“When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.”
For the first time in this chapter Esau, Jacob’s older brother, makes an appearance, and what a disastrous appearance it is. We are told that at forty years of age he took two wives and that they came from the Hittite nation. It is not that he had one night stands with them, or that he cohabited with them. They were not his mistresses. Each of these relationships was a marriage, the legal union of this man with each of these women so that they lived together (in the strange way polygamous marriages operate), and legitimate children were procreated. Since human beings are made in the image and likeness of God there is an awareness in every kind of society in the world, from the most primitive to the most sophisticated, that both men and women are designed for the marriage relationship, though some will remain single. Every kind of society recognizes this legal and social and loving relationship of marriage. There are various forms of initiation that regulate it. In our text we have evidence of this – even 4000 years ago – in the names of the wives Esau took, but more than this, the names of their fathers are recorded. “Who giveth this woman named Judith?” Her father Beeri would say, “I do.” “Who giveth this woman Basemath?” And her father Elon said, “I do.” It was properly done according to the light of that society. No doubt, there had been some kind of negotiation and dowry and paternal approval between Esau and the fathers. The end result was that Esau was given the right to have these two women as his wives, sexual and domestic partners, mothers of his children, for the remainder of their lives – ‘till death us do part.’ It was a serious agreement.
In the case of Esau, from the beginning, it was deeply flawed in two ways in that he took two wives, whereas the divine pattern is one wife, Eve, for one husband, Adam. Also that he took them from a pagan people, the Hittites. He was forty years of age when he took this step. In other words, he was exactly the same age his father Isaac had been when he married his mother. This timing, whether a coincidence or a deliberate statement, was a rebuke to Isaac but also it happened to be a rebuke to Esau.
1. THIS MARRIAGE WAS A REBUKE TO ALL CONCERNED.
Some newly converted people haven’t come from Christian homes, and all of the Christian life is new to them. They are on a steep learning curve about their fellow Christians, about the Bible’s teaching on Christian conduct, and about their relationships with people in the world. They must be immature in many areas of their lives and it is possible for them to make big blunders early on if they do not get and heed counsel. It was not like this with Esau. He was the grandson of Abraham, and the son of Isaac and Rebekah. He was one of the most favoured men in the world, and he was physically mature, forty years of age. He was without excuse for his actions. He deliberately went into a polygamous marriage with two worshippers of the gods of the Hittites, and this resulted in profound grief to Esau’s parents. They could not say – as I can say – that they could bless Jehovah for the partners their children had found. They could not rejoice in God’s kindness in giving their son such a fine spouse. Isaac and Rebekah could not say that. The marriage was a rebuke to all concerned. They could shake their heads and ask one another, “How much are we to blame for this?”
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