Genesis 36:31

Before there reigned any king. This reference to kings of Israel has been pointed to as evidence of post-Mosaic authorship, or at least as a later interpolation from 1 Chron. 1:43. This conclusion is not necessary. It should be remembered that kings had been promised to Jacob, as Moses knew (Gen. 35:11). This promise had not been fulfilled in the time of Moses, whereas Esau’s house had already attained a high degree of political organization. It is therefore entirely consistent that Moses, in whose time eight kings had already reigned over Edom, make this remark.

The difficulty of finding room for 7 “dukes,” all grandsons of Esau (vs. 15-19), 8 kings (vs. 32-39), and 11 additional “dukes” (vs. 40-43) during the time between Esau and Moses, disappears if it be assumed that the kings and dukes were contemporary with one another. This is supported by a comparison of Ex. 15:15 with Num. 20:14. In the latter, Moses negotiated with a king of Edom for permission to pass through his land, but in the former the “dukes” of Edom are mentioned as trembling on account of the miraculous passage of Israel through the Red Sea. Furthermore, it is not necessary to assume that the 11 “dukes” of vs. 40-43 ailed consecutively. Since it is stated that they were dukes “according to their families, after their places,” all, or at least several of them, may have lived in different places at the same time. It is therefore necessary only to find room for 8 successive kings between Esau and Moses, a period of more than 200 years. This would allow an average of 25 years each as compared with 10 years for the kings of Israel and 17 for those of Judah.

It is apparent that the Edomite monarchy was not hereditary, since in no case did a son succeed his father. It was, rather, elective, with the kings chosen, perhaps, by the “dukes.” This would be similar to the situation in the Holy Roman Empire, where each emperor was elected by the princes and electors of the realm. Of the eight kings named, none is known from other sources. Although some of the names, such as Hadad (1 Kings 11:14), recur later, none refer to the individuals here mentioned. A few of the cities mentioned in connection with the kings can be identified, as follows: