Women in the Bible – Aholibamah – Daughter of Anah, One of Esau's Wives.

Women in the Bible – Aholibamah (or Oholibamah) – Daughter of Anah, One of Esau's Wives.

Genesis 36:2-24 (ESV) Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)

These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. (Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. These are the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

This is the most unusual name to me. The next Women in the Bible we consider is Aholibamah, or Oholibamah as is most commonly used. The name comes from the Hebrew word ʾoholîbāmâ which means “tent of (the) height.” All we know of her is that she married Esau. That should qualify her for some kind of award right there! Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, was a rough character. He was a man’s man, a hunter, a farmer. He also had a temper.

She was a blessing to Esau by giving him three sons: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. We never hear anything of these three in scripture. Every time Oholibamah is referenced they mention her mother, and her mother’s father, but never her father. This could imply that she was illegitimate. Rarely do you see just a mother mentioned in a lineage. Even if the father is deceased he is still mentioned. Because of this, Esau would not have received a dowry with his wife. It also could mean that Oholibamah’s mother came to live with them. Regardless of these things Esau’s “tent was increased” when he took her as his wife.

Raising three boys in any culture is a challenge. Raising them as a nomadic people had to be very difficult. We don’t know the outcome of all of this. We know Esau eventually made peace with Jacob. Hopefully this change of heart in Esau was also experienced by his wives, and Oholibamah.

Women in the Bible – Ahlai – Daughter of Sheshan

Women in the Bible – Ahlai – Daughter of Sheshan

1 Chronicles 2:31-35 (ESV) The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son (KJV says children) of Sheshan: Ahlai. The sons of Jada, Shammai’s brother: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died childless. The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel. Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha. So Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarha his slave, and she bore him Attai.

This may be one of the saddest stories I’ve read in scripture in quite a while. It’s the history of Ahlai, the next Women in the Bible we will consider. It is sad to me, mainly because my Western mind does not understand the customs of her day.

Ahlai’s father was Sheshan, a descendent of Kind David. The lineage we read in 1 Chronicles 2 is filled with “sons”. Ahlai is simply listed as “children” of Sheshan, not daughter. Her name comes from the Hebrew word ʾaḥlāy and means “wishful”. Having a son meant everything to a father in those days. We don’t know if that is why Sheshan named his daughter “wishful”, but he certainly wanted a son.

Ahlai lived her life as an only child, a daughter, in a man’s world. She knew the reality of her situation, and that life would most likely not go well for her. Because her father had no sons, he did something similar to the scheme Abram and Sarai tried by having Abram father Ishmael through Sarai’s handmaid, Hagar. Sheshan gave Ahlai to his Egyptian slave for a wife. It did result in a son, but at what price? Instead of allowing his daughter to “marry up” with a potential dowry he chose to give her to his slave.

My Western mind does not understand all of this. I have to believe that Ahlai remained wishful. Perhaps she was able to love her husband. By giving birth to a son her name was included in the Bible. That’s more than most in her day.

Women in the Bible – Ahinoam – King David's Wife, Mother of Amnon

Women in the Bible – Ahinoam – King David's Wife, Mother of Amnon

1 Samuel 25:43 (ESV) David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both of them became his wives.

1 Samuel 27:3 (ESV) And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow.

1 Samuel 30:5 (ESV) David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

1 Samuel 30:18-20 (ESV) David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

2 Samuel 2:2 (ESV) So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

2 Samuel 3:2 (ESV) And sons were born to David at Hebron: his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam of Jezreel;

1 Chronicles 3:1-9 (ESV) These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite, the third, Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah; six were born to him in Hebron, where he reigned for seven years and six months. And he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

These were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon, four by Bath-shua, the daughter of Ammiel; then Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. All these were David’s sons, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar was their sister.

The next Women in the Bible we will look at is Ahinoam, wife of King David. We saw last time that her name means “brother of pleasantness.” This is not the same woman that was married to King Saul, even though they have the same name.

Ahinoam was married to David during some volatile years that led up to him reigning as king over Judah, and then Israel. She was the mother of David’s first born, a son named Amnon. Ahinoam was taken captive at one point, along with David’s other wife at the time. But David pursued the captors and recovered his family and all of their possessions. This tells me two things: David loved his family, and his family loved David. This would certainly cause a stronger bond to develop between them.

David’s first-born son by Ahinoam, Amnon, would cause much shame to come to his family. He raped his half-sister, Tamar, and was later killed by Tamar’s brother, Absalom. I cannot imagine what life must have been like for this family. Constantly under attack by enemies both inside and outside of Israel, being taken hostage by enemies of David, and the struggle for power in King David’s latter years, I’m sure all of took a toll on the peace in this home. Yet, we see David remain steadfast in his faith in God. Psalm 23 declares, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want …”

1 Samuel 30:6 (ESV) And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

How blessed Ahinoam was to have been married to a man who went to the Lord for answers regarding his family!

We do not hear much about Ahinoam beyond her relationship to David. However, knowing what we know about David one can only imagine that she must have been a strong woman, emotionally, to endure all that she did as the wife of one ascending to the throne of a relatively new governmental structure over Israel. David would become only the second king to reign over Israel. She raised a son amidst all of this turmoil. However, the generational sins of David came to Amnon. It was his lust that brought him an untimely death.

8 July 2016 - My Perspective of the Day

My understanding of predestination from scripture tells me that I did not choose when, where, or into what circumstances, I would be born. Therefore, I cannot apologize for being a Southern American white male.

However, the other side of predestination is this: every person born has the same objective: Become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

The day I became self-aware (some call this the age of accountability) of my need for a Savior I became responsible for every decision I made from that moment. I choose to hate; I choose to love. I choose to be violent; I choose to be peaceful. I cannot justify my actions based on anyone else’s actions because I am not accountable for them, only for myself.

My upbringing occurred during the ‘60s in Birmingham, Alabama. My father was a police officer under Bull Conner. He regularly wore riot gear, and was part of the police force that engaged in scandalous acts toward the civil rights protestors of that day. I don’t know to what extent he was involved, if at all, in any of the unlawful violence toward some of the demonstrators. I was only nine when he died. We didn’t ever talk about those things before then, or if we did, I didn’t fully understand them.

My father was shot by a black man (I use “black” because it seems to be the current vernacular, i.e. “Black Lives Matter”) while trying to retrieve the stolen property of a business he was sworn to protect. For those who know me, you may not have even known the race of the man who shot my father. I never bring it up because to me it is irrelevant. My father is dead, and that’s all that I knew at the end of the day.

I admit I am prejudiced; not racially, but on behalf of the police who serve us regardless of skin color. I always lean toward the officer in any situation, because I know what happens every morning when he or she leaves for work, and the heavy sigh of relief of their spouse when they return home safely each evening. They live every day with the thought that today could be their last.

I’ve seen many statistics thrown about these days. One that is glaringly absent is the number of assaults against police officers. The latest data that I could find was from 2013. Over 28,000 police officers were assaulted that year; 461 people were killed by police that same year. Less than 1% of individuals who injured police officers died as a result of their actions. That seems like a lot of restraint to me.

Until you hear the complete story of a particular incident you cannot make a judgment. Even if there is video of the actual event (in the current case, there is not) you do not have the whole story. Until you have approached a car with unknown subjects, not knowing if they will be friendly, respectful, and compliant, or combative or noncompliant, you have to assume the worst case scenario for your own safety.

The other issue is the injustice of our legal system. If your side loses the court case it is always unjust. But, until we have a better system in place it is the only way to resolve these issues. Violence against police is not the answer regardless of the circumstances. If the officer involved did something wrong he will have to answer for that. Until we know the whole story we cannot become judge and jury.

As with any segment of people that you can measure, there are some people serving as police officers that are bad people. With the vetting that occurs, and the endless training they receive, I believe it to be a small number. Also, good people can make bad decisions. Both of those are dealt with through the legal system, and I believe it has been pretty effective through the years. There is an automatic investigation anytime an officer is involved in a shooting. He surrenders his weapon on the spot and is assigned to alternate duty until the incident has been investigated. What if you were held to that same standard in your job?

What if someone came behind you and checked everything that you did, and if found in error, you would be reprimanded, or worse? I realize when you introduce guns it changes things drastically, but the level of scrutiny to which officers are evaluated is far beyond any other industry that I know.

The end result is this: when stopped by an officer, regardless of how unjustified you feel it may be, try to be kind. Do what they ask. Do not do anything that would give them reason to be alarmed (sudden actions, abusive language, threatening gestures, etc.). If you feel their actions are inappropriate then pursue legal action toward them. It is your right, and they are responsible for their behavior.

The answer to all of this was given in the second paragraph. If each of us would pursue that which we were created for – becoming the image of Christ – all of this would be moot.

Women in the Bible – Adah – Daughter of Elon, the Hittite – A Wife of Esau

Women in the Bible – Adah – Daughter of Elon, the Hittite – A Wife of Esau

Genesis 26:34-35 (ESV) When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 36:1-5 (ESV) These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

The woman known as “Adah” in Genesis 36 is apparently the same woman named “Basemath” in Genesis 26. Some theorize that Esau changed her name. It’s not known exactly why. At any rate, they are the same person.

Adah, as we saw last time, means “ornament.” Basemath comes from the Hebrew word bāśemat which means “fragrance”. When we are first introduced to Adah she was known as Basemath, When she first married Esau “they made life bitter for Issac and Rebekah.” The “fragrance” that defined her life was not a pleasant one; more of a stench than an aroma. However, she bore Esau a son. This child must have been a golden boy (Eliphaz means “God of gold”) and the joy brought to Adah mellowed her to the point that Esau changed her name from Basemath to Adah. She had become an ornament (of gold!) which blessed him.

That may not be what happened, but it is plausible. We do know that when Jacob and Esau encountered one another later in life there was no animosity in Esau’s heart toward Jacob. It could be that Adah, and her golden child, softened Esau’s heart to the point that he became a different man.

It is common in scripture for names to be changed. Sometimes it is a prophetic gesture that leads to a life change. Other times it is because the one they have no longer represents who they have become. I believe the latter is the case here. Never let who you are or what you’ve done define what you are capable of becoming.