15 These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz,
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Dukes of the sons of Esau - The word duke comes from the Latin dux, a captain or leader. The Hebrew אלוף alluph has the same signification; and as it is also the term for a thousand, which is a grand capital or leading number, probably the אלופי alluphey or dukes had this name from being leaders of or captains over a company of one thousand men; just as those among the Greeks called chiliarchs, which signifies the same; and as the Romans called those centurions who were captains over one hundred men, from the Latin word centum, which signifies a hundred. The ducal government was that which prevailed first among the Idumeans, or descendants of Esau. Here fourteen dukes are reckoned to Esau, seven that came of his wife, Adah, four of Bashemath, and three of Aholibamah.
These [were] (d) dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn [son] of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,
(d) If God's promises are so sure towards those who are not of his household, how much more will he perform the same for us?
These were dukes of the sons of Esau,.... Ben Melech says, the difference between a duke and a king was, that a king is crowned and a duke is not crowned; but Jarchi interprets the word of heads of families, which seems probable; so that as Esau's sons and grandsons are before related, here it is suggested that they had large and numerous families, of which they were the heads and governors; and in this and the following verses, Genesis 36:16; the sons and grandsons of Esau by his several wives are rehearsed as in the preceding verses, with the title of "duke" given to each of them.
dukes--The Edomites, like the Israelites, were divided into tribes, which took their names from his sons. The head of each tribe was called by a term which in our version is rendered "duke"--not of the high rank and wealth of a British peer, but like the sheiks or emirs of the modern East, or the chieftains of highland clans. Fourteen are mentioned who flourished contemporaneously.
The Tribe-Princes Who Descended from Esau. - אלּוּפים was the distinguishing title of the Edomite and Horite phylarchs; and it is only incidentally that it is applied to Jewish heads of tribes in Zac 9:7, and Zac 12:5. It is probably derived from אלף or אלפים, equivalent to משׁפּחות, families (1-Samuel 10:19; Micah 5:2), - the heads of the families, i.e., of the principal divisions, of the tribe. The names of these Alluphim are not names of places, but of persons-of the three sons and ten grandsons of Esau mentioned in Genesis 36:9-14; though Knobel would reverse the process and interpret the whole geographically. - In Genesis 36:16 Korah has probably been copied by mistake from Genesis 36:18, and should therefore be erased, as it really is in the Samar. Codex.
*More commentary available at chapter level.