match but the other wife in Genesis 26 doesn't match either of the other two offered in later scripture. And Oholibamah's father seems to be different in each case.
It would appear that either there was an unfortunate failure on the part of the editor to correct these contradictions or it was felt that both sources were authentic and although contradictory had to be kept intact. Perhaps the separation of ten chapters was the best the authors could come up with in order to minimize the impact of the contradiction. In any case this would appear to be a fairly clear cut example of literalistic error in the Bible.
In the Bible there is the following conflict in reporting on Esau's wives...
Genesis 26
When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemathdaughter of Elon the Hittite
Genesis 36
Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamahdaughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite— also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
Granted that in Genesis 26 we might allow that Esau only married two wives at that time, we have one match but the other wife in Genesis 26 doesn't match either of the other two offered in later scripture. And Oholibamah's father seems to be different in each case.
It would appear that either there was an unfortunate failure on the part of the editor to correct these contradictions or it was felt that both sources were authentic and although contradictory had to be kept intact. Perhaps the separation of ten chapters was the best the authors could come up with in order to minimize the impact of the contradiction. In any case this would appear to be a fairly clear cut example of literalistic error in the Bible.