Esau Settles in Edom

After Isaac’s death his sons divided their homes between them and did not keep what they had held before. Esau left the city of Hebron to his brother, lived in Seir, and ruled over Idumea. He named the country after himself, for he was called Edom, a name he got in the following way. One day, when he was still a boy, he came back from the toil of hunting very hungry, and came upon his brother preparing lentil stew for his dinner. It was a very red color, which made him want it all the more, and he asked him to give him some to eat. But Jacob took advantage of his brother’s hunger and forced him to sell him his birthright for the meal; and Esau, pinched by hunger, gave it up to him under oath. So, because of the redness of this stew, the boys of his own age jokingly called him Edom, for the Hebrews call what is red adom; and he gave the country this name. But the Greeks gave it a more pleasing pronunciation and named it Idumea. [a]

Esau became the father of five sons. Jeush, Jalam, and Korah were by one wife, whose name was Oholibamah; of the others, Eliphaz was born to him by Adah, and Reuel by Basemath. These were the sons of Esau. Eliphaz had five legitimate sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz; for Amalek was not legitimate, but the son of a concubine named Timna. They lived in the part of Idumea called Gebalitis, and in the part named Amalekitis after Amalek. For Idumea was a large country, and at that time it kept the name for the whole, while its separate parts kept the names of their own inhabitants. [c]