person · also Edom
Esau
עֵשָׂוἨσαῦ

- verses
- 84
- first named
- Genesis 25:25
- last named
- Hebrews 12:17
- period
- the Patriarchs
- tribe
- Edom
Description
Who was Esau?
Esau, also known as Edom, was the firstborn son of Isaac and Rebekah and the twin brother of Israel (or 'Jacob') (Gen.25.25-26). He was a skillful hunter and his father's favorite son (Gen.25.27-28). Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew when he was famished (Gen.25.29-34). He married two Hittite women, causing grief to his parents (Gen.26.34-35). Esau lost his father's blessing to Jacob through deception (Genesis 27). He held a grudge against Jacob but later reconciled with him (Genesis 32-33). Esau settled in the hill country of Seir, which became known as Edom (Gen.36.8-9). He had five sons and became the father of the Edomites (Gen.36.1-43). The Edomites were later considered enemies of Israel (Num.20.14-21; 1Sa.14.47; 2Sa.8.13-14). God's love for Jacob and His rejection of Esau is used as an example of His sovereignty (Mal.1.2-3; Rom.9.13).
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
The 10 best-attested of 18 are drawn. All 18 are listed below.
Child of
Father of
Partner of
- AdahregistryGenesis 36:10Genesis 36:12Genesis 36:2
- Judithregistry, no verse
- MahalathregistryGenesis 28:9Genesis 36:3Genesis 36:10 +2
- OholibamahregistryGenesis 36:2Genesis 36:14Genesis 36:18
Sibling of
- IsraelregistryGenesis 27:23Genesis 32:3Genesis 32:13 +1
Stands in the same events as
- Israel33 events
- Isaac17 events
- Seir4 events
- LORD3 events
- Canaan3 events
- Rebekah3 events
- Adah3 events
- Blessing2 events
- Edom2 events
- Isaac’s blessing of Esau and Israel2 events
- Oholibamah2 events
- Gift2 events
and 21 more, ordered by how many events they share.
Places
Where this happens
The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.
The pattern
Where Esau is named
Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.
84 verses across 9 of 66 books; 57 write the name nowhere. Named in Genesis (64), Deuteronomy (6), Joshua (1), 1 Chronicles (4), Jeremiah (2), Obadiah (2), Malachi (2), Romans (1) and Hebrews (2).
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 84, across 9 books. The name is written 103 times in them.
Genesis64 verses
25:2525:2625:2725:2825:2925:3025:3225:3426:3427:127:527:627:1127:1527:1927:2127:2227:2327:2427:3027:3227:3427:3727:3827:4127:4228:528:628:828:932:332:432:632:832:1132:1332:1732:1832:1933:133:433:933:1533:1635:135:2936:136:236:436:536:636:836:936:1036:1236:1336:1436:1536:1736:1836:1936:2136:4036:43
Deuteronomy6 verses
Joshua1 verse
1 Chronicles4 verses
Jeremiah2 verses
Obadiah2 verses
Malachi2 verses
Romans1 verse
Hebrews2 verses
Onward
Where this page goes
Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Where they appear
Chapter by chapter
Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
- Genesis 25Esau emerges red and hairy, becomes a hunter, and sells his birthright to Jacob for bread and lentil stew.
- Genesis 27Esau hunted for Isaac, prepared his own meal, cried for a blessing, and plotted against Jacob when the blessing was gone.
- Genesis 28Esau learned of Isaac’s disapproval and married Mahalath while keeping his existing wives.
- Genesis 32Esau came to meet Jacob with four hundred men, while Jacob sent gifts and messages ahead of him.
- Genesis 33Esau came toward Jacob with four hundred men, embraced and kissed him, accepted his gift, and went back to Seir.
- Genesis 35Esau joined Jacob in burying their father Isaac.
- Genesis 36Esau gathered his household, livestock, animals, and property and moved away from Jacob, settling in the area of Mount Seir.
- Jeremiah 49Esau was stripped bare, his hiding places uncovered, and his descendants, relatives, and neighbors were destroyed with him.
3 more chapters, from Obadiah 1 to Hebrews 12
Sources