Chapter XXIX

A handful of identities attract the most interest in the subject, enthralling the attention of those whether they be students or authorities on the matter. The most popular include the mighty Assyrians descended from Asshur, the mysterious Israelite tribe of Dan, the violent and vicious Amalekites, the especially blessed birthright sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh and last but not least, the mercurial twin brother of Jacob, Esau. There is not a more contentious identity. For Esau or Edom, has been overly identified with a variety of peoples. Principally with either Turkey, to go hand-in-hand with the Arabs being Ishmael, which has a measure of legitimacy, as the Ashkenazi branch of Jewry may have a genetic link with the Turks; or with Italy and Germany, which again has a degree of accuracy, as the ruling element of these nations has included infiltration by Esau.

The Jewish people – similarly with the Arabs, who make their own assertion [refer Chapter XIV Mizra: North Africa & Arabia] – overtly claim descent from Judah, a son of Jacob. Many researchers and commentators have arrived at the conclusion and offer convincing evidence to support, that modern Jewry is in fact descended, or in part, from Esau. We will cover a large and significant body of material in seeking to verify if this is so. Incredibly, some Jews themselves not so secretly, admit to descending from Esau. Yet, we will thoroughly and carefully examine the facts and clues to see if this is true. The magnitude of this revelation is enormous, for it would reveal a conspiracy of deliberate and purposeful mistaken identity fraud. The ramifications of which are immeasurable in themselves, yet would lead astonishingly, to the most pressing and urgent question one could formulate within all identity material: If the Jews are the biblical Edomites, descended from Esau, and not the tribe of Judah as claimed… then, who pray tell, is the tribe of Judah, the fourth son of both the Patriarch Jacob and the first of his two wives, Leah?

Esau’s father, Isaac, born in 1877 BCE is sandwiched between two enormous presences in the Biblical account: Abraham and Jacob. So it is easy to lessen or neglect Isaac’s role. Isaac though, like his father Abraham is a laid back, phlegmatic character with normal human failings, though also possessing an unflinching faith in the Almighty and His promises. Evidenced in his willingness to be sacrificed at age thirty, if it meant the promises to his father Abraham were to be fulfilled by another person or in some other, unforeseen way such as through the miracle of resurrection. 

One can’t help think Isaac had a laconic nature and sense of humour which was epitomised by his name which means: ‘Laughter’ or ‘He Will Laugh’ from the sahaq verbs, ‘to laugh’ and ‘make fun.’ 

We read about his meeting and marrying Rebekah when he was age forty, some three years after his mother Sarah’s death, in 1840 BCE. It is a true love story and provides encouragement for all hopeless romantics. Rebekah’s name means: ‘Tied up, secured’ from the verb rbq, ‘to tie firmly.’ It also means, ‘bind, trap’ and ‘snare.’ Rebekah is one of the most prominent women in the Bible, in terms of her active role in steering events of far-reaching consequence. 

Genesis 24:1-67

English Standard Version

Now Abraham was old… [and] said to his servant [Eliezer], the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had… swear by the Lord… that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, 4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” 6 Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there.

10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor [refer Chapter XXV Italy: Nahor & the Chaldeans]. 11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 

15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah… came out with her water jar on her shoulder. 16 The young woman was very [H3966, greatly, exceedingly] attractive [H2896, good, goodly]in appearance [H4758, to look upon, favoured], a maiden whom no man had known. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.” 18 She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. 21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.

22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, 23 and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” 

24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”25 She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.” 

28 Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29 Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. 30 As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man… 31 He said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” 

34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.” 52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord. 53 And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments… 59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse [Genesis 35:8, ESV: ‘And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried [by Jacob] under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth (‘oak of weeping’)], and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, 

“Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!”

63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. 64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel 65and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Rebekah’s brother Laban displays the traits which we observe later, when Jacob goes to live with him. He is bedazzled by the jewels and gifts more than being convinced of the demand of kinship or the will of the Almighty. Even so, it is Rebekah’s choice whether to leave with Abraham’s servant and marry Isaac. He must have been convincing. Rebekah by her actions, reveals her outgoing personality and that she was a woman of action. In contrast to the laid-backness of Isaac. Rebekah is also shown to be kind, generous and competent. 

Her family’s blessing, meant simply that her descendants would have the upper hand and mastery over their enemies. History shows that sometimes this was dependant on their obedience and how much or how little they pleased the Creator. 

Other times it had no bearing and they were blessed regardless and yet again, it sometimes meant battles would be lost, even for decades, but ultimately, not the war. What is especially curious, is that Esau’s descendants appear to be included in this prophetic blessing.

Recall, Abraham had married his niece on his brother’s Haran, side of the family. Ethnically, she was similar to a Swiss or French woman. Though Abraham’s servant had travelled to Abraham’s other brother, Nahor the father of the Chaldeans. Today along with with Aram’s son Uz, equating as the Northern and Central Italians. Nahor’s eighth and youngest son with his wife Milcah, was Bethuel, one of the original Italian paternal ancestors. Therefore, Rebekah was from this same line of people.

Genesis 25:20-34

English Standard Version

20 and Isaac was forty years old [in 1837 BCE] when he took Rebekah [who was 20 years old], the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren [like his mother, Sarah]. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” [or ‘why do I live’] So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her…

This was not the usual moving of arms and legs inside the womb that a mother feels when a foetus changes position or stretches. These two souls were at each other from the beginning. An inherent mistrust and misunderstanding of the other which would only deepen and grow worse. These were very painful kicks and thrusts inside Rebekah. It is said that Rebekah, while suffering from her pregnancy, went from neighbour to neighbour asking the women whether they had ever experienced the same. The answer she received is said to have come directly from the Almighty, speaking through an angel. It is also said that she should have borne twelve sons, the fathers of the future twelve tribes; but after the birth of Esau, she became barren once more. 

“Two nations [H1471 – gowy] are in your womb, andtwo peoples[H3816 – l’owm] from within you [or ‘from birth’] shall be divided [CJB: they will be two rival peoples]; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

What is deeply significant in this verse and overlooked by many is that two separate and distinct sons were fashioned in the womb. They were not only to be non-identical twins who just were not going to get on; they were to be different peoples in nature, mind set, objectives, procedures and ideals. So that on one hand, one would wonder if they were really related at all. This makes their identification both clear and complex at one and the same time. 

24 When her days to give birth were completed [in 1817 BCE], behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak [or garment], so they called his name Esau. 

The Midrash states that during Rebekah’s pregnancy, whenever ‘she would pass a house of Torah study, Jacob would struggle to come out; whenever she would pass a house of idolatry, Esau would agitate to come out.’

26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob [‘he takes by the heel’ or ‘he cheats’]. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

The meaning of the exact word Esau is disputed and is connected to a variety of definitions. It could be related to the Arabic* root gsw, meaning ‘to cover.’ Others have noted the similarity to the Arabic ‘athaa meaning ‘hirsute.’ The ‘sau’ of Esau’s name in Hebrew means hairy. In Hebrew, the word ‘hairy’ [Hebrew: se’ir] is a wordplay on Seir, the region in which he later settled. Esau became known as Edom, meaning ‘red’ [Hebrew: admoni]; the same colour used to describe Esau’s skin tone. Other traditional sources connect the word with the Hebrew sav’ meaning ‘worthless.’

Abarim Publications define Esau – reflective of Rebekah’s nature – as ‘Doer, Maker, Worker.’ From the verb ‘asa, ‘to do’ or ‘make.’ 

‘The two nicknames of Esau, Edom and Seir, are both obvious in meaning and have to do with Esau’s looks (red and hairy). His proper name however is not as easily derived. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reports that there once was a root (‘asa) that meant to be hairy, and refers to an existing Arabic* verb that means just that. Hence Jones translates with Covered With Hair…’ 

One commentator states the root of the name in Hebrew is derived from the word asuy denoting ‘completion’, thus made and complete, ‘since Esau was born hairy and very strong, being “completed” and not infantile.’

It is possible that Esau was brown and hairy as some researchers do not think red, means red. Though a red headed person with red body hair to match, is always associated with pale, fair or freckly skin. Granted, redheads vary from flaming red tresses to strawberry blond and also brownish auburn, as it is a quantitative trait. Regardless if Esau did have Red Hair, Jacob was Esau’s twin brother, so it shouldn’t be surprising if both their descendants carry common genetic traits and thus exhibit red hair. We have learned that red hair is indicative of the R1b Y-DNA Haplogroup which  largely distinguishes Western Europeans from the rest of the world [Chapter I Noah Antecessor Nulla]. Red hair, like blue eyes is a recessive gene. Jacob would have carried the red hair gene which Esau inherited, even if he didn’t have red hair himself. 

What is significant is that Esau is the first person to be described emphatically as red – unlike Adam, who’s redness was the lifeblood within him that was a combination of the godly and earthly [Chapter I Noah Antecessor Nulla]. 

Cornerstone Publications adds concerning Esau’s hairiness: ‘The reference to Esau having been hairy all over… can be related to the hair on his head as well, for he and many of his descendants became well-known for wearing long hair, long red hair…’ 

We are now searching for peoples on the earth with a higher proportion of red hair as this is a sign for Esau’s and Jacob’s descendants. Interestingly, the same word used to describe Esau as red is also used of David in 1 Samuel 16:12 and 17:42. David is a descendant of Jacob, rather tantalisingly through his son Judah. 

Hair colour is the result of the balance between eumelanin and phaeomelanin – types of melanin. Red hair derives from a genetic variant which causes the cell to produce phaeomelanin. It causes the melanocortin 1 receptor [MC1R] – on chromosomes four and sixteen – to function differently on melanocytes, which leads to less eumelanin – the pigment that results in brown skin, hair and tanning of the skin – and more of the red pigment pheomelanin, present in our lips and nipples.

Approximately two percent of the world’s population has naturally red hair, with the vast majority of red haired individuals having northwestern European ancestry. Western Europe, mainly comprising Abraham’s descendants has more red haired people than any other part of the world. Approximately six to ten percent and up to thirty percent, of the Scottish population has red hair, with an additional forty percent of the population with other hair colourings carrying the gene responsible for red hair; while about ten to thirty percent of the Irish population, specifically Northern Ireland, have red hair, making it the most red haired country in the world with Scotland. Red hair prevalence in England is around four percent. Ashkenazi Jews also have red hair. About 3.6% of Jewish women have red hair, while 10% of Jewish men have red beards. In the Americas, the emigration of Europeans has influenced the red haired population. Approximately two to six percent of the American population is redheaded; meaning the United States has the largest redhead population in the world at some seven to twenty million people.

Red Head Day in the Netherlands

There are some who equate red hair with descending from the Neanderthal, such as the American anthropologist, Carleton Coon in the 1930s and there are some people who link red hair, freckles and pale skin with the Nephilim, which is probably more believable of the two hypothesis. Red hair, with blond hair, fair skin and blue eyes have all been genes carried by Noah and or, his son Shem and possibly their wives Emzara and Sedeqetelebab. The blue eyes and fair skin genes – as exhibited in Y-DNA Haplogroups I1 and R1[a] – were passed to Asshur, Aram and Arphaxad and are features of people throughout Russia, Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Red hair associated with R1b on the other hand, appears more specific to Arphaxad’s descendant, Abraham. 

There is one location with a high incidence of red hair outside northwestern Europe and they are the Udmurts of the Urmurtia Republic in Russia. Is this a residue of the Khazar nation? The Romanov royal family of Russia – Nicolas II, Alexandra and their four daughters and one son – have been described as having red or red-gold [strawberry blond] hair and colour photos show this to be the case [Chapter XX Will the Real Assyria Stand Up: Asshur & Russia]. Udmurts say ‘a person with red hair is the sun’s child’ and ‘a redheaded person is closest to the gods. The gods love them.’

Approximately seventeen percent of people on the earth have blues eyes and when combined with the one to two percent of people with red hair, the odds of having both traits diminish to 0.17%. For instance, of a world population of 7.9 billion, that would be only thirteen million people.

There are numerous references to red haired and fair skinned individuals in the bible in reference to both lines descending from Isaac and Rebekah. We will look at them as we encounter each personality, though it may be of interest to look at three people we have already discussed. 

Sarah and Rebekah were described as being ‘fair’ – notice: “And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that [Abram] said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon…” [Genesis 12:11]. “And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman [Sarah] that she was very fair.” [Genesis 12:14, KJV]. “And the damsel [Rebekah] was very fair to look upon…” [Genesis 24:16]. “And the men of the place asked him [Isaac] of his wife; and he said, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.” [Genesis 26:7, KJV].

As we have touched upon, Esther who became Queen of the Persian Empire, was a light or fair-skinned person. She was of the tribe of Benjamin [Esther 2:5]: “He [Mordecai] brought up… Esther… and the maid was fair and beautiful.” [Esther 2:7]. This word ‘fair’ is the same word which was used when speaking about Sarah. It means ‘to be bright’ and is the only place in all of the book of Esther where this word is used. We read that Vashti, the former haughty queen, was also ‘fair.’ 

But the Hebrew word used here is a different word; it does not mean to be bright, but it means to be beautiful. We read also of ‘fair young virgins.’ Yet the Hebrew word yawfeh, is not used in regard to any of these women. It is used only in chapter two, verse seven in connection with Queen Esther. She had a bright or light skin. Esther was not only fair but she was also beautiful. The Hebrew word translated as ‘beautiful’ in verse seven is toar and means to ‘delineate, outline’ that is, the ‘figure’ or ‘appearance’ – Strongs, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Not only was Esther a fair or light skinned person; she was also a woman with a beautiful figure.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter [like Nimrod], a man of the field [like Ishmael], while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau had rougherqualities which distinguished him from his twin brother. Jacob was a plainer or simpler man, depending on the translation of the Hebrew word tam which can also mean a ‘relatively perfect’ man. Esau was a strong, savvy hunter and like an animal he was on the move.  Esau bore some resemblance with Cain, a man of the field and Nimrod, the mighty hunter; who stood in front or against the Eternal. Jonathan ben Uzziel – Targums of Onkelos – says: ‘Esau was a man of idleness to catch birds and beasts, a man going forth into the field to kill lives, as Nimrod had killed, and Hanok his son.’ Esau is also described as being cunning. The Book of Jasher 28:19-20 reveals that Esau was a ‘designing and deceitful man, one who hunted after the hearts of men and inveigled them.’ A footnote says Esau stole the minds of people, an insightful interpretation when measured against the deceptive qualities being employed by the Edomites today. 

Additional information is provided in the Book of Jubilees 19:12-19: 

12 … Rebecca bare to Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau, and 13 Jacob was a smooth and upright man, and Esau was fierce, a man of the field, and hairy, and Jacob dwelt in tents. 14 And the youths grew, and Jacob learned to write; but Esau did not learn, for he was a man of the field and a hunter, and he learnt war, and all his deeds were fierce. 15 And Abraham loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau. 16 And Abraham saw the deeds of Esau, and he knew that in Jacob should his name and seed be called; and he called Rebecca and gave commandment regarding Jacob, for he knew that she (too) loved Jacob much more than Esau. 17 And he said to her: My daughter, watch over my [grand]son Jacob, For he shall be in my stead on the earth, And for a blessing in the midst of the children of men [through his great grandson Joseph],And for the splendor of the whole seed of Shem.18 For I know that Yahweh will choose him to be a people for possession unto Himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. 19 And behold, Isaac my son loves Esau more than Jacob, but I see that you truly love Jacob.

29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom [red]). 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil [red pottage] stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Esau was not just tired or hungry, he was absolutely shattered and that way when you are so famished, you just need to eat immediately. It does not appear to be a typical situation of Esau returning from a normal hunt. Possibly, Esau had narrowly escaped with his life from a more serious situation. It is in this moment that Jacob chanced his arm and went for Esau while he was at his most vulnerable. Jacob would have been well aware of Esau’s personality and character weaknesses and vice-versa. The opportunity presented itself and he struck.

In fact, the whole conversation and scenario only really makes sense if we appreciate the age of Esau and Jacob, as being much younger than usually assumed. Their abrupt language and petulant manner, is reflected by their level of maturity and is recognisable as teenage behaviour. The Talmud teaches that the sale of the birthright occurred straight after Abraham died in 1802 BCE, when Esau and Jacob were fifteen years of age. Jewish sources say Esau was considered a rebellious son; living a double life until he sold his birthright.

Apparently, the lentil stew Jacob was cooking was intended for his father Isaac, as lentils  became the traditional mourner’s meal for Jews. The tradition is that on the day before returning home, in a wrathful rage over the death of Abraham, Esau committed five transgressions – he raped a betrothed young woman, he committed murder [Nimrod, according to Jewish sources], he denied God, he denied the resurrection of the dead [Job 14:14], and he spurned his birthright.

Whether Esau committed the first two is not known definitively. The last three are possible if he was angry and grief stricken. Nimrod would have been somewhere between nine thousand to six thousand years old according to an unconventional chronology. His age not so much the issue as a direct, first generation Nephil, but rather if he were still alive, would he not have been still ruling Babylon and this does not seem to be the case, as we learned when studying Abraham [refer Chapter XIX Chedorlaomer & the war of Nine Kings and Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia].

Rob Skiba remains convinced that Esau is linked with Nimrod:

‘In the context of the Jasher account, that story makes a whole lot more… sense… doesn’t it? I mean think about it. Without Jasher, the story in Genesis 25 makes no sense at all… After reading Jasher, you now completely understand what is going on and why. 

Esau had just killed the king of the world! By the way, the “valuable garments” that Nimrod had, “with which he prevailed over the whole land” were the original garments God made for Adam and Eve back in the garden… so here Esau has chopped off Nimrod’s head and stolen his “magic garments.” The rest of Nimrod’s “mighty men” were after him now. Esau came home famished from a very busy day! So, when Jacob says he wants his birthright, Esau basically said, “Look. What do I care about my birthright? I just killed King Nimrod! I’m a dead man. His warriors are probably coming for me as we speak. Just give me something to eat!” Esau was extremely vulnerable here and Jacob totally took advantage of the situation for his own selfish gain…’

Did Esau commit rape and murder? If so, he would have been on edge to say the least and very much of the rationale that his life was over, so why not sell a birthright he was not going to live to receive. The last three acts somewhat bundle together and committing the fifth, could well have meant him being guilty of the other two. A profound irony would be in place if Esau denied the resurrection, as it would be a prominent sect descended from Edom at the time of Christ, who also denied the resurrection.

The meal Jacob gave Esau was pottage, a thick soup made of vegetables. This can contain meat, though as emphasis is given to it being red from lentils, this is unlikely, particularly with no mention of animal flesh. Some claim red or ruddy can mean a brownish colour, but again the colour red is emphasised, indicating vegetables and not meat that would begin red and turn brown.

Calling a spade a spade is required here and the sad fact of the matter, is that Esau – though undeniably charismatic – was an unsavoury character. As with Canaan and his descendants, because Canaan sinned, doesn’t mean every black person is an evil person [refer Chapter XI Ham Aequator & Chapter XII Canaan & Africa]. It just means that Canaan was bad. Similarly, it would be unfair to tar every descendant of Esau with the same brush. Esau and Jacob were opposites in every way. Vitally, Esau was physically oriented and lacked true spiritual depth. He was a rugged, masculine, man of the moment, filled with passion. He did not perceive the end game or past today. 

We will find in bitter irony, that the influential of Esau’s descendants are visionary masters of the end game and have also perfected the guise of spirituality. Esau displayed his violent nature in impulsively and impetuously bargaining away his birthright for a pot of red lentil stew. His actions are hard to fathom in that he grossly under valued the birthright, deeming it as almost worthless, beneath him and as if he did not need it. It really only leaves immense pride on Esau’s behalf, so much so that his pride either blinded him to really see the birthright’s worth, or worse, he really felt above it and did not need the birthright.

Dr Herman Hoeh’s comments on Esau – capitalisation his, emphasis & bold mine:

‘Abraham had another son, Isaac. Isaac had two sons, twins, named Esau and Jacob. Jacob was the younger and the stronger. These two brothers gave rise to two different nationalities. “… And the first came forth ruddy, all over like a hairy mantle” (Gen.25:23-25).Esau, the elder, was not properly developed.The lanugo or hair that covers a foetus through the sixth, seventh and eighth months failed to drop off Esau as it does with all normal children. Esau was weaker, not fully developed. His children, of course, did NOT inherit this peculiar characteristic. Esau did not give rise to a different race, but to a different nationality. Esau’s children are white, as history proves. Esau’s descendants play a vital part in world affairs today! Where are his descendants?

Notice some of the sons of Esau: Teman, Omar, Amalek (Genesis 25:11). These are not Jewish names! Yet some claim that the Jews are the children of Esau. Nothing could be further from the truth – as we shall presently see. Esau, or Edom, as he is also called, lived southeast of Palestine near Petra. Arab Bedouins live there now. Then where have Esau’s children gone? From the days of Nebuchadnezzar, who carried them captive, they disappear for 1000 years from history. Then suddenly we find Amalek the name of a city in Turkestan in Central Asia (from Paul Herrmann’s SIEBEN VORBEI UND ACHT VERWEHT, page 451). The Egyptians used to call the Amalekites Amu. In Turkestan is the River Amu today! In Bible times the Edomites inhabited Mt. Seir (Genesis 32:4). In Turkestan is the Syr Darya – the River of Syr or Seir. The leading Turkish tribe is the Ottoman.

The prophecies referring to Edom or Esau mention Teman as the leading tribe in these latter days (Obadiah 9). The conclusion is inescapable. TheOtto-man Turks are the sons of Te-man. Merely the vowels in spelling have been changed over these past millenniums. From Central Asia the Turks or Edomites moved into Asia Minor. That is where Esau’s children live today! Turkey controls the “crossway” of the nations – the Dardanelles (Obadiah 14). How clear, ESAU OR EDOM IS TURKEYtoday!’

Hoeh confidently claims a Turkish identity for Esau, though we have addressed the convincing evidence of an Elamite identity for Turkey [refer Chapter XVIII Elam & Turkey & Chapter XIX Chedorlaomer the War of Nine Kings]. Additionally, the Turks are not renowned for their red hair and fair skin. Nor does their history or Haplogroups share a closeness with the northwestern European peoples. Paradoxically, it seems likewise, with the people who call themselves Jewish – particularly the Ashkenazi Jew. With regard to the ‘crossroads’, there is a modern nation which dramatically stands to fulfil this prophecy. It is not turkey.

Genesis 26:1-35

English Standard Version

Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. 

3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife [suggesting an intimate relationship].9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

The King of the Philistines, Abimelech is not the Pharaoh of Egypt and nor is he likely the same Abimelech who Abraham and Sarah met in 1878 BCE. For Isaac and Rebekah meet Abimelech circa 1790 BCE. He was either very young with Sarah and very old with Rebekah; or the alternative explanation is that the word Abimelech is a title and not a personal, first name. We learn that Isaac and Rebekah are close and happy, with Isaac living up to his name of laughter. Isaac though, passes Rebekah off as his sister, just as his father Abraham did with his mother Sarah. The narratives appear similar yet highlight an important difference, in differentiating Rebekah from Sarah. 

In at least one of the two wife/sister episodes in which she figures, Sarah seems to have had a sexual relationship with Pharaoh [Genesis 12:13-14,19] thus ensuring the safety of her husband and their household. Rebekah’s marital fidelity in contrast, is not compromised [Genesis 26:10]. Her relationship with Isaac is ‘consistently monogamous, unlike that of Sarah, who not only has extramarital sex, but also provides her husband with [her servant or handmaiden] Hagar, and [that] of Rachel and Leah, who are co-wives and also provide [servant] wives to Jacob.’

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him,13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

We have learned how the Almighty blessed Abraham with great wealth, which was partly passed to his six sons with Keturah and also a substantial portion to his son, Ishmael. The primary birthright blessing had been received by Isaac. Isaac now in his own right was being blessed immensely and adding substantial wealth to his inheritance. All this was destined for Esau as the birthright holder. Jacob would have benefited from gifts similar to that which Midian and his five brothers received. Only Esau could ever answer the question as to how he could flippantly give this away. We will learn though as we continue, that Esau regretted his decision and reneged on the deal struck with his younger twin.

17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek [contention], because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah [enmity]. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth [broad places or room], saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” 23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Isaac in his casual manner, chose to avoid conflict with the Philistines over the original wells Abraham had dug. The Eternal told him not to be afraid. Isaac had made a habit of accepting what befell him in his life… ‘being used as the potential object of sacrifice; waiting for the selection of a bride; walking away from the strife over the first two wells; being heartsick over Esau’s foreign wives’ and allowing himself to be deceived by Rebekah and Jacob over Esau’s inheritance.

26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace.You are now the blessed of the Lord.” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah [oath]; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

Peace between the family of Isaac and the Philistines was relatively short-lived and had become full on aggression a few centuries later when the family of Jacob, now grown large returned.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife,and Basemath the daughter of Elonthe Hittite, 35 and they made life bitter [they were bitterness of spirit, a grief of mind]for Isaac and Rebekah.

Esau was forty years old in 1777 BCE – as was Jacob. There are two matters which arise from Esau’s marriages. The first is that they are recorded in separate accounts with the wives having different names and thus a reconciling of scripture and the number of wives is required. The second matter is the ethnic identity of the wives and their fathers and the ramifications that entails.

Genesis 27:1-46

English Standard Version

When Isaac was old [117 years of age in 1760 BCE] and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau [who was 57 years of age] his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

Rightly or wrongly, Isaac and Rebekah had their favourites. It is interesting that the phlegmatic yet light hearted Isaac did not favour the quieter and more serious son Jacob, but rather the robust, athletic and outgoing Esau, who was much like his uncle – Isaac’s older half-brother – Ishmael. 

5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau… 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare… them… 10 And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”

Rebekah is again a woman of action in contrast with Isaac and as it was Jacob’s idea to take Esau’s birthright, it was actually his mother’s plan to fait accompli the blessing too. Esau was obviously not willing to relinquish this to Jacob, even though he had promised the birthright to him, some forty-two years previously. A possible factor in both Jacob’s and Rebekah’s actions, were the sentiments of Abraham before he died, in choosing Jacob to be the beneficiary of the Creator’s promises to Abraham.

14 So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16 And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

This clearly shows that not only was Esau hairy at birth but had grown into a hairy man. Regarding Nimrod and the account of Adam and Eve’s original skins of clothing being in Noah’s possession and subsequently stolen by Ham, given to Cush and finally to Nimrod; there are some inconsistencies in that Cush was not Nimrod’s forefather, a chronology including Nimrod still being alive, yet not ruling Babylon for Esau to then steal from him seems strongly untenable. Even though it makes for a good story in explaining why Esau was exhausted; flippantly selling his birthright [refer Chapter XXI The Incredible Identity, Origin & Destiny of Nimrod and Chapter XXV Italy: Nahor & the Chaldeans]. It also raises the question as previously discussed, were the ‘magic garments’ really clothes? If Adam and Eve as spiritual creatures, now turned physical as punishment for their taking the path offered by the Serpent – the tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil, symbolism for the mother goddess Asherah – then could these skins be their physicalness or literal skin and something that could be passed on? [Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. Alternatively, would garments survive twenty-five thousand years? 

Various Jewish sources state the garments were animal skins passed down from Adam, finally to Esau and it was these which Rebekah took and had Jacob dress in before going to his father Isaac. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: ‘Rebekah took the pleasant vestments of Esau her elder son which had formerly been Adam’s; but which that day Esau had not worn, but they remained with her in the house, and (with them) she dressed Jacob her younger son. And the skins of the kids she laid upon his hands and the smooth parts of his neck.’ Louis Ginzberg in Legends of the Jews, says: ‘[Rebekah] dressed [Jacob] in them, for those garments were the garb of the priesthood, and the Holy One… and prior to the construction of the Tabernacle, sacrificial worship was performed by firstborns. Since Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob, Rebekah considered that henceforth it was proper for Jacob to wear these garments, because he now had the status of firstborn.’ 

Though this version of events is more credible than the Nimrod legend, the clothes of Esau seem to be just his clothes and no more than that. It was the goat skin and hair – very much like human hair – on Jacob’s hands and neck that clinched the deception. The Book of Jubilees 26:11 says: ‘Rebecca took the goodly raiment of Esau, her elder son, which was with her in the house, and she clothed Jacob, her younger son, (with them)…’ The Ellicott Commentary on Genesis 27:15: ‘Evidently the clothing was something special, and such as was peculiar to Esau. For ordinary raiment, however handsome, would not have been kept in the mother’s tent.’ 

The Cambridge Bible says: “Goodly,’ literally ‘choice, desirable.’ [H2532 – chemdaw: it also means: precious, valuable, beloved. The root term is H2530 chamad, ‘desire or covet’]. By this is meant the clothes worn by Esau on festivals and solemn occasions.” The Poole Commentary says: ‘Either the sacerdotal garments which the eldest son wore in the administration of that office [of Priest] which belonged to him; or rather some other suit better than ordinary.’ Esau’s clothes at the least were ceremonial and more that his best suit so-to-speak. Whether they were Adam’s garments is conjecture and not as believable. In Genesis we read the following regarding Adam and Eve.

Genesis 3:21

English Standard Version

And the Lord God made [H6213 – asah] for Adam and for his wife garments [H3801 – kthoneth] of skins [H5785 – owr] and clothed them.

Commentators authoritatively state, that these skins were made from animal hides, yet the original Hebrew does not state this at all. Similar to the gopher wood of Noah’s Ark,  which was not wood from a tree [Chapter I Noah Antecessor Nulla]. The word for skin is translated as skin [96 times] in the KJV Bible, far more than any other word. Hide [2] and leather [1]. The word for garment is translated as coat [23], garment [5] and robe [1]. It has the connotation of a long undergarment of linen. The words used for make are do [1333], make [653] and wrought [52], having the connotation of, to ‘fashion, appoint, ordain’ or ‘institute.’ It can also mean, ‘to press’ or ‘to squeeze.’ 

The garment as a coat or robe was long, covering the whole body – like a full body suit or integument. The fact that the word skin is used over hide, shows that it is not an animal skin being used. Thus, either literal new skin for a new physical body which covered all the body and that was fashioned by the Eternal and required squeezing into is an option, or it is about a one piece suit of clothing and an unknown material which fully clothed Adam and Eve. Either are plausible as it was designed to cover Adam and Eve’s ‘nakedness.’ It is universally assumed that their modesty was being covered, though it could just as much be referring to covering their exposure as new physical beings.

18 So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn[1]. I have done as you told me [2]; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success [3].” 

21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau [4].”23And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 

24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am [5].” 25 Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments [6] and blessed him and said,

It is easy to focus on the six lying deceptions of Isaac and the cheating and stealing by Jacob against Esau. The fact that Esau later plans to kill his brother is wholly understandable. The deception perpetrated by Jacob and Rebekah, towards Isaac was also a severe wound in family loyalty. We know from the Biblical account that Jacob and his father had little interaction between this event and Isaac’s death. Similarly, how did this affect an apparently great marriage and what was the true impact on Isaac’s and Rebekah’s relationship from then on. Did Isaac laugh as much as his name entails and his personality hints? Rebekah lived up or down to her name of binding, snaring and trapping and Jacob certainly fulfilled his own name by supplanting and cheating. Abarim publications says: ‘The name Jacob [means] ‘he who closely follows, supplanter’ From the verb ‘abaq, ‘to follow at the heel’ or ‘supplant.’

‘BDB Theological Dictionary and NOBSE Study Bible Name List both read Supplanter. BDB adds Heel, Overreach, One Closely Following. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads He Will Supplant, A Heeler, One Who Trips Up or Takes Hold By The Heel. Besides in Genesis 27:36, the word occurs twice as regular word in the text: in Job 37:4 it’s used in the sense of ‘he holds back [thunderings]’ and in Jeremiah 9:4 as meaning ‘deal craftily’ (NAS) or ‘will supplant’ (KJV).’

“See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed! 

The Rabbi Rashi, states that when blessing Jacob, Isaac smelled the ‘heavenly scent of Gan Eden (Paradise) when Jacob entered his room and, in contrast, perceived  Gehenna opening beneath Esau when the latter entered the room, showing him that he had been deceived all along by Esau’s show of piety.’

28 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of thefatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you,and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, andmay your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

It is not clear why the plural use of brothers and sons is used, when Jacob only had the one brother, Esau… that we know about?

30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” 

32 His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 

34 As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

Hebrews 12:14-17

English Standard Version

14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy likeEsau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Hebrews 12:16-17

Amplified Bible

16 and [see to it] that no one is immoral [‘wicked’, The Voice]or godless [‘vile’, The Voice] like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that later on, when he wanted (to regain title to) his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance (there was no way to repair what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made), even though he sought for it with (bitter) tears.

Hebrews 12:16-17

New Century Version

16 Be careful that no one takes part in sexual sin or is like Esau and never thinks about God. As the oldest son, Esau would have received everything from his father, but he sold all that for a single meal. 17 You remember that after Esau did this, he wanted to get his father’s blessing, but his father refused. 

Esau could find no way to change what he had done, even though he wanted the blessing so much that he cried.

Hebrews 12:16-17

The Message

Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing – but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.

“Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. 40 By your sword you shall live [violence, danger],and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless [when thou shalt have the ‘dominion’ – KJV] you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

Many translations of verse thirty-nine state, as the ESV does, that Esau would live away from the fatness of the earth which Jacob’s sons would inherit. This gives the impression that Esau either doesn’t receive a blessing and or that he would not be near to Jacob geographically. The NCV a case in point. Yet other translations, including the KJV, choose to say the opposite.

New Century Version

Isaac said to him, “You will live far away from the best land, far from the rain.

Young’s Literal Translation

And Isaac his father answereth and saith unto him, `Lo, of the fatness of the earth is thy dwelling, and of the dew of the heavens from above…

King James Version

And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;

The Interlinear translates word for word verse thirty-nine and forty as follows. I have added punctuation. 

And Isaac his father answered, said unto him behold thy dwelling shall (be the) fatness earth – dew heaven – and thy sword live; shalt serve thy brother, shall come pass when shalt have dominion that shalt break his yoke.

The New English Translation helpfully translates the verse to give a more accurate geographic context.

Genesis 27:39

New English Translation

So his father Isaac said to him, “See here, your home will bebythe richness of the earth, and by the dew of the sky above.

‘Footnotes: The particle (hinneh) calls for someone’s attention. Or “next to.” The preposition (min) generally indicates the source of something or separation from something, and so is often rendered “from.” Older translations (KJV, ASV, Douay-Rheims, Young’s, JPS) took the preposition as indicating source: “of the fatness of the earth.” More recent translations (NASB, NIV, ESV, NLV) take it as separative: “away from the fatness.” In Jacob’s blessing the preposition works with the verb “give” and indicates source. 

In Esau’s blessing the preposition functions in a nominal clause and modifies “your dwelling.” HALOT says that [the preposition] can point “to the place… where something can be found” and thus means “in” in [Genesis 2:8, Leviticus 14:41, 2 Samuel 5:13, Ezra 1:4, Job 30:30, Isaiah 5:26, 23:7] (HALOT 597, s.v.). 

In combination with the verb “to dwell,” the preposition means “by,” “next to,” or “across from” [Ruth 2:14, 1 Samuel 20:25, Ezekiel 16:46, Jonah 4:5] The closest parallel for the noun “dwelling” is [Genesis 10:30] where [the preposition] as “away from” is not possible (rather “at” or “beginning at.”) In contrast to Jacob, to whom God will give some of earth’s fatness and heaven’s dew, Esau will dwell next to these. Esau himself continues to dwell with Isaac in Canaan, so perhaps he dwells “at” or “in” the richness of the land. But the land of his descendants, Edom, is more arid and might be considered “next to” or “across from” Canaan. The main contrast seems to be that God will give Jacob something, while Esau will have access to two of the same things. “Grain” and “wine” are not repeated for Esau, which may also reflect different conditions in Edom and Canaan.’

Most translations, lean towards Esau not receiving the fertility of the earth and dew of heaven. Others that he would, whereas the answer lies between the two, in that Esau would receive less than Jacob even though their people were adjacent to each other for many centuries and this makes sense, given that Esau’s blessing is meant to be inferior to Jacob’s birthright promises. Esau, was given choice land amongst their immediate relatives. Esau was a twin and we would have reason to find him connected to his brother, Jacob. Esau was like Ishmael, who was also an outdoors man, a huntsman, militaristic, a proficient soldier, ‘setting his hand against others [of his family]’. A militaristic state and a history of waging war is in part, an identifying sign for a significant proportion of Esau’s descendants today. 

The word dominion in the interlinear is a crux word in verse forty. It comes from the Hebrew word ruwd [H7300], which is translated as ‘dominion, lords, mourn and ruleth’. It means literally ‘to wander restlessly’ and ‘to roam, to be restless’ and ‘show restlessness.’ It derives from a primitive root, ‘to tramp about, ramble (free or disconsolate), have the dominion, be lord’ and ‘rule’. In english, it derives from the latin, dominium or ‘ownership’ and dominus, ‘master.’ Interestingly, the word dominion was used as a name formerly applied to self-governing divisions of the British Empire. For example, the former Dominions of Canada and New Zealand.

Therefore, we are seeking a people which has a unique identity and yet struggles with Jacob – possessing a mix of emotions towards their sibling’s descendants. We would expect to find a ‘nation’ or people somewhere matching Esau, who is both connected to the sons of Jacob yet a distinct national and or ethnic group. As one Bible researcher astutely commented: “[Edom] have not broken loose from Israel and are in fact part of Israel. Their lands… form part of Israel…”

A people by virtue of their assimilation, are recipients of the same fatness of the earth and blessings which was given to Jacob and specifically to his son Joseph. Wherever Jacob is today, that is where we will find Esau. Wherever Jospeh is today, that is where we will locate the greatest number of Esau’s descendants. We are also looking to identify a people who have come out from underneath Jacob’s shadow and are identifiable as a nation obtaining statehood relatively recently in history, finally achieving ‘dominion’ and appeasing ‘restlessness.’

41 Now Esau hated [H7852 – satam: ‘oppose, bear a grudge, retain (cherish) animosity against’ from root ‘to lurk for, persecute’] Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 

43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran 44and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away – 45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft [deprived] of you both in one day?” 46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

It may be that Rebekah had to be firm in saying obey my voice – more than once – in that Jacob, like Esau is headstrong and stubborn, or it may be that Rebekah felt moved and inspired to advise Jacob. It is recorded that Rebekah was a prophetess and therefore, she knew that Esau intended to slay Jacob after Isaac’s death and the words “Why should I be bereft of you both in one day” are ‘interpreted as being her prophecy to this effect.’ 

Jacob is displaying some of the laid back, casual approach to life that Isaac and Abraham exhibited. On the surface, it would seem that Rebekah’s issue with the Hittite women is that they are a different race, descendants of Heth, the son of Canaan. Though we will learn that it may be more serious and involve the old nemeses, the Nephilim.

Genesis 28:1-22

English Standard Version

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. 2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3 God Almighty [El Shaddai] bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples [a plurality of nations, not singular]. 4 May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” 5 Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

Isaac must have spoken with Jacob relatively quickly after his deception, as it follows on the heels of Rebekah’s urgent advice to flee. The Book of Jubilees records just how concerned Rebekah was for Jacob’s life later in the story. 

Book of Jubilees chapter thirty-five:

35:9 And [Rebekah] went in to Isaac and said to him: ‘One petition I make unto you: make Esau swearthat he will not injure Jacob, nor pursue him with enmity; for you know Esau’s thoughts that they are perverse from his youth, and there is no goodness in him; for he desires after your death to kill him.10 And you know all that he has done since the day Jacob his brother went to Haran until this day: how he has forsaken us with his whole heart, and has done evil to us; your flocks he has taken to himself, and carried off all your possessions from before your face. 

It appears Esau may have helped himself to more than his inheritance early. He obviously felt betrayed by his champion of the past, his father Isaac and released his anger by taking what he wanted from his parents. This may explain why Jacob after he returns from Haran, is described as ‘taking care of his parents.’

11 And when we implored and besought him for what was our own, he did as a man who was taking pity on us. 

12 And he is bitter against you because you did bless Jacob your perfect and upright son; for there is no evil but only goodness in him, and since he came from Haran unto this day he has not robbed us of aught, for he brings us everything in its season always, and rejoices with all his heart when we take at his hands and he blesses us, and has not departed from us since he came from Haran until this day, and he remains with us continually at home honoring us.’ 

13 And Isaac said to her: ‘I, too, know and see the deeds of Jacob who is with us, how that with all his heart he honors us; but I loved Esau formerly more than Jacob, because he was the firstborn; but now I love Jacob more than Esau, for [Esau] has done manifold evil deeds, and there is no righteousness in him, for all his ways are unrighteousness and violence, and there is no righteousness around him. 14 And now my heart is troubled because of all his deeds, and neither he nor his seed is to be saved, for they are those who will be destroyed from the earth and who will be rooted out from under heaven, for he has forsaken Yahweh the Almighty of Abraham and gone after his wives and after their uncleanness [genetically]and after their error [spiritually], he and his children. 

These are heavy words indeed from Isaac, but show the level of Esau’s disobedient and rebellious attitude and actions. King Solomon would later, also exasperate and disappoint the Eternal in similar fashion [refer Chapter XIII India & Pakistan: Cush & Phut].

15 And you do bid me make him swear that he will not slay Jacob his brother; even if he swear he will not abide by his oath, and he will not do good but evil only. 18 And Rebecca sent and called Esau and he came to her, and she said to him: ‘I have a petition, my son, to make to you, and do you promise to do it, my son.’ 19 And he said: ‘I will do everything that you say to me, and I will not refuse your petition.’ 20 And she said to him: [1] ‘I ask you that the day I die, you will take me in and bury me near Sarah, your father’s mother, and [2] that you and Jacob will love each other and that neither will desire evil against the other, but mutual love only, and (so) you will prosper, my sons, and be honored in the midst of the land, and no enemy will rejoice over you, and you will be a blessing and a mercy in the eyes of all those that love you.’ 

21 And he said:’I will do all that you have told me, and I shall bury you on the day you die near Sarah, my father’s mother, as you have desired that her bones may be near your bones. 22 And Jacob, my brother, also, I shall love above all flesh; for I have not a brother in all the earth but him only: and this is no great merit for me if I love him; for he is my brother, and we were sown together in your body, and together came we forth from your womb, and if I do not love my brother, whom shall I love? 

23 And I, myself, beg you to exhort Jacob concerning me and concerning my sons, for I know that he will assuredly be king over me and my sons, for on the day my father blessed him he made him the higher and me the lower. 24 And I swear unto you that I shall love him, and not desire evil against him all the days of my life but good only.’ 25And he swore unto her regarding all this matter. 

And she called Jacob before the eyes of Esau, and gave him commandment according to the words which she had spoken to Esau. 26 And he said: ‘I shall do your pleasure; believe me that no evil will proceed from me or from my sons against Esau, and I shall be first in naught save in love only.’ 27 And they eat and drank, she and her sons that night, and she died, three jubilees [147] and one week [7] and one year [1] old [155 years old], on that night, and her two sons, Esau and Jacob, buried her in the double cave near Sarah, their father’s mother.

Esau was as good as his word, in that he did not kill Jacob while he lived. Jacob had fled to Laban in 1760 BCE when he was fifty-seven. It would be forty years before Esau and Jacob would set eyes on each other again.

6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. 8 So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, 9 Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son,the sister of Nebaioth.

Esau married his ‘third’ wife seventeen years after his first two wives. Nebaioth was the eldest son of Ishmael, hence why his name is mentioned as the brother of Mahalath, even though she had twelve brothers. Nebaioth equates with the Prussian and Low German speaking peoples of the state of Brandenburg and Berlin the capital of Germany [refer Chapter XXVIII The True Identity & Origin of Germany & Austria – Ishmael & Hagar]. Mahalath is also called Basemath in the Book of Genesis. One commentator has discussed that Ishmael’s wife was also called Mahalath; hand picked by his mother Hagar from Egyptian royalty. Hagar and Ishmael were banished by Abraham circa 1874 BCE, when Ishmael was about seventeen. 

The Pharaoh ruling at the time was the third Pharaoh of the First Dynasty, Djer who ruled from 1922 to 1875 BCE. Mahalath could have been a daughter of Djer, the same Pharaoh who Abraham and Sarah met in 1902 BCE. Hagar was a gift from Djer to Sarah and it is believed she was a daughter, of the Pharaoh. If so, then Mahalath would conceivably be the younger sister of Hagar. The daughter of Ishmael may have had the same name as her mother, Mahalath. 

When she married Esau, her name could have changed to Basemath as it was traditional for wives to accept new names upon marriage. 

This would account for the two different names for Ishmael’s daughter, who became Esau’s wife. In the previous chapter, we learned of Ishmael’s identity today as the modern nation of Germany. The association between Esau and Germany in modern times will prove to be profoundly disturbing. Esau hoped this marriage would appease his parents, though they were not swayed by Esau’s late and half-hearted attempt to procure their favour. It would seem by this stage that even Isaac had seen through Esau, and their relationship was inevitably not the same as before that fateful day of the debacle surrounding the birthright blessing.

10 Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder [flight of steps] set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it [or beside him] and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Jacob had a lucid dream or vision of a portal from Earth to Heaven, the spirit realm and the dimensions in between. We will discover that Jacob’s descendants have indeed ‘spread abroad’ to the west, east, north and south, the furthest reaches of the earth.

18 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called the name of that place Bethel [the house of God], but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 so that I come again to my father’s [Isaac] house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

Jacob is a bit of a wheeler-dealer: a person who makes deals in business or politics, in a skilful and sometimes less than honest way. First Esau, now the Eternal. Jacob was seeking a peaceful resolution with his brother and his father, and so can be excused to a degree, for bargaining with the Creator. 

We will study Jacob in detail in the following chapter and so for now we will skip a portion of his life – forty years to be precise – and rejoin him on his flight from his father-in-law Laban and his decision to reconcile with his brother Esau in 1720 BCE.

Genesis 32:1-32

English Standard Version

Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim [two camps]. 3 And Jacob sent [had sent] messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, 4 instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’”

The angels of God may have been the same three, including the Son of Man [Genesis 18:1, 31] who visited Abraham with two companions – possibly Michael and Gabriel – whom rescued Lot and his family [Genesis 18:2; 19:1-2] from Sodom [refer Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran]. It was both a brave and highly risky decision to reach out to Esau, even after forty years had passed. Jacob had just fled from his father-in-law, Laban; putting himself between a rock and a hard place, so-to-speak. Esau had left home circa 1737 BCE and dwelt in an area known as Mount Seir. We will address the permutations of this move in detail, as well as the forty years of Jacob’s sojourn. 

The inhabitants of Seir were known as Horites. The head of the Horites had been an individual called Seir. We have encountered the Horites previously, in Genesis chapter fourteen and the Battle of the Valley of Siddim [refer Chapter XIX Chedorlaomer & the War of Nine Kings & Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran]. They were one of the Nephilim descended, Elioud giants axis states in league against Chedorlaomer and his allies from southern Mesopotamia. It appears that Esau’s descendants may have eventually driven out the Horites or even killed them. Though at the time of Esau, he chose to dwell in Seir with the Horites. This amalgamation of Esau and the Horites produced a new nation called hence forth in the Bible: Edom. Edom means ‘red’ from the verb adom, ‘to produce or be red.’ We will learn that the colour red is also heavily associated with Jacob’s son, Judah. The potential for mistaken identity and identity misplacement, magnifies considerably as we proceed.

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, 8 thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”

Jacob had just cause in being afraid. Esau had promised to kill Jacob. The possible annihilation of every single one of Jacob’s family was a frightening reality. 

Jacob was right to prepare and pray. Recall, that Abraham was able to muster an able fighting  force comprising three hundred and eighteen men from his household. Here, Esau had four hundred men. Later, Jacob had sixty-six family members who travelled to Egypt – not including servants. Jacob was certainly ill-equipped to do battle with Esau, who overwhelmingly had the upper hand numerically. Esau had also married in 1777 BCE, twenty-four years before Jacob in 1753 BCE and two wives at that. Esau would have had grown up sons and grandsons who could have even already had teenagers aged fifteen to seventeen years of age as great grandsons by 1720 BCE. Additionally, Esau would have men from the Horites at his disposal if required.

9 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. 12 But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

Jacob had fled, with the clothes on his back and his staff. The almighty had blessed Jacob, yet he had not received his inheritance from Isaac, while his father lived. It was certainly going to require a miracle from the Eternal, as Esau’s mind needed to be veered from possible vengeance to reconciliation. 

13 So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” 17 He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” 19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, 20 and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him [appease his face] with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”[he will lift my face] 21 So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

Not only was Jacob splitting up his entourage into many small groupings for safety, he was also softening any potential confrontation as well as playing up to his brother’s ego and going above and beyond on the honour being bestowed.

22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children[or sons, as Dinah had been born, but not Benjamin], and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man [in the form of a man] wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 

27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel [‘He strives with God’ or God strives], for you have striven [to struggle vigorously] with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [H6439: the face of God*], saying, “For I have seen God [one like God] face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel [H6439 – Pnuw’el: facing God], limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

Jacob’s name is changed at age ninety-seven and the focus of his life shifts from his supplanting his brother Esau and a physical direction, to his wrestling with one representing the Creator and a spiritual orientation. The passage is deliberately vague as to the identity of the mysterious man who wrestles with Jacob, yet has the authority to grant a blessing. 

Who Was the Angel Who Wrestled With Jacob? Whitney Hopler, 2019 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘… in the Book of Hosea, the Bible… mention[s] Jacob’s wrestling again. However, the way Hosea 12:3-4 refers to the event is just as unclear, because in verse 3 it says that Jacob “struggled with God” and in verse 4 it says that Jacob “struggled with the angel.”

Some people identify Archangel Phanuel as the man who wrestles with Jacob because of the connection between Phanuel’s name and the name “Peniel.” In his book “Of Scribes And Sages: Early Jewish Interpretation And Transmission Of Scripture, Volume 2,” Craig A. Evans writes: “In Gen. 32:31, Jacob names the place of his wrestling with God as ‘Peniel’ – the Face of God. Scholars believe that the angelic name ‘Phanuel’ and the place ‘Peniel’ are etymologically connected.”

Morton Smith writes in his book “Christianity, Judaism, and Other Greco-Roman Cults” that the earliest existing manuscripts indicate that Jacob was wrestling with God in angelic form. Later versions say that Jacob wrestled with an archangel. “According to this Biblical text… Jacob’s wrestle with a mysterious opponent… Point[ed] initially to his divine adversary, the name was in time attached to an angelic substitute.”

Some people say that the man who wrestles with Jacob is the Angel of the Lord. “So who is the ‘man’ who wrestles with Jacob on the riverbank and finally blesses him with a new name? God… the Angel of the Lord Himself,” writes Larry L. Lichtenwalter in his book “Wrestling with Angels: In the Grip of Jacob’s God.” In her book “The Messenger of the Lord in Early Jewish Interpretations of Genesis,” Camilla Hélena von Heijne writes: “Jacob’s naming of the place and the word ‘face’ in verse 30 is a key word. It denotes personal presence, in this case, divine presence. To seek God’s face is to seek His presence.”’

The case for the Angel of the Lord is tentative, as the Angel of the Lord is always delineated as such in scripture, never hinted at. In the Book of Enoch, Phanuel is listed with Michael, Gabriel and Raphael as one of the four chief messengers for the Eternal of Hosts. Yet, the case for Phanuel is based solely on word association and definition. As Phanuel is not mentioned directly in the Bible, his identity here is unlikely. The clues to this being’s identity are possibly found earlier in the same chapter of Genesis thirty-two. Recall in verse one that the ‘angels of God met’ with Jacob and the consideration that these angels were the same three who met with Abraham and Lot [Genesis 18:1-2, 31; 19:1-2].

What is very interesting is that all three beings in Genesis eighteen are called men, including the one who was the Lord [H136 ‘Adonay] and in Genesis nineteen, the two angels are also called lords [H113 ‘adon]. In Genesis eighteen, Abraham ‘stood before the Lord’ and ‘spoke to the Lord’ [Genesis 18:22, 31]. In a real sense, Abraham verbally sparred or wrestled with the one who was the Word in his presenting a case for sparing the city of Sodom. Was it this same man, who now met with Jacob?

A further clue is the fact that the being with Jacob when his identity was questioned, rather acerbically answered, ‘why are you asking my name’ for Jacob already knew it was the Word. 

Matthew 16:13-17

Living Bible

13 … Jesus… asked his disciples, “Who are the people saying I am?” 14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; some, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

15 Then he asked them, “Who do you think I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered, “The Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 “God has blessed you, Simon, son of Jonah,” Jesus said, “for my Father in heaven has personally revealed this to you – this is not from any human source.

Only the Word could have represented God so that Jacob could say, ‘I have seen God face to face’ as Moses would do some three hundred years later, also facing the Word’s directness in response when asked a similar question: ‘I am [who] I am’ [Exodus 3:14; 33:11]. 

Only the Word could say that Jacob had ‘striven with God and prevailed’ changing his name to Israel. Lastly, only the Word representing the Eternal would divinely ‘bless him.’ Angels perform many functions in the scriptures, though I am unaware of any instances where they directly confer a blessing.

The word or name Israel, has become synonymous with the state of Israel and the word Israelites with the people known as Jews and the Jewish people; yet, it does not convey the original identities. For the purpose of this work, the name Jacob is more reflective of the patriarch himself, as well as that of the sons and tribes which descended from him. In 1720 BCE, Jacob had twelve children, including Dinah, for Benjamin was not yet born. Thus it should be translated sons and not children in verse twenty-two. At the time of their encounter with Uncle Esau, Jacob’s eldest child Reuben, was thirty-two and his youngest Joseph, was only five years old.

Genesis 33:1-20

English Standard Version

And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. 2 And he put the servants [Bilhah and Zilpah] with their children [Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher] in front, then Leah with her children [Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulon (with Dinah)],and Rachel and Joseph last of all. 3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.5 And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” 

9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” 10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

Esau could not have been more accepting, or put Jacob more at ease. A heart warming encounter, with Esau running, to his younger brother – though Jacob’s heart may have skipped a beat in realising whether Esau’s urgency was benign or not. At this moment of time, it is difficult to see any harbouring of revenge or hatred on Esau’s part towards his estranged twin brother. And that is the key factor. 

Esau and Jacob were not just brothers, they were twins. The separation for forty years may have weighed heavily on Esau, as the protectively eldest twin.

12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.” 13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail [tender], and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. 14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

Esau shows he is genuine, by wanting to travel together. Jacob being reticent as he wished to travel separately to be able to give thanks to the Creator for the miracle in Esau’s attitude and actions. It is worth remembering that both men were ninety-seven years old – Jacob lived to one hundred and forty-seven. It would appear that Esau died not long after Jacob, at a similar age.

15 So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” 16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth [booths]. 18 And Jacob came safely [peacefully] to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. 19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel [God, the God of Israel].

Genesis 35:27-29

English Standard Version

27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were 180 years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last, and he died [jn 1697 BCE] and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob [both 120 years old] buried him.

Rabbis generally concur that Rebekah died at the age of one hundred and thirty-three years and ‘that her death occurred while Jacob was on his way back to his parents’ home; and it was coincident with that of Deborah’ [Genesis 35:8]. Rebekah’s death is not mentioned and as Jacob does not arrive from Paddan-Aram, for another four years; it falls to Esau as the only son present to attend to her burial. The ceremony was supposedly ‘performed at night out of shame that her coffin should be followed by a son like Esau.’ 

Alternatively and accurately in my opinion – tying in with the Book of Jubilees 31:8-11, 48; 35:27 – Jacob found his mother alive when he returned home in 1720 BCE and she afterward accompanied him to Beth-el to accomplish his vow as per Genesis 28:19-20. 

She would have died at the age of one hundred and fifty-five in 1702 BCE – coincidentally the same year that Joseph was propositioned by Potiphar’s wife in Egypt  and – five years before Isaac’s death in 1697 BCE [Jubilees 35:1,41]. Thus determining her age when she married Isaac, who was forty at twenty years of age.

Ishmael and Isaac had little contact, though together buried their father Abraham in 1802 BCE; so too, did Esau and Jacob bury their father Isaac, a little over one hundred years later. Just prior to Isaac’s death, he speaks to his sons.

Book of Jubilees chapter thirty-six:

1 … Isaac called his two sons Esau and Jacob, and they came to him, and he said to them: ‘My sons, I am going the way of my fathers, to the eternal house where my fathers are. 2 Wherefore bury me near Abraham my father, in the double cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham purchased a sepulcher to bury in; in the sepulcher which I [dug] for myself… bury me [there]. 3 And this I command you, my sons, that you practice righteousness and uprightness on the earth, so that Yahweh may bring upon you all that Yahweh said that he would do to Abraham and to his seed. 4 And love one another, my sons, your brothers as a man who loves his own soul, and let each seek in what he may benefit his brother,and act together on the earth; and let them love each other as their own souls [Matthew 7:12; Ephesians 4:31-32]. 

These are powerful last words by Isaac to his sons Esau and Jacob. If only their respective descendants had lived according to this entente cordiale, though alas it was not to be. Notice Isaac included both sons together in jointly obeying the Eternal and being able to claim the blessings promised. His son Jacob and then his grandson Joseph did obey; serving the Eternal and thus the promise of blessings were made manifest. Whereas Esau, nor any of his sons, obeyed the Eternal and so the blessing given to Esau and his sons, though lesser than Jacob’s, was shrunken further due to their disobedience.

6 Remember you, my sons, Yahweh Almighty of Abraham your father, and how I too worshipped Him and served Him in righteousness and in joy, that He might multiply you and increase your seed as the stars of heaven in multitude, and establish you on the earth… 7 And now I shall make you swear a great oath… by [He] which created the heavens and the earth… that you will fear… and worship Him. 8 And that each will love his brother… and that neither will desire evil against his brother… so that you may prosper in all your deeds and not be destroyed. 

12 And he divided all his possessions between the two on that day… 13 And he said: ‘This larger portion I will give to the firstborn.’14 And Esau said, ‘I have sold to Jacob and given my birthright to Jacob; to him let it be given, and I have not a single word to say regarding it, for it is his.’ 15 And Isaac said, May a blessing rest upon you, my sons, and upon your seed this day, for you have given me rest, and my heart is not pained concerning the birthright, lest you should work wickedness on account of it… 

17 And he ended commanding them and blessing them, and they [ate] and drank together before him, and he rejoiced because there was one mind between them, and they went forth from him and rested that day and slept. 18 And Isaac slept on his bed that day rejoicing; and he slept the eternal sleep, and died one hundred and eighty years old… and his two sons Esau and Jacob buried him. 19 And Esau went to the land of Edom, to the mountains of Seir, and dwelt there. 20 And Jacob dwelt in themountains of Hebron [where Isaac had lived], in the tower of the land of the sojournings of his father Abraham, and he worshipped Yahweh with all his heart and according to the visible commands according as He had divided the days of his generations.

It was now a time to be concerned, for if Esau had stayed his hand in harming Jacob while his father lived, then Jacob was now fair game. Amazingly, there appears to have been peace between Esau and Jacob for the next twenty-seven years until Jacob’s death in 1670 BCE. Before we look at the events surrounding the conflict that eventually arose between Esau’s and Jacob’s families, we will look more closely at Esau’s family and his descendants. In so doing, we will attempt to explain the apparent contradiction in the records of Esau’s wives and more importantly, unravel the difficulty in identifying Esau’s ipseity today; which is made more challenging, due to his complicated family structure.

Genesis 36:1-43

English Standard Version

These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). 2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: 

Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 

Oholibamah** the daughter of Anah^^ the [grand?]daughter of Zibeon< the Hivite, 

3 and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. 

Esau’s family genealogy is also listed in an abridged form in 1 Chronicles 1:35-54. Earlier in the Book of Genesis we are introduced to Esau’s wives and their fathers. In Genesis twenty-six, a few of the names differ.

Genesis 26:34: 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, 35 and they made life bitter [they were bitterness of spirit] for Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 28:9: Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Basemath or Adah – daughter of Elon the Hittite

Judith or Oholibamah – daughter of Beeri the Hittite or Anah/Zibeon the Hivite

Mahalath or Basemath – daughter of Ishmael

As Genesis thirty-six follows the first two listings it is presumed by scholars that the latter is the more accurate. Basemath means: ‘sweet fragrance, pleasant smelling, precious’ and ‘pure’ while Adah means ‘ornamant.’ Judith means: ‘praised’ and ‘let him be praised’ and Oholibamah means ‘tent of the high place.’ Mount Seir was located on elevated terrain. Mahalath means: ‘dancing, sad song’ or ‘sickness.’ 

Some theologians have claimed that Esau actually had four, maybe five or even six wives. If such is the case, only three wives are listed as bearing children. This may have relevance, though nor does the Bible say the other one, two or three wives were barren. Beeri and Anah are possibly the same person as Be’er means ‘wellspring’, while Ayyin, phonetically similar to Anah means ‘spring.’ Likewise, the term Hittite is a hyponym [an inclusive term] for Hivite. Some records reveal that Anah was a bastard and so, Esau sought to conceal the illegitimacy of Oholibamah’s family by changing her father’s name to Beeri from Anah and hers to Judith. It has been proposed that ‘Beeri alludes to Beer-lahai-roi, the place where Hagar encountered an angel (Genesis 16:13-14).’ Thus, Esau wished to convey that Judith was from a ‘righteous’ family. The identity change from Hivite to Hittite may reflect the attempt to hide the Hivite’s proclivity to idolatry and their Talmudic link with the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. 

Anah is listed in verse twenty-four as a son, yet in verse two, the interlinear in Hebrew  leaves it nebulous as to whether Anah is the daughter of Zibeon, not that Oholibamah is the grand daughter of Zibeon. If such is the case, then Anah is female. Rabbenu Tam states, this ‘disposes of the contradiction regarding Oholibamah/Judith’s parentage. Beeri the Hittite was her father and Anah the Hivite [or Horite*] daughter of Zibeon was her mother.’ As discussed previously, the reference to Hittites and Hivites could mean that the women Esau married first were original inhabitants of Canaan and therefore from the sons of Canaan, Heth and Hiv and therefore black women. Or, they could well be ‘Canaanites’ of an Elioud descent. 

Remember, the Nephilim related giants preferred the higher ground to the plains [refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. In verse twenty, we see that Zibeon the ‘Hivite’ is in fact, a son of Seir the Horite.* It is likely that Esau was hiding the Horite origin of at least one wife and probably both. Even though Ishmael’s descendants were later known as Hittites, they were not so-called when Ishmael was alive and so the term Hittites is not referring to Ishmael’s descendants. In other words, the Bible isn’t saying Esau married two or three daughters of Ishmael, just the one daughter, Basemath formerly, Mahalath. 

A case for a fourth wife is made by the Sefer ha-Yashur which notes that ‘during Jacob’s fifth year [1755 BCE] in Haran [Paddan-Aram], Esau’s wife Judith daughter of Beeri died; she had borne daughters (named Marzith and Puith) to Esau, but no sons. In the sixth year [1754 BCE] of Jacob’s stay… Esau married Oholibamah… Esau married off his eldest daughter, Marzith, to Anah [of verse twenty-four] son of Zibeon, who was his wife’s brother.’ This would be why Judith is not mentioned again as she had died, without giving Esau any sons. Thus Oholibamah is not mentioned in Genesis chapter twenty-six, because Esau had not married her yet. A number of commentators subscribe to Esau having four wives. 

The case for fives wives is presented by Nahmanides Ramban, in that Basemath of Elon the Hittite also died like Judith, yet childless. Both Judith and Basemath may have died prematurely in punishment for vexing Isaac and Rebekah and making them suffer with their idolatrous sacrifices and incense as their names suggest. This would account for why neither are mentioned in Genesis chapter thirty-six. Esau then married another two wives, Oholibamah and Adah, also the daughter of Elon the Hittite and therefore the sister of Basemath. This might explain why Ishmael’s daughter Mahalath had her name changed by Esau, if he was especially fond of either Basemath or Mahalath, his cousin and the one acceptable wife to his parents. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan also supports the five wives hypothesis. 

Rabbi Abraham Maimuni, 1186 to 1237 CE, adopts a six wife model, in which there are two daughters of Ishmael as well, hence the two different names. It would seem to this writer that six wives is one wife at least too many and that the answer is somewhere in the middle of three and six; either four or fives wives. Not withstanding Nahmanides conjecture, regarding Basemath and her supposed sister Adah, the Sefer ha-Yashur recording the death of Judith after bearing two daughters; would explain why there are two daughters names and especially, two fathers names for Esau’s second wife – because there are two separate women involved. The details on his first and third wives are less complicated – because there was only one woman each, with one father. 

It would appear plausible that Esau may have changed Basemath’s name to Adah, so he could rename Mahalath, Basemath. There may be truth behind Esau liking that name and its sweet meaning. It would mean that Oholibamah is not only the grand daughter of Zibeon by inference, as she is the daughter of Anah, who is the son of Zibeon as per verse twenty-four; she is also a fourth wife married to Esau after his third wife Mahalath or Basemath and his second wife Judith’s death. A similarity occurs with his brother Jacob who had two wives and then the addition of their handmaids as wives, numbering four in total also.

In Genesis chapter fourteen we learned that the Horites were a Nephilim tribe who fought Chedorlaomer, the King of Elam [refer Chapter XIX Chedorlaomer & the War of Nine Kings and Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran]. 

This means that Oholibamah was a Nephilim descended woman and that her genes were passed to her three sons. Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael was for the want of a better word, Teuton and so her son would have been half Ishmaelite or Germanic and half Edomite. The ancestry of Adah is not explained, so she was either a Canaanite black woman or more likely, similar to Oholibamah, whether Hittite or Horite, a Nephilim Elioud too. I say more likely as mtDNA Haplogroups do not seem to support the first option. Either way, Isaac and Rebekah were vexed with both choices of Esau; due to either their Nephilim bloodlines or their idolatrous practices. The issue was not because Adah was Black – if she had been an original Canaanite. 

4 And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; 

Basemath bore Reuel; 

5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. 6 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. 7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock [the same situation as had occurred previously between Abraham and Lot in Genesis 13:5-6]. 

8 So Esau settled in thehill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)

Jasher 10:28: And Seir the son of Hur, son of Hivi, son of Canaan, went and found a valley opposite to Mount Paran, and he built a city there, and he and his seven sons and his household dwelt there, and he called the city which he built Seir, according to his name; that is the land of Seir unto this day.

It is dubious that there would be only four generations from Noah to Seir after the flood, if merely human offspring. Not so, if Seir was an Elioud, and his father Hur had been a Nephil. Tradition does substantiate that Sier lived at the time of Abraham’s father Terah, who lived from 4077 to 1842 BCE and that his father Hor or Hur, was a contemporary of Reu – who had lived from 6827 to 4222 BCE according to an unconventional chronology – the son of Peleg.

Esau was already living in Seir by 1720 BCE when he meets with Jacob. Esau married Basemath in 1760 BCE and had a son with her called Reuel, who was born in Canaan. Esau’s move to Canaan would have been between 1760 BCE and 1720 BCE, approximately in 1737 BCE, yet Jacob had fled in 1760 BCE; thus their living together was not an issue. 

Their flocks and herds by 1720 BCE would have been innumerable and therefore the statement in verse seven must therefore apply to this time frame and onwards as their respective wealth grew. 

Notice that Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael names her son Reu-el, similar to Reu in the family genealogy of Peleg, the descendant of Arphaxad. Recall in Chapter XXVII,  where Reuel was also the family name of Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law. Jacob’s first son is named Reu-ben [Genesis 29:31]. Oholibamah’s son Jeu-sh, bears an uncanny resemblance to the word Jew-i-sh and the name Korah is an infamous family name in the tribe of Levi, one of Jacob’s sons [Numbers 16:1-50, Genesis 29:34].

Deuteronomy 2:12

English Standard Version

The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place…

At first, this appears contradictory as Esau intermarries heavily with the Horites before settling in the area of Seir. Mount Seir is mentioned prophetically in the Bible in connection with Esau, so it appears they are still a racial entity associated within Edom, due to the intermarriage and mixing. Esau’s children though, did wage war with the remaining Horites at a later date, due to a falling out. It is thought that the marriage with Ishmael’s daughter may have been fortuitous in gaining the Ishmaelites assistance in driving out those Horites who were not related to Esau by blood or marriage.

9 These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. 

10 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. 

11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz>. 

12 (Timna* was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.)

Timna was the daughter of Seir the Horite. Again, in Genesis chapter fourteen, we read about the Amalekites who were a leading Nephilim tribe similar with the Horites and importantly, already in existence before Amalek the grandson of Esau is born.

Genesis 14:5-7

English Standard Version

5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim… andthe Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. 

7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated allthe country of the Amalekites…

Notice that Eliphaz has a son called Kenaz>. Recall, that we have already met a Kenizzite in a previous chapter called Caleb, the second-in-command to Joshua of the Israelites. In Numbers 32:12, ESV: “… none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua… have wholly followed the Lord.’ Interestingly, his genealogy is listed with the tribe of Judah. From this, we learn that Caleb was either part Kenizzite or his family had a historical association with the people or region [refer Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia>]. Caleb being a possible Edomite, in contrast with Joshua being an Ephraimite, is highly illuminating. 

There is an interesting similarity between the name Kenaz and the branch of Judaism known as the Ash-kenaz-i. The Kenizzites, like the Amalekites were already in existence as established peoples before Esau’s son Eliphaz, appropriated both as family names. Esau’s son Eliphaz is paying homage to the Kenizzites by calling Esau’s grandson Kenaz and it is very probably indicative, of intermarrying. Esau or Eliphaz is not the progenitor of the Amalekites or Kenizzites. Esau’s son Eliphaz – as a son of Adah, a probable Nephil – by interbreeding into the Horite-Nephilim line with Timna is merely cementing this relationship with one son having a Nephilim name. We will discover the ancient origin of the Amalekites and their Nephilim beginnings. It is not so clear cut with the Kenizzites or the Kenites for that matter, whether they have a Nephilim association.> 

Recall the promise to Abraham regarding the land of Canaan as an inheritance. Genesis 15:18-21, ESV: ‘On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”’

It is worth noting that the Kenites and Kenizzites are nearly always linked together; that the Kenites are invariably associated with the Amalekites and Edom [Numbers 24:18, 20-21]; and that both Caleb the Kenizzite and Jethro the Kenite are linked with the tribe of Judah. Judges 1:16, ESV: “And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah… into the wilderness…”

We have discussed the link between the Kenites and Midian and the Kenites being metal craftsman, workers and smiths [H7117 Qeyniy], and that some researchers believe that they trace their ancestry to Tubal-Cain before the flood.> Recall, Cain’s line was corrupted by the Serpent in the Garden of Eden with Eve. As Cain was a Nephil himself, so were his line of Elioud descendants, including Tubal-Cain [refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. Cain’s line also married into and corrupted the people of Day Six of Creation, the Neanderthals. There is reason to believe certain Nephilim survived the flood. If so, there is high probability that some of Cain’s Nephilim related descendants did also. 

Esau married at least one wife, probably two who were Nephilim descended and his grandson Amalek it would seem, was keen to further amalgamate with corrupted lines – grafting into the Cainite-Nephilim bloodlines. 

A curious coincidence is that Esau’s wife Adah – who bore his first and most prominent son Eliphaz, from whom came Amalek – shares her name with an Adah in the antediluvian world. She was one of the two wives of evil Lamech, the Great, great, great grandson of Cain and the ‘Cainites.’ This then is a notable synchronism, for Esau and Adah’s grandson Kenaz’s name is linked to the Cainite Kenites, who in turn are associated with Amalek and Edom. We will study Amalek in detail because in the past, though his line was related, it was distinct and separate from the main body of Edom; due to its amalgamation with the ancient Amalekite lineage. Today though, there is a link that unites Amalek and Edom as one people. 

As we have previously discussed Cain at length; just a very brief reminder regarding his evil Nephilim lineage, given to him by his true father who was not Adam [refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. The original corruption of Cain himself, is made clear in 1 John 3:12, in various translations.

“Not as Cain, who was [G2258 – en: were, had been]of [G1537 – ek: from, out of, by, with] that wicked one [G4190 – poneros: ‘evil, bad nature, diseased’ as in ‘the devil’], and slew his brother…” [KJV]

“We are none of us to have the spirit of Cain, who was a son of the Devil…” [NTME]

“We must not be like Cain who was a child of the evil one…” [Smith and Goodspeed]

“…not as Cain who was from the evil one…” [NJB]

“Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.” [NIV]

13 These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah^, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 

14 These are the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the [grand]daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

15 These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. 17 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. 

18 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. 19 These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

Esau and Adah had Eliphaz [H464: god of gold] and their grandsons from Eliphaz were Teman [H8487/8486** from the south] and ‘on the right’, Omar [H201: talkative] and ‘eloquent’, Zepho [H6825: observant] and ‘gaze’, Gatam, Kenaz [H7073: to hunt, hunter] and notably Amalek. Naming a child Amalek, was paying homage to the Nephilim clan of the same name and also a precursor of future intermarrying. If the line from Adah was a black line of people, it would in time become diluted; while in contrast with grafting on to Amalek, it would have at the same time either gained or increased a Nephilim component.

Esau and Oholibamah, the definitely genuine Nephilim line produced the sons, Jeush [H3266: hasty] and ‘he will come to help’, Jalam [H3281: occult] and ‘to conceal’ and Korah [H7141: ice, bald, smooth].

The one wholly human and ‘European’ bloodline for certain, was Esau and Basemath the Ishmaelite. Their son was Reuel [H7467: friend of God] and their grandsons from him, Nahath [H5184: quiet(ness)] and ‘descent, rest’, Zerah [H2226: a rising of light] and ‘sunrise’, Shammah [H8040: ruin, astonishment dislocate(ion), waste] and ‘frightful’ and Mizzah [H4199: to faint with fear]. Esau’s grandson Zerah – the father of Jobab – has the same name as Jacob’s grandson, the twin Zarah, who was the fifth son of Judah. 

It is of considerable interest in reflecting on the definitions of Esau’s sons and grandsons names. For the ones derived from Adah and Oholibamah are distinctly indicative of one side of Esau’s descendants who are wholly atheist or vehemently irreligious: ‘god of gold, talkative, eloquent, hunter[s], hasty and occult.’ The sons from Basemath on the other hand are indicative of the other side of Esau who are either traditionally religious or maintain a strict orthodoxy: ‘friend of God, quiet, rest, a rising of light and sunrise.’

20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants* of the land: 

Abarim Publications – emphasis & bold mine:

‘Seir From the root (s’r), which expresses intense negative emotion and the experience of violence. For a meaning of the name Seir, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Hairy, Shaggy. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Rough, Bristly. Noun (sa’r), means horror. Adjective (sa’ir) means hairy. Noun (sa’ir) denotes a he-goat [as in Baphomet, the Devil] (a bristly guy…) and its feminine counterpart (sa’ira) means she-goat. Verb (sha’ar) exists in other languages with the meaning of to break, tear through or split, which obviously repeats the general theme of the experience of violence. 

The adjective (sho’ar) means horrid or disgusting, and nouns (sha’arura), (sha’aruriya) and (sha’arurit) denote horror or horrible things.’

Lot-an[similar to Lot, (refer Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran)], Shobal, Zibeon<, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites,the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. 22 The sons of Lotan wereHor-i and Hemam [confusion]; and Lotan’s sister was Timna.* 23 These are the sons of Shobal [lion]: Alvan [high, tall], Manahath, Ebal [also a son of Joktan], Shepho, and Onam [vigorous]. 

24 These are the sons of Zibeon<: Aiah [hawk] and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father.25 These are the children of Anah^^: Dishon and Oholibamah**the daughter of Anah. 26 These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan [beauty], Eshban [intelligent], Ithran [excellent], and Cheran. 27 These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28 These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 

29 These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, chief by chief in the land of Seir.

The land of Sier, or Mount Sier was located in the northwestern region of Edom. A son of Seir was called Lotan similar to Lot, the father of Moab and Ammon. Lotan is another name for the seven headed dragon Leviathan, discussed in Job chapter forty-one. A son of Lotan, Hori, appears to be named after the Horites. We have discussed the sons of Aram and Nahor, both of which include an Uz [refer Chapter XXIII Aram & Tyre: Spain, Portugal & Brazil and Chapter XXV Italy: Nahor & the Chaldeans]. Uz’s brother Aran, has a name similar with the name Aram.

Abarim Publications – emphasis & bold mine: 

‘Horite means ‘Caveman, Central Authority’ From the root (harar), to be a central hub of heat.

Genesis 36:4-6 lists the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan. Then we are told that Esau took his family and his enormous herds and moved to another land, away from his brother Jacob (verse 6). And that’s how he ended up in the hill country of Seir, which was located to the south-east of the Salt  [Dead] Sea, and about as far south as the Salt Sea is long. Whether patriarch Seir was happy with this mass immigration we’re not told. The descendants of Esau (the Edomites) would eventually displace the Horites, but before they did, Seir appears to have wanted to honor and appease his mighty (and no-doubt customarily murderous) new neighbor by naming his own children after the family of the wives of Esau. The Horites produced chiefs until the generation of Oholibamah the Horite. After that, the chiefs of that region are all Edomites (note, by the way, the Edomite chiefs Timna and Oholibamah; Genesis 36:40-41). The Horites were extinguished…

Traditionally, the names Hori and Horite have been explained… meaning cave or cavern. Hence, for a meaning of the name Hori(te), both BDB Theological Dictionary and NOBSE Study Bible Name List read Cave Dweller. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes the slightly more fancy but similar Troglodytes (which means “A member of a people, esp. in prehistoric times, inhabiting caves or dens; a cave-dweller,” says the Oxford Dictionary).’

Rabbinical tradition explains the name Horite as meaning the free people, stemming from the Semetic root H-R-R meaning ‘free.’ One commentator offers, ‘bleached.’ The singular Horites do begin to fade away from this point in the Biblical narrative; whereas the rest, into an amalgamation with Esau’s descendants; collectively known as Edom – apart from a selection of prophecies. The Kenizzites are part of the wider Edom nation also, though the Kenites appear to remain distinct, though closely allied with the Amalekites, who are a separate line joined by Eliphaz’s son Amalek. A people spoken of considerably in the scriptures as palpably different from Esau. Researchers and commentators alike either group Amalek with Edom today – correctly, by fluke – or leave them out entirely from any discussion on Edom or Esau. Understanding Esau has two sets of descendants is vital in unlocking the premise by some, that the Jews are from Esau and not from Judah.

31 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites.32 Bela the son of Beor [not from Edom, but from the people of Angeas,  king of Dinhabah] reigned in Edom [circa 1670-1656 BCE], the name of his city being Dinhabah. 33 Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah^ of Bozrah [capital of Edom] reigned [10 years] in his place. 34 Jobab died, and Husham [H2367* – haste] of the land of the Temanites[H8489** – temani: southward (possibly from Tema {H8485** – desert, Genesis 25:15}, son of Ishmael)]reigned [20 years] in his place. 35 Husham died [the same year as Dan in 1626 BCE], and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned [35 years from 1626 to 1591 BCE] in his place, the name of his city being Avith. 

It is worth noting that Dan, one of the sons in Jacob’s family is uniquely recorded as having only one son in Genesis 46:23: Hushim [H2366* – who makes haste]. This definition is near identical to Husham the ‘Temanite.’ It is almost exactly the same as a son of Esau already mentioned, Jeush, which also means ‘hasty.’ These correlations between Hushim of Dan and Husham of Teman from Edom – or even Tema from Ishmael – coupled with the mutual definition of hastiness with the name Jeush, are more than incidental as we shall discover [Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe].  

36 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned [22 years] in his place. 37 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned [circa 50 years] in his place. 38 Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned [circa 26 years] in his place. 

39 Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned [47 years from 1493 to 1446 BCE] in his place, the name of his city being Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter ofMatred, daughter of Mezahab.

The genealogical listing of the kings of Edom abruptly ends and stands out for a couple of reasons. First, it gives extra details on the last known king Hadar. Adding his wife’s ancestry but emphasising her ancestry more than one generation and rather than stating her paternal line, it is her maternal descent that is preserved. This is unusual and possibly unique in the Bible. It parallels the Jewish practice of emphasising maternal descent in proving one is Jewish. Second, Moses sent messengers to the King of Edom – shortly after his sister Miriam’s death in 1406 BCE – who was an unnamed king ruling after Hadar, as Hadar had died in 1446 BCE, the year of the Exodus [Numbers 20:14-21]. A kings name which would have been of interest in learning, is unaccountably not recorded.

Numbers 20:14-21

English Standard Version

14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: 15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. 16 And when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. 17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King’s Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” 18 But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” 19 And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” 20 But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him.

Edom’s response to Moses’s reasonable and fair request certainly didn’t bury any hatchets and set the tone for future relations. Edom lived by its past prophecy; resorting to its sword and an open display of hostility and potential violence. Long forgotten was any peace that once existed between Esau and Jacob.

40 These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs [or clans] of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. 

It appears that Eliphaz’s concubine and Esau’s fourth wife were clan chiefs. The Book of Jasher says [C]husham not to be confused with Dan’s son Hushim, died the same year as Dan in 1626 BCE and that Hadad the son of Bedad reigned for thirty-five years until 1591 BCE. Jobab is the great grandson of Esau, though he is not the Job of the Book of Job fame as some commentators assert and I first thought, who was born circa 1656 BCE. Job was a contemporary of Jacob’s birthright son for forty years until Joseph’s death. Joseph dwelt in Egypt between 1709 and 1616 BCE and became Vizier at age thirty in 1696 BCE; during the reign of Pharaoh Djoser or Netjerikhet, the first king of the third Dynasty, who reigned circa 1700 to 1672/71 BCE.

There is one other Jobab mentioned in Genesis chapter ten and he is the youngest son of Joktan’s thirteen sons. Jobab’s father Zerah was from Bozrah. Bozrah eventually became the capital of Edom and its principal city. The name Bozrah means: ‘Fortification, fortress’ or ‘fortified enclosure’ and from the verb basar, ‘to separate and protect for extraction’ as in placing a wall.

Abarim Publications – emphasis & bold mine:

‘Noun (bissaron) means stronghold and noun… (basir) means vintage and noun (beser) probably denotes precious ore (a vineyard operation is not unlike a mining operation). Nouns (bassara) and (bassoret) denote destitution or scarcity and probably refer to residue that remains after the extraction of commodities.’

To fully appreciate the supportive material and evidence of scripture to follow, it is requisite to divulge in part, who Jacob and Esau are today. The sons of Jacob are the British and Irish descended peoples, who originated from the migrations and invasions of the Celts, Saxons, Vikings and Normans from Europe. From the Isles of Great Britain and Ireland they spread abroad and include the English speaking daughter nations in the New World of America, Australasia and the Old World of Africa. We will study each of Jacob’s twelve sons in turn. This is crucial understanding, in unlocking vast portions of the scriptures and the prophetic intent of the Bible. 

From when I first began researching Biblical identities, there has been a growing belief in two different theories on the ‘lost’ Tribes of Israel, which are completely in error yet have large appeal primarily for those who have only researched the topic superficially. The first is that the Black peoples of Africa and the Americas are the descended sons of Jacob. The section on Ham’s son Canaan, hopefully dissuades any fair-minded reader from giving this theory any validity [refer Chapter XI Ham Aequator and Chapter XII Canaan & Africa]. The alternative theory, is that the sons of Jacob were so comprehensively sifted throughout the nations, by their respective captors, the Assyrians and the Babylonian, Medo-Persian alliance, that they have literally been lost ‘forever.’ 

As we have a handful of nations and peoples left to identify after addressing basically the entirety of the world in the twenty-eight chapters thus far, it would be difficult to maintain that the Israelites are still lost. We will give the theory due recognition when we study Jacob.

Those identity believers who already understand that the Jews are not the tribe of Judah are correct, yet they do not provide a tangible or cognitive answer to who Judah actually is; thus falling short in fully cementing their argument on Esau. We will strive to uncover the truth regarding Judah in the following chapter, so that everything we investigate in this chapter is endorsed beyond any reasonable doubt. Those who profess the Jews are Edom are also correct, for the Jewish people are represented by the broad umbrella of peoples called Edom; which in itself, is an amalgamation of Esau and the Horites, with the addition of the Amalekites. The role of the Kenites and Kenizzites remains ambiguous and a subject that requires further research and enlightenment [refer Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia]. 

Just as we have seen in the Bible how complex Esau’s family lineage became straight from the outset, due to his marrying at least three different women and his sons continuing to marry in like fashion; it can be no surprise to learn that the genetics of the Jewish people is the most complex in the world; the subject of much debate and evidenced as such in their varied Y-DNA and mtDNA Haplogroup structure and sequencing. Therefore, Edom today comprises the nation state of Israel, the Jews who reside in other nations and those people who identify on any level as Jewish ethnically – even though many experts would argue there is no such thing as a Jewish ‘race’.

There are many identity believers who cling to Edom being modern day Turkey; as they and many out side of identity circles, believe the Arab nations descend from Ishmael. Haplogroups and autosomal DNA support the inner family relationship of Jacob, Esau and Ishmael as being consistent; with the Bible revealing the identifying markers as accurate. The Turks and the Arabs are not closely aligned with the British peoples on either score. The truth is that the Israelite British and Irish are profoundly related to the Ishmaelite Germans and the Edomite Jews [refer Chapter XIV Mizra: North Africa & Arabia, Chapter XVIII Elam & Turkey and Chapter XXVIII The True Identity & Origin of Germany & Austria – Ishmael & Hagar]. 

Edom were not always small and once had a measure of power like the Midianites, the leading Ammonites or Moab. We will study scripture that shows their prominence was diminished and their power smashed. Their recourse was to assimilate within other nations and particularly those of their brother Jacob and specifically his sons Joseph and Judah. In so doing, Edom has served and shared in the blessings afforded to Jacob. From the seventeenth century, Edom grew restless and a concerted effort was made to swap servitude to sovereignty; culminating in the creation of their own state in 1948. 

I appreciate for dyed-in-the-wool identity adherents in the belief the Jews are Judah… this will be news which stretches their understanding and patience like no other, up-and-till this point at least. There are many scriptures regarding Esau or Edom; in fact only Judah has mores verses ascribed to them. Thus, Edom is a major component, second only too Judah in understanding Biblical prophecy and the ongoing family drama that continues to unfold, ultimately ushering in the tribulation and the time of Jacob’s trouble. A future prophecy in Obadiah shows that Edom does not help Jacob in his time of need and thus is not helped when Edom’s allies turn against them or when Jacob exacts revenge, even later still.

Obadiah

English Standard Version

1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!” 2 Behold, I will make you small [lesser or insignificant]among the nations; you shall be utterly despised [H959 – bazah: disdain, hold in contempt, despicable, vile, scorned]. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest* is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down,declares the Lord… 6 How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures sought out! 7 All your allies have driven you to your border; those at peace with you have deceived you; they have prevailed against you; those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you – you have no understanding. 

The reference to nesting among the stars is alluding to their aligning with angelic entities and gaining the power of rulership as a benefit. The eagle builds its nest in places nearly inaccessible to man. Nest in the Hebrew means a cell or a nest that is a safe haven for producing offspring or specifically hatching eggs; as the Ark had individual nests for some of the animals and birds [Chapter I Noah Antecessor Nulla]. Among the stars in Hebrew is in connection with angelic progeny and their princely status. Esau married into at least one Nephilim bloodline with his first two wives and at least one of his sons followed suit. Their allegiance to a line likely linked to Cain and  certainly fallen Angels, is the result of their desire to share in ‘reaching unto Heaven’, to depose the Ancient of Days and rule over His creation. An objective we are symbiotically witnessing and being subjected to in our very lifetimes, as we will soon discover [refer Chapter XXI The Incredible Identity, Origin & Destiny of Nimrod & Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega].

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible says: ‘… and though thou set thy nest among the stars; even higher than the eagle’s; an hyperbolical expression, supposing that which never was or can be done; yet, if it was possible, would not secure from danger: or should their castles and fortresses be built upon the top of the highest mountains, which seem to reach the heavens, and be among the stars…’

Obadiah and Jeremiah describe how Edom is like the eagle. Many Jews have made the United States their home. America is symbolised by an eagle, as a leading recipient of Jacob’s blessings.

Deuteronomy 32:9-13

English Standard Version

9 … But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. 10 “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, 12 the Lord alone guided him, no foreign god was with him. 13 He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.

The apple of the Creator’s eye has been changed by the designers of the United States Seal and turned into the all-seeing eye of the Architect of the Universe, the Adversary. Edom though made small, exalts himself like an eagle. Eagles fly high in the air and Edom is high minded, prideful. The eagle swoops down from a great height and ambushes its prey. The Eternal is condemning of the abuse of that power, particularly when it is He that gives it.

Habakkuk 2:9

English Standard Version

9 “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm!

Job 39:26-30

English Standard Version

26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? 27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high 28 On the rock he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold. 29 From there he spies out the prey; his eyes behold it from far away. 30 His young ones suck up blood, and where the slain are, there is he.”

8 Will I not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau? 9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman, so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter. 10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 

11 On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gatesandcast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. 12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress. 13 Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity.14 Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress. 

Jerusalem is the capital of Judah. The modern day capital of Judah is not the capital of the state of Israel by the same name: Jerusalem. This Jerusalem is the equivalent of Edom’s capital, Bozrah. Tel Aviv was the former capital of Israel, until the United States and the Israeli Prime Minister both recognised Jerusalem in 2018. One could say that Israel is at the crossroads of three continents; bisecting Africa, Asia and Europe.

15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head… 17 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. 18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them,and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. 19 Those of the Negeb [south] shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah [plain] shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20 The exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath [a city in Sidon, South Africa? Or possibly Moab, France], and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad [possibly Assyria, Russia or more likely Aram, Spain*] shall possess the cities of the Negeb. 21 Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

An interesting similarity between the word Sephar-ad and the branch of Judaism known as Sephar-dic, originating in Spain.*

Psalm 60:8-9

English Standard Version

8 Moab [France] is my washbasin; upon Edom [Israel] I cast my shoe; over Philistia [Mexico & Latino-Hispano America] I shout in triumph.” 9 Who will bring me to the fortified city [Jerusalem (Bozrah)]? Who will lead me to Edom?

Jeremiah 49:7-22

English Standard Version

7 Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? 

8 Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan [Wallonia, Brussells & Luxembourg]! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when I punish him… 

10 But I have stripped Esau bare; I have uncovered his hiding places,and he is not able to conceal himself. His children are destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more…13 For I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, that Bozrah [Jerusalem, Israel] shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes”… 16 The horror you inspire has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, you who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you make your nest* as high as the eagle’s, I will bring you down from there, declares the Lord. 17 “Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. 18 As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says the Lord, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. 

20 Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 21 At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. 22 Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors [soldiers of State of Israel] of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains.”

Daniel 11:40-41

English Standard Version

40 “At the time of the end, the king of the south [an Islamic alliance] shall attack him, but the king of the north [Assyria, Russia] shall rush upon him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through. 41 He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom [Israel] and Moab [France] and the main part of the Ammonites [Paris].

Ezekiel 32:29

English Standard Version

“Edom is there, her kings and all her princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the pit.

Jeremiah 9:26

English Standard Version

Egypt [literally, Egypt], Judah, Edom [State of Israel], the sons of Ammon, Moab [France], and all who dwell in the desert [Eastern Europe] who cut the corners of their hair [Western Europe], for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

Ezekiel 25:13

English Standard Version

… therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. And I will make it desolate; from Teman [State of Israel in the east] even to Dedan [Wallonia, Brussels & Luxembourg in the west] they shall fall by the sword.

Isaiah 21:11-12

English Standard Version

11 The oracle concerning Dumah [H1746 – ‘silence of death’ the sixth son of Ishmael]. One is calling to me from Seir, “Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?” [Luke 12:38-40] 12 The watchman says: “Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; come back again.”

The link with Dumah of Ishmael is pertinent as the history of the Jewish people is strongly entwined with Germany; as Esau and Ishmael. As discussed, Dumah possibly equates with Hesse, Hessia or Hessen, which contains the wealthiest city in Germany and its financial hub, Frankfurt am Main [Chapter XXVIII The True Identity & Origin of Germany & Austria – Ishmael & Hagar].

Isaiah 11:12-14

English Standard Version

12 He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, andJudah shall not harass Ephraim. 14 But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines [Mexico & Latino-Hispano America] in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom [Israel]and Moab [France], and the Ammonites [Paris or French Quebec] shall obey them.

Numbers 24:17-19

English Standard Version

17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star [Joseph] shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter [Judah] shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. 

18 Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. 19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”

Malachi 1:1-5

English Standard Version

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated [H8130 – sane’: ‘to hate, be hateful’ an enemy or foe].I have laid waste [desolate, devastate] his hill country and left his heritage to jackals dragons [H8568 – tannah: dragon, sea monster from H8565 – tan: sea-serpent] of the desert.” 4 If Edom says, “We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’and‘the people with whom the Lord is angry  [H2194 – za’am: indignant, abhor, denounce] forever.’”5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!”

The most unique attribute of Esau is his adverse relationship with the Creator. No love has been lost between the two and the verse is not a mis-translation, for it is repeated in the New Testament. It is difficult to answer the strength of the Eternal’s feeling against Esau, even calling them, ‘the people of my Curse’, yet the Creator has good cause in all that He does and so we must accept these verses, as unsettling as they are. Some will say, but ‘God loves everyone.’ No He doesn’t. The Creator loves those who obey Him [John 14:21, 23; Jeremiah 7:23].

Isaiah 34:5*

King James Version

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

New English Translation

He says, “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. Look, it now descends on Edom, on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”

The state of Israel is principally composed of desert and has been rebuilt by the Jewish people since 1881. Esau’s heritage was destroyed and yet Edom has inherited the ancient land of Esau and in a remarkable twist, the land of the former kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In 2 Esdras 6:9, KJV it enigmatically says: ‘For Esau is the end of the world, and Jacob is the beginning of it that followeth.’ Esau was prophesied to be under the yoke of Jacob. It was foretold that Esau would come out from that bondage and from the 1680s onwards, it has. Esau’s destiny it would appear, is to be ruling at the end of this age and the current history of our world. 

In contrast, Jacob’s destiny, is to be at the forefront of the beginning of the new age and future history of the world after the Son of Man’s return.

Jewish men

Amos 1:11-12

English Standard Version

11 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the swordand cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. 12 So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah [Jerusalem in Israel].”

Isaiah 34:6-15

English Standard Version

6 The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood… For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7 Wild oxen[H7214 – r’em: unicorn, great aurochs (wild bulls) now extinct] shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls [H47 – ‘abbiyr: valiant, strong, angels]. Their land shall drink its fill of blood, and their soil shall be gorged with fat. 8 For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion [Judah]. 9 And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur [like Sodom]; her land shall become burning pitch. 10 Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. 11 But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. 12 Its nobles – there is no one there to call it a kingdom, and all its princes shall be nothing. 

13 Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt ofjackals[dragons], an abode for ostriches. 14 And wild animals shall meet with hyenas; the wild goat[satyr] shall cry to his fellow [H3917 – Liyliyth: the screech or barn owl. (refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega)]; indeed, there the night bird [great owl] settles and finds for herself a resting place. 15 There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate.

Jewish women

Who is Esau-Edom? Charles A Weisman, 1991 – emphasis & bold mine: 

‘We can identity Edom today and in history as the Jews because they are the ones that are cursed and rejected by God, and are the ones who despise every godly thing as did Esau… The curse of a desolate nation God put upon Edom is clearly evident in the Jewish people.‘

Ezekiel 35:1-15

English Standard Version

The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you… 4 I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 

5 Because you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to thepower of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment, 6 therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, 

I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; because you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you 

[this is a significant prophecy against the Jewish people, that has continued into modern times]. 

7 I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it all who come and go. 8 And I will fill its mountains with the slain. On your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain with the sword shall fall. 9 … your cities shall not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 10 “Because you said, ‘These two nations [Joseph & Judah] and these two countries [Joseph & Judah] shall be mine,and we will take possession of them’ – although the Lord was there – 11 therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy that you showed because of your hatred against them. And I will make myself known among them, when I judge you. 

12 And you shall know that I am the Lord. “I have heard all the revilings that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying,‘They are laid desolate; they are given us to devour.’ 13 And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it. 14 Thus says the Lord God: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Indication that at time of writing, Mount Seir and Edom are together as a land and people, yet still distinct. The Horites and the sons of Esau or Edom are one people. There is a lot of blood to be shed and spilled in the future as there has been in the past. It is very difficult not to associate the redness of blood with the red of Edom. All this, because of their penchant for the sword and the violence it brings; using it against their brother, as prophesied by their father Isaac [Genesis 27:40]. 

Joel 3:19

English Standard Version

“Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

Psalm 137:7

English Standard Version

Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!” O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!

We have previously read Obadiah and how it reveals that Edom participated in the fall of Jerusalem when the Chaldeans invaded. The Edomites were directly involved in the destruction and burning of the First Temple built by King Solomon, when Nebuchadnezzar II laid waste to Judah in 587 BCE. Edom is likened to a daughter of Babylon. In league with the ancient Chaldeans of the past and in the future; involved in the final Babylonian system of rule which holds the whole world captive.

Jewish man and woman

Ezekiel 36:1-11

English Standard Version

“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession,’[control of the United States and the United Kingdom in furtherance of one world government] 3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people… 5 therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations andagainst all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession* with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey.7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach. 

8 “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 10And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. 11 And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in yourformer times,and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

This prophesy in the Book of Ezekiel is dual – including the captivities of the past, yet – speaking about our present time and Edom’s possession of Israel’s former lands. It will be returned to the sons of Jacob during the Messiah’s millennial rule, when the Kingdom of God is established on the Earth. Those who teach that it is the Israelites or the tribe of Judah now dwelling in the state of Israel are mis-interpreting scripture. We will look into this in more detail now, regarding Edom and also when we study Jacob’s sons and their locations in the world today. Then it will be clear that Jacob’s sons have not converged or returned to Palestine. Nor is it the promised land of this current age. We will also learn that the Tribes of Israel and Judah did reconvene as the Bible predicted – before Christ’s return – just not in the Middle East as most have assumed.

Jewish man and woman

Amos 9:11-12

English Standard Version

11 “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this.

The Book of Job – Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, 2015, Gerard Gertoux – emphasis & bold mine:

‘… most Jews no longer expect a human messiah, they hope rather in the coming of a collective Messiah (the State of Israel). Some Christian Zionists believe that the “ingathering” of Jews in Israel is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Jesus. The idea that Christians should actively support a Jewish return to the Land of Israel, along with the parallel idea that the Jews ought to be encouraged to become Christian, as a means of fulfilling a Biblical prophecy has been common in Protestant circles since the Reformation. Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land,and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblicalprophecy.’

Who is Esau-Edom? Charles A Weisman, 1991 – emphasis & bold mine: 

‘The common or popular doctrine among [people] is that the Jews are Israelites, and as such they must return to Palestine to fulfil Bible prophecy. This erroneous concept has become known as “Zionism,”which has developed into a political movement for the benefit of the Jew. Zion, or mount Zion, was the highest of several hills on which Jerusalem was built, and thus represents the greatness and majesty of Jerusalem. Zion was… [where] David brought the Ark of God [2 Samuel 6:12-18]… the seat of David’s rule… where his… palace was erected and where the Tabernacle [before the Temple] was first set up. Zion became a sacred site [Psalm 2:6]… loved by God [Psalm 87:2]… and… the place where God dwells [Psalm 9:11, 68:16, 132:13]. It is in the land of… prophetic Zion or Jerusalem [Isaiah 51:1, Revelation 21:2,27] which God has promised to gather together his people Israel [Jeremiah 3:14]. God cast out His people from the old land for their apostasy, never to return.’

Isaiah 52:2 and Micah 4:9-10 show that Zion is on Earth in the physical realm, now. Other scriptures reveal that Israel were to be transplanted to a new Zion, as Weisman states.

2 Samuel 7:10

English Standard Version

And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly…

Lamentations 1:6

English Standard Version

From the daughter of Zion all her majesty has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer.

Micah 4:8

English Standard Version

And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

This new place of gathering – after the Kingdom’s of Israel and Judah had respectively been taken captive and dispersed… the new Zion predicted, not the old Zion in ancient Canaan or present day Palestine – is the British Isles. This is a pivotal point to digest. To understand exactly who Esau and his twin Jacob are today, one must grasp that the sons of Jacob were promised a new home… not a return to their old home.

‘The following are some… proofs… [Zion is not Palestine]:

– The land Israel was to be gathered into is described as a “wilderness” or undeveloped land, but with their arrival “it shall blossom abundantly”… (Isaiah 35:1-2; Hosea 2:14-15).  Palestine [has]… never blossomed abundantly. God was to make Zion’s “wilderness like Eden” (Isaiah 51:3). 

– Zion was to be a land from sea to sea (Zechariah 9:10; Psalm 72:8). Palestine is not [bordered by seas]. 

– In the land where God “shall assemble the outcast of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth,” Jesus Christ was to be “set up as an ensign” for God’s people (Isaiah 11:1-12). In the state of Israel, even the mention of Jesus Christ is prohibited. America is the only nation that was ever legally established as a Christian nation. 

– Israel’s restoration was to take place in a land “afar,” or “very far off,” where they would “Look upon Zion” (Isaiah 33:13-20; Jeremiah 30:10). Since this was spoken in Palestine it could not include Palestine.

– Zion was to be bountiful in produce and resources, as indicated by its [“wheat, oil, flocks, herds, corn”] and a land “as a watered garden” (Jeremiah 31:12; Joel 2:15-19, 23-26)… Palestine is rather barren in such resources.

– The New Jerusalem was to “be inhabited as towns without walls [to be at peace] for the multitude of men and cattle therein” (Zechariah 2:4). Old Palestine is full of walled cities [and military zones].

• The New Jerusalem was to be a very large land, as indicated by the need for an angel to measure it, with its length and width being 12,000 furlongs (Zechariah 2:1-2, Revelation 21:15-16). This could hardly be referring [of] little Palestine. 

The New Jerusalem Charles Weisman is referring to as his last point, is the one that is part of a future new Earth and where the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man will dwell. 

Saying that, it does highlight the small size of the state of Israel at approximately 290 miles from north to south. A furlong is an eighth of a mile or 220 yards. Thus 12,000 furlongs is 1,500 miles.

The destruction and the end of their original homeland was prophesied to both Israel and later to Judah in the book of Ezekiel. We have read in Ezekiel chapter thirty-six that other nations would take possession of the original promised land and ultimately Edom would take possession.* The Jews are included with the ‘worst of the heathen’ and those who have ‘profaned’ the ancient holy places, polluting the land according to the Eternal. And as much as it is a massive shock for many, the Jews are not the sons of Jacob, true Israel or the tribe of Judah.

Ezekiel 7:2-3, 5, 21,24

English Standard Version

2 “And you, O son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel… The end has come upon the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end is upon you, and I will send my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations. 5 “Thus says the Lord God: Disaster after disaster! Behold… 21 And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and they shall profane [KJV: pollute] it. 24 I will bring the worst of the nations [KJV: heathen] to take possession* of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned [KJV: defiled].

‘While Edom occupied parts of Judea at one time, they never had possession of this land at any time of biblical history…If Palestine was destined to be possessed by Edom, then the Jews must be Edom, and through their Zionist plans are fulfilling prophecy about Edom, not about Israel. The Zionist Jews have hidden their Edomite identity and true role in Palestine by claiming they are Israel returning to Zion. The Jews are indeed fulfilling prophecy in Palestine, but it is the role of Esau-Edom they are acting out, not that of Jacob-Israel.’

Lamentations 4:21-22

English Standard Version

21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. 22 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished; he will keep you in exile no longer; but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will uncover your sins.

There is an association between Edom, Aram and Nahor for they all have sons and territories named Uz. They are represented by the Jews – in part the Spanish – and northern, central Italians [refer Chapter XXIII Aram & Tyre: Spain, Portugal & Brazil and Chapter XXV Italy: Nahor & the Chaldeans]. It cannot be a coincidence that Jews have an entwined history with Spain and Italy; in the Sephardic Jew from Spain and the ancient Jewish presence in Italy. 

Some identity adherents, accurately teach Edom’s link with governing hierarchies in Italy and Germany. The Bible indicates the relationship between Edom and Chaldea; while recent history has between Edom and Ishmael. Edom’s controlling tentacles run through the Vatican, the original banking families of Italy and the founding of the Illuminati. We will investigate the possible relationship tie exhibited by ‘Job of the land of Uz.’

Jeremiah 40:11-12

English Standard Version

11 Likewise, when all the Judeans [exiles from the true tribe of Judah] who were in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as governor over them, 12 then all the Judeans returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah. And they gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.

Isaiah 63:1-6

English Standard Version

Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” 2 Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? [burgundy, crimson] 3 “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. 4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come. 5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. 6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

This passage is describing the return of the Son of Man as a devouring Lion, not a gentle Lamb and inflicting vengeance on all those who oppose Him – sadly, pronouncedly typified by Edom. The city of Jerusalem in Israel – called Bozrah or ‘that city’ in the Bible – figures prominently as the headquarters for the Beast and the second beast, the false Prophet , and not Rome or the Vatican as nearly all think. It makes sense then, that this is where the Messiah returns and begins his retribution against all the enemies of the saints [Chapter XXI The Incredible Identity, Origin & Destiny of Nimrod]. 

Exodus 15:15

English Standard Version

Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.

This was after word reached the peoples of Canaan that the exiting sons of Jacob from Egypt, the Israelites, had somehow vanquished a superior, militarily savvy and vicious army of the Amalekites – the descendants of Esau’s son, Eliphaz amalgamated with the Elioud giants of the same name.

Deuteronomy 2:1-8

English Standard Version

“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ 8 So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. “And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab.

1 Samuel 14:46-48

English Standard Version

46 Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place. 47 When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them. 48 And he did valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.

2 Samuel 8:11-15

English Standard Version

11 These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued,12 from Edom, Moab [southern French], the Ammonites [northern French], the Philistines [Latino-Hispano Americans], Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons,andall the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 15 So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people.

Notice Edom and Amalek are separate entities and both contain family lines from Esau. Edom was subjugated by King Saul and again by King David.

1 Kings 11:1-22

English Standard Version

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh* [4]: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods”… 9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon… 14 And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad [family name]the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. 15 For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom). 17 But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father’s servants, Hadad still being a little child. 18 They set out from Midian and came to Paran and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt [1], who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land. 

19 And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh [2], so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20 And the sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house. And Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. 21 But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.” 22 But Pharaoh said to him, “What have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country?” And he said to him, “Only let me depart.”

The first Pharaoh who gave land, a home and food would have been Ahmose I [1], the first king of the 18th Dynasty, who ruled circa 1022 to 998 BCE and was contemporary with King Saul of Israel. Ahmose was the brother of Kamose who had ruled for five years as the last king of the 17th Dynasty. They had been instrumental in defeating and driving out the Hyksos from Egypt. When Hadad was older and received a wife, another Pharaoh was ruling, Amenhotep I [2], second king of the 18th Dynasty. He reigned from 998 to 978 BCE and was a contemporary of King David. Following this Pharaoh was Thutmose I, third king from 978 – 972 BCE. When Hadad learned of David’s death this was in 970 BCE or shortly thereafter. The Pharaoh ruling now and who remonstrated with Hadad would have been Thutmose II* [4], who reigned from 972 till 960 BCE – the first part of Solomon’s rule and quite likely the Pharaoh who had given him a daughter for marriage.

2 Kings 8:16-24

English Standard Version

16 In the fifth year [848 BCE] of Joram [852-841 BCE] the son of Ahab [874-853 BCE], king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah [870-848 BCE], Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began [848 BCE] to reign [solely]. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years [12 years total – 853-841 BCE] in Jerusalem. 

18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 19 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah, for the sake of David his servant, since he promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever. 20 In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. [848-841 BCE] 21 Then Joram passed over to Zair with all his chariots and rose by night, and he and his chariot commanders struck the Edomites who had surrounded him, but his army fled home. 22 So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

2 Chronicles 25:1-28

English Standard Version

Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years [796-767 BCE]* in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart. 3 And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. 4 But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”

5 Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah and set them by fathers’ houses under commanders of thousands and of hundreds for all Judah and Benjamin. He mustered those twenty years old and upward, and found that they were 300,000 choice men, fit for war, able to handle spear and shield. 6 He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver. 7 But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, with all these Ephraimites [tribe of Ephraim]. 8 But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.” 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, “But what shall we do about the hundred talents that I have given to the army of Israel?” The man of God answered, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” 10 Then Amaziah discharged the army that had come to him from Ephraim to go home again. And they became very angry with Judah and returned home in fierce anger. 

11 But Amaziah took courage and led out his people and went to the Valley of Salt and struck down 10,000 men of Seir. 12 The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive and took them to the top of a rock and threw them down from the top of the rock, and they were all dashed to pieces. 13 But the men of the army whom Amaziah sent back [Ephraim], not letting them go with him to battle, raided the cities of Judah, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and struck down 3,000 people in them and took much spoil. 

14 After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites, he brought the gods of the men of Seir and set them up as his gods and worshiped them, making offerings to them. 15 Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah and sent to him a prophet, who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?” 

16 But as he was speaking, the king said to him, “Have we made you a royal counselor? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but said,“I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.”

17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took counsel and sent to Joash [Jehoash] the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, let us look one another in the face.” 18 And Joash [798-782 BCE]* the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, “A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. 19 You say, ‘See, I have struck down Edom,’and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. But now stay at home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”20 But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom. 21 So Joash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. 

22 And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home. 23 And Joash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 24 And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God, in the care of Obed-edom. He seized also the treasuries of the king’s house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria [in modern times a similar transference of all the gold of Judah to Ephraim has occurred] . 

25 Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Joash the son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel… 27 From the time when he turned away from the Lord they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. 28 And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried with his fathers in the city of David [Jerusalem].

Deuteronomy 23:7-8

English Standard Version

7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land. 8 Children born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Esau had three wives and sets of children. One wonders if all of Esau’s children are included in this verse; as some of the offspring from his two Canaanite wives are later condemned by the Messiah and called vipers and ‘of their’ original ancestral ‘father the Devil.’ Esau began his life prosperous with more possessions than Jacob and they could not live side by side. 

Over the course of history, Edom has been reduced in number and influence so that their numbers are few and scattered, becoming a small nation, which had once rivalled Jacob’s son’s. The Book of Jasher provides a version of events about Esau and Jacob’s early posterity which is not included in the Book of Genesis.

Book of Jasher 56:1-68

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years [from 1687 to 1670 BCE], and the days of Jacob, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty seven years. At that time Jacob was attacked with that illness of which he died and he sent and called for his son Joseph… And Jacob said, Call all your children unto me, and all the children of Jacob’s sons came and sat before him, and Jacob blessed them… And Jacob said unto Judah, I know my son that thou art a mighty man for thy brethren; reign over them,and thy sons shall reign over their sons forever. Only teach thy sons the bow and all the weapons of war, in order that they may fight the battles of their brother [Joseph] who will rule over his enemies. 

We will learn that modern day Judah has and does take up arms for Joseph. In fact the military expertise of Judah has been relied on in recent wars where there have been coalition responses to situations located predominantly in the Middle East.

Howbeit take heed I pray you that none of your sons carry me, only yourselves, and this is the manner you shall do unto me, when you carry my body to go with it to the land of Canaan to bury me, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun shall carry my bier at the eastern side; Reuben, Simeon and Gad at the south, Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin at the west, Dan, Asher and Naphtali at the north. Let not Levi carry with you, for he and his sons will carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord with the Israelites in the camp, neither let Joseph my son carry, for as a king so let his glory be; howbeit, Ephraim and Manasseh shall be in their stead. 

And all the people of Egypt and the elders and all the inhabitants of the land of Goshen wept and mourned over Jacob, and all his sons and the children of his household lamented and mourned over their father Jacob many days. And after the days of his weeping had passed away, at the end of seventy days, Joseph said unto Pharaoh [Djoserty second king of 3rd Dynasty, 1671-1665 BCE], I will go up and bury my father in the land of Canaan as he made me swear, and then I will return. And the bier was of pure gold, and it was inlaid round about with onyx stones and bdellium; and the covering of the bier was gold woven work, joined with threads, and over them were hooks of onyx stones and bdellium. 

And Joseph placed upon the head of his father Jacob a large golden crown,and he put a golden scepter in his hand, and they surrounded the bier as was the custom of kings during their lives. And all the kings of Canaan heard of this thing and they all went forth, each man from his house, thirty-one kings of Canaan, and they all came with their men to mourn and weep over Jacob. 

And all these kings beheld Jacob’s bier, and behold Joseph’s crown was upon it, and they also put their crowns upon the bier, and encircled it with crowns. 

And the report reached Esau, saying, Jacob died in Egypt, and his sons and all Egypt are conveying him to the land of Canaan to bury him. And Esau heard this thing, and he was dwelling in mount Seir,and he rose up with his sons and all his people and all his household, a people exceedingly great, and they came to mourn and weep over Jacob.

And Joseph and his brethren brought their father Jacob from that place, and they went to Hebron to bury Jacob in the cave by his fathers. And they came unto Kireath-arba, to the cave, and as they came Esau stood with his sons against Joseph and his brethren as a hindrance in the cave, saying, Jacob shall not be buried therein, for it belongeth to us and to our father. And Joseph and his brethren heard the words of Esau’s sons, and they were exceedingly wroth, and Joseph approached unto Esau, saying, What is this thing which they have spoken? surely my father Jacob bought it from thee for great riches after the death of Isaac [in 1697 BCE], now [approximately] five and twenty years ago, and also all the land of Canaan he bought from thee and from thy sons, and thy seed after thee. And Jacob bought it for his sons and his seed after him for an inheritance for ever, and why speakest thou these things this day? 

And Esau answered, saying, Thou speakest falsely and utterest lies, for I sold not anything belonging to me in all this land, as thou sayest, neither did my brother Jacob buy aught belonging to me in this land. And Esau spoke these things in order to deceive Joseph with his words, for Esau knew that Joseph was not present in those days when Esau sold all belonging to him in the land of Canaan to Jacob. And Joseph said unto Esau, Surely my father inserted these things with thee in the record of purchase, and testified the record with witnesses, and behold it is with us in Egypt. And Esau answered, saying unto him, Bring the record, all that thou wilt find in the record, so will we do. 

And Joseph called unto Naphtali his brother, and he said, Hasten quickly, stay not, and run I pray thee to Egypt and bring all the records; the record of the purchase, the sealed record and the open record, and also all the first records in which all the transactions of the birth-right are written, fetch thou. And Naphtali hearkened to the voice of Joseph and he hastened and ran to go down to Egypt, and Naphtali was lighter on foot than any of the stags that were upon the wilderness, for he would go upon ears of corn without crushing them [Genesis 49:21]. And when Esau saw that Naphtali had gone to fetch the records, he and his sons increased their resistance against the cave, and Esau and all his people rose up against Joseph and his brethren to battle. And all the sons of Jacob and the people of Egypt fought with Esau and his men, and the sons of Esau and his people were smitten before the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Jacob slew of Esau’s people forty men. 

And [Hushim] the son of Dan, the son of Jacob, was at that time with Jacob’s sons, but he was about a hundred cubits distant from the place of battle, for he remained with the children of Jacob’s sons by Jacob’s bier to guard it. And[Hushim] was dumb and deaf, still he understood the voice of consternation amongst men. 

And he asked, saying, Why do you not bury the dead, and what is this great consternation? and they answered him the words of Esau and his sons; and he ran to Esau in the midst of the battle, and he slew Esau with a sword, and he cut off his head, and it sprang to a distance, and Esau fell amongst the people of the battle. And when [Hushim] did this thing the sons of Jacob prevailed over the sons of Esau, and the sons of Jacob buried their father Jacob by force in the cave, and the sons of Esau beheld it. And Jacob was buried in Hebron, in the cave of Machpelah which Abraham had bought from the sons of Heth for the possession of a burial place, and he was buried in very costly garments. And no king had such honor paid him as Joseph paid unto his father at his death, for he buried him with great honor like unto the burial of kings. 

The Babylonian Talmud corroborates the account in the Book of Jasher, that Esau was killed by Hushim because he obstructed the burial of Jacob; claiming he had the right to be buried in the cave of Machpelah. Hushim was hard of hearing and once he understood why Jacob was not being buried he said: “Is my grandfather to lie [here] in contempt until Naphtali returns from the land of Egypt?” He then took a club [instead of a sword] and killed Esau, and Esau’s head apparently rolled into the cave. Jewish sources support that Esau sold his right to be buried in the cave. In the Shemot Rabbah, Jacob gave all his possessions to Esau in acquiring a tomb. Placing a large pile of gold and silver before Esau and asking: “My brother, do you prefer your portion of this cave, or all this gold and silver?”Esau selling his right to be buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs is recorded in the Sefer HaYashar.

The Book of Jubilees has an alternative account, with Isaac compelling Esau to swear not to attack or kill Jacob after Isaac has died. However, the sons of Esau convince their father to lead them in hiring mercenaries to fight against Jacob, in order to kill him and exterminate his family; seizing their wealth, including the portion of Isaac’s inheritance he had bequeathed to Jacob upon his death. Jacob then in a turn-around scenario, murders Esau. If this battle took place prior to the showdown at Jacob’s funeral, it would explain why Esau’s sons are obstinate about Jacob’s burial if they had lost their father at the hands of Jacob. There does seem to be some poetic licence in the Hushim killed Esau version, with his head rolling into the cave. Somewhat like an Agatha Christie novel, the question is who actually killed Esau, if he was murdered. Esau may have been the first of his line to ‘live by the sword and to die by the sword.’ 

Book of Jubilees chapter 37 & 38:

1 And on the day that Isaac the father of Jacob and Esau died [in 1697 BCE]… the sons of Esau heard that Isaac had given the portion of the elder to his younger son Jacob and they were very angry. 2 And they strove with their father, saying ‘Why has your father given Jacob the portion of the elder and passed over you, although you are the elder and Jacob the younger?’ 

3 And he said to them ‘Because I sold my birthright to Jacob for a small mess of lentils, and on the day my father sent me to hunt and catch and bring him something that he should eat and bless me, he came with guile and brought my father food and drink, and my father blessed him and put me under his hand. 4 And now our father has caused us to swear, me and him, that we shall not mutually devise evil, either against his brother, and that we shall continue in love and in shalom [peace] each with his brother and not make our ways corrupt.’ 

This would have been quite a bombshell for Esau’s sons if this was when they first learned about the birthright blessing debacle. 

5 And they said to him, ‘We shall not hearken unto you to make shalom with him; for our strength is greater than his strength, and we are more powerful than he; we shall go against him and slay him, and destroy him and his sons. And if you will not go with us, we shall do hurt to you also [like father, like sons].6 And now hearken unto us: Let us send to Aram and Philistia and Moab and Ammon, and let us choose for ourselves chosen men who are ardent for battle, and let us go against him and do battle with him, and let us exterminate him from the earth before he grows strong.’ 

7 And their father said to them, ‘Do not go and do not make war with him lest you fall before him.’ 8 And they said to him, ‘This too, is exactly your mode of action from your youth until this day, and you are putting your neck under his yoke. We shall not hearken to these words.’ 9 And they sent to Aram, and to ‘Aduram to the friend of their father, and they hired along with them one thousand fighting men, chosen men of war. 10 And there came to them from Moab and from the children of Ammon, those who were hired, one thousand chosen men, and from Philistia, one thousand chosen men of war, and from Edom and from the Horites one thousand chosen fighting men… mighty men of war. 

11 And they said to their father: Go forth with them and lead them, else we shall slay you.’12 And he was filled with wrath and indignation on seeing that his sons were forcing him to go before them to lead them against Jacob his brother. But afterward he remembered all the evil which lay hidden in his heart against Jacob his brother;13And he remembered not the oath which he had sworn to his father and to his mother that he would devise no evil all his days against Jacob his brother. 

14 And notwithstanding all this, Jacob knew not that they were coming against him to battle, and he was mourning for Leah, his wife, until they approached very near to the tower with four thousand warriors and chosen men of war. 

15 And the men of Hebron sent to him saying, ‘Behold your brother has come against you, to fight you, with four thousand girthed with the sword, and they carry shields and weapons’; for they loved Jacob more than Esau. So they told him; for Jacob was a more liberal and merciful man than Esau. 16But Jacob would not believe until they came very near to the tower.

17 And he closed the gates of the tower; and he stood on the battlements and spoke to his brother Esau and said, ‘Noble is the comfort wherewith you have come to comfort me for my wife who has died. Is this the oath that you did swear to your father and again to your mother before they died? You have broken the oath, and on the moment that you did swear to your father were you condemned.’18 And then Esau answered and said to him, ‘Neither the children of men nor the beasts of the earth have any oath of righteousness which in swearing they have sworn (an oath valid) forever; but every day they devise evil one against another, and how each may slay his adversary and foe [spoken like a hunter or predator]. 19 And you do hate me and my children forever. And there is no observing the tie of brotherhood with you. 20 Hear these words which I declare unto you, ‘If the boar can change its skin and make its bristles as soft as wool, Or if it can cause horns to sprout forth on its head like the horns of a stag or of a sheep, Then will I observe the tie of brotherhood with you, And if the breasts separated themselves from their mother, for you have not been a brother to me… 

23 And when the raven becomes white as the raza, Then know that I have loved you And shall make peace with you, You shall be rooted out, And your sons shall be rooted out, And there shall be no [peace] for you’ 24 And when Jacob saw that he was (so) evilly disposed towards him with his heart… 25 Then he spoke to his own and to his servants that they should attack him and all his companions.

1 And after that Judah spoke to Jacob, his father, and said to him: ‘Bend your bow, father, and send forth your arrows and cast down the adversary and slay the enemy; and may you have the power, for we shall not slay your brother, for he is such as you, and he is like you let us give him (this) honor.’ 2 Then Jacob bent his bow and sent forth the arrow and struck Esau, his brother (on his right breast) and slew him. 3 And again he sent forth an arrow and struck ‘Adoran the Aramaean, on the left breast, and drove him backward and slew him. 4 And then went forth the sons of Jacob, they and their servants, dividing themselves into companies on the four sides of the tower. 5 And Judah went forth in front, and Naphtali and Gad with him and fifty servants with him on the south side of the tower, and they slew all they found before them, and not one individual of them escaped.6 And Levi and Dan and Asherwent forth on the east side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew the fighting men of Moab and Ammon. 

7 And Reuben and Issachar and Zebulon went forth on the north side of the tower, and fifty men with them, and they slew the fighting men of the Philistines. 8 And Simeon and Benjamin and Enoch [Hanoch], Reuben’s son,went forth on the west side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew of Edom and of the Horites four hundred men, stout warriors; and six hundred fled, and four of the sons of Esau fled with them,and left their father lying slain, as he had fallen on the hill which is in ‘Aduram. 

9 And the sons of Jacob pursued after them to the mountains of Seir. And Jacob buried his brother on the hill which is in ‘Aduram, and he returned to his house.10 And the sons of Jacob pressed hard upon the sons of Esau in the mountains of Seir, and bowed their necks so that they became servants of the sons of Jacob. 11 And they sent to their father (to inquire) whether they should make peace with them or slay them. 12 And Jacob sent word to his sons that they should make peace, and they made peace with them, and placed the yoke of servitude upon them, so that they paid tribute to Jacob and to his sons always. 13 And they continued to pay tribute to Jacob until the day [1687 BCE] that he went down into Egypt [10 years]. 14 And the sons of Edom have not got quit of the yoke of servitude which the twelve sons of Jacob had imposed on them until this day.

Book of Jasher 57:1-45

And it was after this that the sons of Esau waged war with the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Esau fought with the sons of Jacob in Hebron, and Esau was still lying dead, and not buried. And the battle was heavy between them, and the sons of Esau were smitten before the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Jacob slew of the sons of Esau eighty men, and not one died of the people of the sons of Jacob; and the hand of Joseph prevailed over all the people of the sons of Esau, and he took Zepho, the son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, and fifty of his men captive, and he bound them with chains of iron, and gave them into the hand of his servants to bring them to Egypt… all those that remained were greatly afraid of their lives from the house of Esau, lest they should also be taken captive, and they all fled with Eliphaz the son of Esau and his people, with Esau’s body, and they went on their road to Mount Seir. 

And they came unto Mount Seir and they buried Esau in Seir, but they had not brought his head with them to Seir, for it was buried in that place where the battle had been in Hebron. And it came to pass… the sons of Jacob pursued them unto the borders of Seir, but they did not slay a single man from amongst them when they pursued them, for Esau’s body which they carried with them excited their confusion, so they fled and the sons of Jacob turned back from them and came up to the place where their brethren were in Hebron, and they remained there on that day, and on the next day until they rested from the battle. 

… on the third day they assembled all the sons of Seir the Horite, and they assembled all the children of the east [the sons of Abraham from Keturah and Ishmael], a multitude of people like the sand of the sea, and they went and came down to Egypt to fight with Joseph and his brethren, in order to deliver their brethren. And Joseph and his brethren and the strong men of Egypt went forth and fought in the city of Rameses, and Joseph and his brethren dealt out a tremendous blow amongst the sons of Esau and the children of the east… and they slew amongst them all the mighty men of the children of Seir the Horite; there were only a few of them left, and they slew also a great many of the children of the east, and of the children of Esau; and Eliphaz the son of Esau, and the children of the east all fled before Joseph and his brethren. And Joseph and his brethren pursued them until they came unto Succoth, and they yet slew of them in Succoth thirty men, and the rest escaped and they fled each to his city. And Joseph and his brethren and the mighty men of Egypt turned back from them with joy and cheerfulness of heart, for they had smitten all their enemies. 

And Zepho the son of Eliphaz and his men were still slaves in Egypt to the sons of Jacob, and their pains increased. And when the sons of Esau and the sons of Seir returned to their land, the sons of Seir saw that they had all fallen into the hands of the sons of Jacob, and the people of Egypt, on account of the battle of the sons of Esau. And the sons of Seir said unto the sons of Esau, You have seen and therefore you know that this camp was on your account, and not one mighty man or an adept in war remaineth. Now therefore go forth from our land, go from us to the land of Canaan to the land of the dwelling of your fathers; wherefore shall your children inherit the effects of our children in latter days? And the children of Esau would not listen to the children of Seir, and the children of Seir considered to make war with them. 

And the children of Esau sent secretly to Angeas king of Africa, the same is Dinhabah, saying, Send unto us some of thy men and let them come unto us, and we will fight together with the children of Seir the Horite, for they have resolved to fight with us to drive us away from the land. And Angeas king of Dinhabah did so, for he was in those days friendly to the children of Esau, and Angeas sent five hundred valiant infantry to the children of Esau, and eight hundred cavalry. And the children of Seir sent unto the children of the east and unto the children of Midian, saying, You have seen what the children of Esau have done unto us, upon whose account we are almost all destroyed, in their battle with the sons of Jacob. Now therefore come unto us and assist us, and we will fight them together, and we will drive them from the land and be avenged… And all the children of the east listened to the children of Seir, and they came unto them about eight hundred men with drawn swords, and the children of Esau fought with the children of Seir at that time in the wilderness of Paran. And the children of Seir prevailed then over the sons of Esau, and the children of Seir slew on that day of the children of Esau in that battle about two hundred men of the people of Angeas king of Dinhabah. 

And on the second day the children of Esau came again to fight a second time with the children of Seir, and the battle was sore upon the children of Esau this second time, and it troubled them greatly on account of the children of Seir. And when the children of Esau saw that the children of Seir were more powerful than they were, some men of the children of Esau turnedand assisted the children of Seir their enemies. 

And there fell yet of the people of the children of Esau in the second battle fifty-eight men of the people at Angeas king of Dinhabah. And on the third day the children of Esau heard that some of their brethren had turned from them to fight against them in the second battle; and the children of Esau mourned when they heard this thing. And they said, What shall we do unto our brethren who turned from us to assist the children of Seir our enemies? and the children of Esau again sent to Angeas king of Dinhabah, saying, Send unto us again other men that with them we may fight with the children of Seir, for they have already twice been heavier than we were. 

And Angeas again sent to the children of Esau about six hundred valiant men, and they came to assist the children of Esau. And in ten days’ time the children of Esau again waged war with the children of Seir in the wilderness of Paran, and the battle was very severe upon the children of Seir, and the children of Esau prevailed at this time over the children of Seir, and the children of Seir were smitten before the children of Esau, and the children of Esau slew from them about two thousand men. Andall the mighty men of the children of Seir died in this battle, and there only remained their young children that were left in their cities. 

And all Midian and the children of the east betook themselves to flight from the battle, and they left the children of Seir and fled when they saw that the battle was severe upon them, and the children of Esau pursued all the children of the east until they reached their land. And the children of Esau slew yet of them about two hundred and fifty men and from the people of the children of Esau there fell in that battle about thirty men, but this evil came upon them through their brethren turning from them to assist the children of Seir the Horite, and the children of Esau again heard of the evil doings of their brethren, and they again mourned on account of this thing.

And it came to pass after the battle, the children of Esau turned back and came home unto Seir, and the children of Esau slew those who had remained in the land of the children of Seir; they slew also their wives and little ones, they left not a soul alive except fifty young lads and damsels whom they suffered to live, andthe children of Esau did not put them to death, and the lads became their slaves, and the damsels they took for wives. And the children of Esau dwelt in Seir in the place of the children of Seir, and they inherited their land and took possession of it. 

In this chapter, the Book of Jasher confirms Seir existed as a geographic location and why it is labelled in Bible verses as the home of Esau. It corroborates the Biblical account and supports that the following three scenarios do not contradict each other: a. the Horites were ‘all’ killed, with a small number excepted b. driven completely from their land and c. that Esau and the Horites intermarried, forming the nucleus of peoples known as Edom.

And the children of Esau took all belonging in the land to the children of Seir… and the children of Esau divided the land into divisions to the five sons of Esau, according to their families… the children of Esau resolved to crown a king over them in the land of which they became possessed. 

And they said to each other, Not so, for he shall reign over us in our land, and we shall be under his counsel and he shall fight our battles, against our enemies, and they did so. 

And all the children of Esau swore, saying, That none of their brethren should ever reign over them, but a strange man who is not of their brethren, for the souls of all the children of Esau were embittered every man against his son, brother and friend, on account of the evil they sustained from their brethren when they fought with the children of Seir. 

And there was a man there from the people of Angeas king of Dinhabah; his name was Bela the son of Beor, who was a very valiant man, beautiful and comely and wise in all wisdom, and a man of sense and counsel; and there was none of the people of Angeas like unto him.Andall the children of Esau took him and anointed him and they crowned him for a king, and they bowed down to him, and they said unto him, May the king live, may the king live. 

And they spread out the sheet, and they brought him each man earrings of gold and silver or rings or bracelets, and they made him very rich in silver and in gold, in onyx stones and bdellium, and they made him a royal throne, and they placed a regal crown upon his head, and they built a palace for him and he dwelt therein, and he became king over all the children of Esau. And the people of Angeas took their hire for their battle from the children of Esau, and they went and returned at that time to their master in Dinhabah. And Bela reigned over the children of Esau [thirty years?], and the children of Esau dwelt in the land instead of the children of Seir, and they dwelt securely…

The math provided by the Book of Jasher does not appear to work, for the reigns of Bela and the death of Hushim in 1626 BCE, the year Dan died. It is short sixteen years and thus Bela’s reign has to adjust to fourteen years instead of thirty. The reigns of Jobab of ten years and Hushim of twenty years remain the same and thus working backwards brings us to 1670 BCE when Jacob died and the first king of Edom, Bela is crowned.

Book of Jasher 58:1-30

… in the thirty-second year of the Israelites going down to Egypt [in 1687 BCE], that is in the seventy-first year of the life of Joseph [born 1726 BCE], in that year died Pharaoh king of Egypt [in 1655 BCE], and Magron his son reigned in his stead. And Pharaoh commanded Joseph before his death to be a father to his son, Magron, and that Magron should be under the care of Joseph and under his counsel.And all Egypt consented to this thing that Joseph should be king over them, for all the Egyptians loved Joseph…

Magron was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and forty years he reigned in Egypt… And it came to pass when Pharaoh reigned in his father’s stead, he placed the laws of Egypt and all the affairs of government in the hand of Joseph, as his father had commanded him. And Joseph became king over Egypt, for he superintended over all Egypt, and all Egypt was under his care and under his counsel, for all Egypt inclined to Joseph after the death of Pharaoh, and they loved him exceedingly to reign over them. 

The details on the Pharaohs is not clear, either by the name of Magron or his son reigning forty years. The Pharaoh had been different when Joseph first arrived in Egypt at age seventeen in 1709 BCE. It may have been the last king of the 2nd Dynasty Khasekhemwy, who married Queen Nimaathap and is thought to be Djoser’s father. There is much disagreement amongst academics on how may Pharaohs there were in the second Dynasty. Knowledge about the later parts of the dynasty is murky at best, as is reflected in the various king lists. When Joseph was thirty and made Vizier of Egypt, the Pharoah in question was Djoser, the first king of the 3rd Dynasty who reigned from 1700 to 1672/71 BCE [Appendix VI: Joseph & Imhotep – One man, different name?].

But there were some people amongst them, who did not like him, saying, No stranger shall reign over us; still the whole government of Egypt devolved in those days upon Joseph, after the death of Pharaoh, he being theregulator, doing as he liked throughout the land without any one interfering. And all Egypt was under the care of Joseph, and Joseph made war with all his surrounding enemies, and he subdued them; also all the land and all the Philistines, unto the borders of Canaan, did Joseph subdue, and they were all under his power and they gave a yearly tax unto Joseph. And Pharaoh king of Egypt [second king of 3rd Dynasty Djoserty, (Sekhemkhet)] sat upon his throne in his father’s stead, but he was under the control and counsel of Joseph [from 1671 to 1665 BCE], as he was at first under the control of his father. Neither did he reign but in the land of Egypt only, under the counsel of Joseph, but Joseph reigned over the whole country at that time, from Egypt unto the great river Perath. And Joseph was successful in all his ways [Chapter XXXIII Manasseh & Ephraim: the Birthright Tribes],and the Lord was with him, and the Lord gave Joseph additional wisdom, and honor, and glory, and love toward him in the hearts of the Egyptians and throughout the land,and Joseph reigned over the whole country forty years [from 1656 until 1616 BCE]. 

And all the countries of the Philistines and Canaan and Zidon, and on the other side of Jordan, brought presents unto Joseph all his days… and they brought unto him a yearly tribute as it was regulated, for Joseph had fought against all his surrounding enemies and subdued them… and Joseph sat securely upon his throne in Egypt. And also all his brethren the sons of Jacob dwelt securely in the land, all the days of Joseph, and they were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly in the land, and they served the Lord all their days, as their father Jacob had commanded them. 

And it came to pass at the end of many days and years, when the children of Esau were dwelling quietly in their land with Bela their king, that the children of Esau were fruitful and multiplied in the land, and they resolved to go and fight with the sons of Jacob and all Egypt, and to deliver their brother Zepho, the son of Eliphaz,and his men, for they were yet in those days slaves to Joseph. 

And the children of Esau sent unto all the children of the east [Midian and his brothers], and they made peace with them, and all the children of the east [Dutch] came unto them to go with the children of Esau to Egypt to battle. And there came also unto them of the people of Angeas, king of Dinhabah, and they also sent unto the children of Ishmael [Germans] and they also came unto them. 

And all this people assembled and came unto Seir to assist the children of Esau in their battle, and this camp was very large and heavy with people,numerous as the sand of the sea… infantry and cavalry, and all these troops went down to Egypt to fight with the sons of Jacob, and they encamped by Rameses. 

And Joseph went forth with his brethren with the mighty men of Egypt, about six hundred men, and they fought with them in the land of Rameses; and the sons of Jacob at that time again fought with the children of Esau, in the fiftieth year [1637 BCE?] of the sons of Jacob going down to Egypt, that is the thirtieth year [fourteenth year, 1656 BCE] of the reign of Bela over the children of Esau in Seir. And the Lord gave all the mighty men of Esau and the children of the east into the hand of Joseph and his brethren, and the people of the children of Esau and the children of the east were smitten before Joseph. And of the people of Esau and the children of the east that were slain… and their king Bela the son of Beor fell with them in the battle, and when the children of Esau saw that their king had fallen in battle and was dead, their hands became weak in the combat. 

And Joseph and his brethren and all Egypt were still smiting the people of the house of Esau, and all Esau’s people were afraid of the sons of Jacob and fled from before them. And Joseph and his brethren and all Egypt pursued them a day’s journey, and they slew yet from them about three hundred men, continuing to smite them in the road; and they afterward turned back from them. And Joseph and all his brethren returned to Egypt, not one man was missing from them, but of the Egyptians there fell twelve men. And when Joseph returned to Egypt he ordered Zepho and his men to be additionally bound, and they bound them in irons and they increased their grief. 

And all the people of the children of Esau, and the children of the east, returned in shame each unto his city, for all the mighty men that were with them had fallen in battle. And when the children of Esau saw that their king [Bela] had died in battle they hastened and took a man… his name was Jobab the son of Zarach, from the land of Bozrah, and they caused him to reign over them instead of Bela their [previous] king. And Jobab sat upon the throne of Bela as king in his stead, and Jobab reigned in Edom over all the children of Esau ten years [1656-1646 BCE], and the children of Esau went no more to fight with the sons of Jacob from that day forward, for the sons of Esau knew the valor of the sons of Jacob, and they were greatly afraid of them. 

But from that day forward the children of Esau hated the sons of Jacob, and the hatred and enmity were very strong between them all the days, unto this day. And it came to pass after this, at the end of ten years, Jobab, the son of Zarach, from Bozrah, died, and the children of Esau took a man whose name was Chusham, from the land of Teman, and they made him king over them instead of Jobab, and Chusham reigned in Edom over all the children of Esau for twenty years [from 1646 to 1626 BCE]. 

And Joseph, king of Egypt, and his brethren, and all the children of Israel dwelt securely in Egypt in those days… having no hindrance or evil accident and the land of Egypt was at that time at rest from war in the days of Joseph [during 1656 to 1616 BCE]and his brethren.

We shall return to Joseph in a later chapter and continue his incredible story. Though it does not carry the dramatic intrigue of Esau, the revelatory profundity of Judah, or the mysterious malevolence of Dan; it undoubtedly is the greatest and most extraordinary story of all. Some researchers and commentators have made a link from Edomite king Job-ab with the Patriarch Job in the bible. If such is the case, then Job is the most famous Edomite in the Bible after Esau himself. 

Job has forty-two chapters dedicated to the story of his righteousness – one of the three most righteous men listed in the Bible [Ezekiel 14;14], with the antediluvian Patriarch Noah and the Prophet Daniel – and his subsequent testing by the Adversary, with the Eternal’s agreement. The written structure of the book of Job is unusual, in that it combines prose and poetry. No other book in the Bible uses this ‘prose-poetry-prose pattern.’ Job is considered the most ancient book in the Bible [Job 19:23]. In addition to its profound biblical message it is regarded as a literary masterpiece. The book contains dialogue between Job and his four friends as well as Job’s conversations with the Creator. There is much wisdom to glean as well as valuable information regarding the pre-Adamic or angelic world, particularly impressive creatures such as Leviathan and the Behemoth – ostensibly dinosaurs and allegorically, angelic beings. 

The Book of Job: Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, Gerard Gertoux, 2015: 

‘Many people who think themselves wise assume that Job was a fictional character like the Good Samaritan, a parable to teach morals. This assumption is illogical and even absurd. Indeed, what is the importance of knowing many insignificant details… [about his life] (Job 42:9-14)… If the Book of Job was a parable Satan would have persecuted a fictional character. Those who suppose that Satan must be the principle of evil lead to an absurdity because in that case God would[n’t] have discussed with “it”… [the details regarding Job’s character] (Job 1:8-10).’

The name Jobab means ‘to call’ or ‘cry shrilly’ from the verb yabab, whereas Job means ‘returning enemy’ or ‘the persecuted.’ Job was blessed greatly after his trial, with much more than all he possessed before his series of vicissitudes. 

Job 42:10-17

Common English Bible

10 Then the Lord changed Job’s fortune when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord doubled* all Job’s earlier possessions. 11 All his brothers, sisters, and acquaintances came to him and ate food with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him concerning all the disaster the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a qesitah [an amount of money: value not known] and a gold ring. 12 Then the Lord blessed Job’s latter days more than his former ones. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys… 16 After this, Job lived 140 years*and saw four generations of his children [4 x 35 years]. 17 Then Job died, old [210 years old]and satisfied.

In the Jewish Encyclopedia, “Jose B. Ḥalafta [states] that Job was born when Jacob and his children entered Egypt and that he died when the Israelites left that country.” This equals two hundred and forty-one years. It would place Job’s testing around 1587 BCE at the age of one hundred and his birth in 1687 BCE. This scenario fits, though a marriage to second wife Dinah does not work – to be discussed later – and how did Job live a staggering one hundred years longer than any one else of his generation? 

The orthodox view maintains that the Book of Job belongs to the era before the Exodus and if Eliphaz is linked rather to Ishmael – as a Tema-nite – and not Esau’s son by the same name, then the patriarch Job lived sometime between the time of Ishmael, who died in 1754 BCE and the children of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt in 1446 BCE. Saying that, Esau’s grandson would have been born circa 1725 BCE and sits convincingly in the same time frame. 

Chuck Swindoll says regarding Job:“Though we cannot be certain, Job may have lived during the time of Jacob or shortly thereafter.” A chronology based on Job living seventy years, then receiving an additional one hundred and forty, would mean that he lived after Jacob. Jacob died in 1670 BCE and Job would have been born fourteen years later in 1656 BCE – the beginning of Jobab’s reign as king of Edom for ten years. This  suggests that Jobab and Job were two different people.

If Job lived one hundred and forty years after his testing, being blessed doubly, then his age at his testing in 1586 BCE, would have been seventy. Job living to two hundred and ten* would have been a very special blessing and reward, as he was afforded an extra seventy years or so on top of what people were usually living at that time; about one hundred to one hundred and forty years. Job’s death in 1446 BCE, would indicate he would have known the Israelites had been freed, for he ‘died satisfied.’ His birth would have been some forty years after Jacob’s family entered Egypt and when Joseph was seventy years old and had been Vizier for forty years.

Moslem tradition posits that after his father died, Job journeyed to Egypt to marry Rahme or Rahma, the daughter of Ephraim – or possibly Manasseh according to some sources – ‘who had inherited from her grandfather Joseph his beautiful robe [of many colours].’ The chronology supports this scenario, as a daughter being born circa 1660 BCE is likely and would mean she was the same age as Job when they married – circa 1615 BCE, a year after Joseph’s death – and would have time to have ten children by 1586 BCE.

Job 1:1-22

Amplified Bible

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job;and that man was blameless andupright,and one who feared God (with reverence) and abstained from and turned away from evil (because he honored God). 

2 Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 He also possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke (pairs) of oxen, 500 female donkeys*, and a very great number of servants, so that this man was the greatest [and wealthiest and most respected] of all the men ofthe east. 

To be located in the east, means Job may not have been an Edomite or living in the land of Uz associated with Seir [Genesis 36:28]. The alternatives for the location of Uz include a son of Aram called Uz and a son of Nahor [Genesis 10:23; 22:21]. Both equate to some admixture and as the peoples of northern and central Italy today [refer Chapter XXV Italy: Nahor & the Chaldeans]. This writer considers it a distinct possibility that Job is from, or could be an ancestor of, an Italian lineage as opposed to a Jewish one. We will compare the evidence as we progress.

4 His sons used to go (in turn) and feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send word and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When the days of their feasting were over, Job would send (for them) and consecrate [H6942 to set apart, to be holy] them, rising early in the morning and offering burnt [sin] offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this at all (such) times.

It has been inferred by some that ‘on his day’ refers to Job’s birthday or the son’s birthdays and that his day was a special occasion; but the Hebrew wording indicates, that his refers to each of the brothers in turn. As there were seven of them, it follows that they likely held a banquet every day of the week, rotating from house to house, as indicated in verse five. This is evidence of the brothers’ prosperity, as well as the close relationship they maintained with one another. Job’s concern for them and offering sacrifices on their behalf could mean the brothers were debauched in their carousing and leading their sisters astray. Or more likely from the context, that the sons were righteous, as Job could only consecrate or sanctify someone holy. The fact that Job is offering sacrifices on their behalf and not his own, would indicate that he was a priest. If so, Job would have been a priest of the Most High, of the Order of Melchizedek. Perhaps ‘a man in the land of Uz’ is an inspiration for the film The Wizard of Oz or the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

The support for Job being a priest of note is found in the Book of Jasher, where the Pharaoh of Egypt summoned his two counsellors, Reuel the Midianite and Job the Uzite – ‘from Mespotamia, in the land of Uz.’ When studying Abraham’s son Midian we looked at Moses’s father-in-law Jethro and his status as a High Priest and possibly one of three priests acquainted with the Pharaoh, including Job and Balaam. Recall that Reuel is Jethro’s last or family name from his father and Jethro his priestly name [refer Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia]. Notice that the reference to Uz is in Mesopotamia and not Edom, Canaan or Arabia. This lends support towards the Uz from either Aram or Nahor.

It is worth noting, that support for Job living east of Edom, is the fact that the prophet Balaam was from a city called Pethor [Numbers 22:5;  Deuteronomy 23:4]. 

Numbers 23:7

Amplified Bible

Balaam took up his (first) discourse (oracle) and said: “Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me from Aram (Syria), from the mountains of the east…

Balaam lived in the east and he was from Aram. Now the city of Pethor was situated in northern Mesopotamia, on the banks of the Euphrates River. In the region we have discussed when studying Nahor, the very area known as Aram-Naharaim discussed in Chapter XXV. Jethro from Midian, lived in the east, in the north of the Arabian Peninsula, east of Egypt and south of Canaan. Balaam from Aram-Nahar-[aim] lived in the east, in Mesopotamia, north of Canaan. 

The time frame means that Jethro, Job and Moses were contemporaries towards the end of Job’s life, just as Job was with Joseph when he was younger. The fact Job visited Egypt and may have married Joseph’s grand daughter, means he must have surely met Imhotep the Vizier of Egypt [refer Appendix VI: Joseph & Imhotep – One man, different name?]. The later Pharaoh prior to the Exodus, apparently was not enamoured with Job’s counsel regarding the Israelite slaves and who could well have been Moses’s adopted father, Amenemhet III – who reigned from 1529 to 1484 BCE – the sixth king of the 12th Dynasty [refer Appendix VII Moses & the Exodus – Fabrication or Fact?].

The land of Uz may well have been a separate land unique in its connection with Edom – indications are that it could have been northerly in the Hauron Valley of Bashan in the Transjordan, or southerly on the Kings’s Road between Bozrah and Elath adjoining the Red Sea – and named after Seir’s great grandson Uz, the brother of Aran, also similar to the name Aram and the son of Dishan, who was in turn the son of Lotan.

As Job is not Jobab, then his descent from Edom is questionable. It hinges in part, on his four friends and their origins. We have already linked the Uz of Aram and Uz of Nahor as the modern Italians. Gether, another son of Aram is the ancestor of the Spanish [Chapter XXIII Aram & Tyre: Spain, Portugal & Brazil]. The link with Spain is through the Sephardic Jew, who were located in the Iberian Peninsula. Jews had a strong presence in Italy, as highlighted by William Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice. Lotan of Seir may have a connection with Lot’s sons Moab and Ammon, the modern day French. Could these links with Spain and France find an answer within the peoples nestled there, known as the Basque and Catalonians? [Chapter XXVI The French & Swiss: Moab, Ammon & Haran]

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them. 

7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil[because he honors God].” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not put a hedge [of protection]around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12Then the Lord said to Satan,“Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.”So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

The Creator barred the Adversary from actually killing Job, though all else was available to Satan in seeking to turn Job from his devotion to the Eternal. Satan did not understand Job’s heart; in thinking Job’s faithfulness was based on what the Creator had given or done for him. The Almighty though, seeks those who love and trust Him, regardless of what He does for them. Those individuals with that mindset will later be given all things, even though it is not that, that fires their passion for loyalty. one wonders, if Satan only ever loved the Almighty because of what they had been given. Thus their loyalty could be broken. Whereas Job’s faith, could be tested indefinitely and he would still remain steadfast. When the Creator says there is none like Job, this would have been in approximately 1586* BCE. Now Jacob died in 1670 BCE and all his sons with Levi being the last – died by 1611 BCE. Joseph had lived for the first forty years of Job’s life from 1656 to 1616 BCE and so the statement is immense; though stated thirty years after Joseph’s death and sixty years before Mose’s birth. We know that Joseph pleased the Eternal and was richly blessed.

Genesis 41:38

English Standard Version

And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?”

Hebrews 11:22

English Standard Version

By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

13 Now there was a day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 and [1] a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans [terrorising robbers from SW Arabia] attacked and swooped down on them and took away the animals. They also killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, [2] another [messenger] also came and said, “The fire of God (lightning) has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, [3] another (messenger) also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and have taken them away and have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, [4] another [messenger] also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly, a great wind came from across the desert,and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

The dramatic succession of the loss of Job’s possessions and family, quickly turned from the sublime to the ridiculous… with the such seemingly coincidental catalogue of strange disasters to afflict Job. It is not clear who the Sabeans were. They could at a stretch be the Seba and Sheba from Cush [Chapter XIII India & Pakistan: Cush & Phut]. Geographically closer and far more likely – due to the reference to the Chaldeans – they are either Sheba from Joktan or Sheba of Jokshan, the son of Abraham [refer Chapter XXIV Arphaxad & Joktan: Balts, Slavs & the Balkans and Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia]. Sheba, son of Joktan would be my preferred guess, who would equate to the Romanians today. Coincidently, Ophir another son of Joktan and brother of Sheba, is mentioned in Job 22:24. The reference to the Chaldeans is important, for if Job was descended from Uz of Nahor, then Job would be a Chaldean himself. Why would his own people be attacking him. Yet, this is not a valid reason as some of the worst atrocities are committed by family members against each other.

The fact Job’s sons and daughters are described as young, fits with what we know already about Job and his Ephraimite wife, Uzit. Recall, Isaac was described as young when he was thirty years old. Job and his wife would have married circa 1615 BCE and their ten children would have been born somewhere between 1615 to 1595 BCE. Thus, the eldest at the time of their deaths would have been about twenty-nine and the youngest between nineteen and perhaps twelve*. It would explain how all the children had inheritances and the sons, their own dwellings; particularly as Job was a wealthy ruler, the equivalent of a king.

Job 29:1-25

English Standard Version

2 “Oh, that I were as in the months of old… 7 When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square [similar with Lot, Genesis 19;1], 8 the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood; 9 the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth; 10 the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth… 12 because I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. 14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. 16 I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. 21 “Men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel. 22 After I spoke they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them. 23 They waited for me as for the rain… 25 I chose their way and sat as chief, and I lived like a king among his troops, like one who comforts mourners.

20 Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head (in mourning for the children), and he fell to the ground and worshiped (God). 21 He said “Naked (without possessions) I came (into this world) from my mother’s womb, And naked I will return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

Job 2:1-13

Amplified Bible

Again there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them to present himself [H3320 – yatsab: ‘set, stand’ or ‘station oneself, present oneself’] before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” 3 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God]. And still he maintains and holds tightly to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.” 4 Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Yes, a man will give all he has for his life. 5 But put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh [and severely afflict him];and he will curse You to Your face.”6So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, only spare his life.”

The Amplified Bible says regarding verse four, one possible meaning is that ‘according to Satan, Job would be willing to give up his wife (his remaining loved one) to save his own life, thus surrendering his integrity (verse 3). Another is that Satan is hypothetically offering to give up his own life if Job is actually willing to die for his integrity. In any case, this is a bluff on the Adversary’s part, probably to make what they really desire (verse 5) appear less drastic.’

7 So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome boils and agonizingly painful sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself, and he sat [down] among the ashes (rubbish heaps). 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still cling to your integrity [and your faith and trust in God, without blaming Him]? Curse God and die!”10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the [spiritually] foolish women speaks [ignorant and oblivious to God’s will]. Shall we indeed accept (only) good from God and not (also) accept adversity and disaster?” In [spite of] all this Job did not sin with [words from] his lips.

The Septuagint states: “After taking an Arabian wife, he became father to a son whose name was Ennon. But he himself was the son… of his mother Bosorra (Bozra)…” Job’s wife does not appear to be led by the Holy Spirit in the same way as Job. She reminds one of Lot’s wife. Her lack of understanding is indicative of an unconverted mind. For she thinks that Job is placing precedence in his own righteousness and faith, rather than perceiving that Job is actually focusing foremost, on the the will of the Eternal. Islamic tradition calls Job’s wife Rahma and Jewish sources state her name as Uzit, [in the Greek Sitidos (Sitis)]. Sitis may have the same root as Satan in Hebrew or Sotah, meaning ‘unfaithful wife’ [Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. Uzit was Job’s first wife and is believed to have died during Job’s afflictions.

11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place, [1] Eliphaz the Temanite [possibly ‘Eliphaz the one of Teman’ meaning ‘the man of Teman (city)’ rather than ‘Eliphaz the descendant of Teman’ or Eliphaz the Tema-nite of Ishamel], [2] Bildad the Shuhite, and [3] Zophar the Naamathite; for they had made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. 12 When they looked from a distance and did not recognize him [because of his disfigurement], they raised their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe [in grief] and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky [in sorrow]. 13 So they sat down on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Eliphaz stated here, is assumed by most to be the son of Esau and Adah. Eliphaz had been taken captive by Joseph and according to the Book of Jasher, Eliphaz was a notable military leader and killed in Rameses, Egypt at the age of eighty-three. If he was born approximately when Esau married Adah, in circa 1777 BCE and died in 1694 BCE; he was not alive in 1586 BCE when Job was afflicted. Therefore, this Eliphaz is a different person, though could still be a descendant of Eliphaz via his son Teman and a potential cousin of Job. Edom and by extension Teman in the Bible are described as ‘wise men’ with ‘understanding’ which is an apt description, of the Jewish intelligentsia [Obadiah 1:8-9].

There remains the argument, that this Eliphaz is descended from Tema, a son of Ishmael. Thus the Temanite description could actually be a reference to Tema and not Teman. Later in the Book of Job, Tema is mentioned with a Sheba. From the context, most likely Sheba the nephew of Midian; though Sheba of Joktan cannot be ruled out.

Job 6:19

English Standard Version

The caravans of Tema look, the [travellers] of Sheba hope.

There is a scripture in Job which alludes to Eliphaz possibly being old when he speaks with Job. It is Job’s father who is referenced and Eliphaz measures his own age with other men who are older even than Job’s father.

Job 15:9-10

English Standard Version

9 What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that is not clear to us? 10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, older than your father.

Bildad is humorously regarded as the shortest man in the Bible, as he is only a ‘shoe height’ [Shu-hite]. The Shuhites are considered descendants of Shuah, the sixth and youngest son of Abraham and Keturah and the ancestor of the Swedes. 

Zophar in the Septuagint LXX: Sophar, meaning ‘to chirp’ or ‘to leap’, the Naamathite, meaning ‘sweet, pleasant’ is proposed by a number of sources as the king of the Minaeans in Arabia – possibly a link with Abraham’s children by Keturah. He is also linked with Eliphaz’s son Zepho or Zephi, grandson of Esau. 

Recall, Zepho – meaning ‘watch’ or ‘gaze’ – had also been taken prisoner by Joseph at the time of Esau’s death during the battle of the burial of Jacob in 1670 BCE. It is possible that if it is Zepho, he was still alive and approximately one hundred and forty. There was a town in the land of Judah called Naamah [Joshua 15:41]. Possibly the hometown of Zophar the Naamathite? 

We are left with the following two options for Job’s three locutionary friends being an Ishmaelite, a Shuite from Shuah and let’s say a Naamathite from Judah; or alternatively, three Edomites. Either way it does not prove that Job was or wasn’t an Edomite. Though the various references throughout, to Arabia and the east, favours the first option and therefore points towards Job having a closer tie with the Uz from Nahor or Aram rather than the Uz of Seir and Edom.

Later in the Book, there is a fourth friend of Job who becomes exasperated with the other three, mentioned in Job chapter thirty-two, Elihu the Buzite: descended from Buz, the brother of Uz, the son of Nahor [Genesis 22;21]. 

Job 32:1-10

The Message

1-5 Job’s three friends now fell silent. They were talked out, stymied because Job wouldn’t budge an inch – wouldn’t admit to an ounce of guilt [because he was righteous in his own eyes]. Then Elihu lost his temper. (Elihu was the son of Barakel the Buzite from the clan of [A]Ram.) He blazed out in anger against Job for pitting his righteousness [justifying himself] against God’s [as if God was in the wrong].He was also angry with the three friends because they had neither come up with an answer nor proved Job wrong [even though they had declared Job to be in the wrong]. 

Job 32:2-3

Living Bible

Then Elihu… became angry because Job refused to admit he had sinned and to acknowledge that God had just cause for punishing him. 3 But he was also angry with Job’s three friends because they had been unable to answer Job’s arguments and yet had condemned him.

Elihu had waited with Job while they spoke because they were all older than he. But when he saw that the three other men had exhausted their arguments, he exploded with pent-up anger.

6-10 This is what Elihu, son of Barakel the Buzite, said: “I’m a young man, and you are all old and experienced. That’s why I kept quiet and held back from joining the discussion.I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell. The longer you live, the wiser you become.’ But I see I was wrong – it’s God’s Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible. The experts have no corner on wisdom; getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense. So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well! I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.

Elihu’s lineage as a Chaldean, lends considerable support for Job being of the same extraction. Elihu clearly sees Job’s predicament better than his other friends and grasps the trial Job is going through. Is this a clue to Job being a Chaldean descended from Nahor too? It is worth remembering that Job though not in the heart of Edomite territory, could have been on the periphery to the northeast or southeast even. Job had easy access to the Pharaoh in Egypt and this supports a southeastern Canaan location at the least. Plus, he was in striking distance of the Sabeans in Arabia and the Chaldean raiding parties from the north. 

Job could well have migrated from southern Mespotamia, or even from Paddan-Aram or Haran, like Abraham. This might explain his status as a Priest and his acceptable sacrifices to the Eternal; in that he was not Aramean or Edomite, but rather descended from Abraham’s brother Nahor. A Chaldean who was related to his cousins Bethuel, Rebekah, Laban, Leah and Rachel. Bethuel being the eighth son and youngest brother of Uz the eldest and Buz the second born son of Nahor and Milcah – the sister of Sarah and eldest daughter of Haran. Once the friends begin speaking they start well enough, though soon descend into Uzit’s territory of mis-reading Job, his predicament and the Eternal’s involvement. Their words and his torment lead Job into a less than positive mindset. Even so, he refuses to blame the Almighty, but rather bemoans himself.

Job 3:1-4

Common English Bible

Afterward, Job spoke up and cursed the day he was born. 2 Job said: 3 Perish the day I was born, the night someone said, “A boy has been conceived.” 4 That day – let it be darkness; may God above ignore it, and light not shine on it.

Job 7:1-4

Common English Bible

Isn’t slavery everyone’s condition on earth, our days like those of a hired worker? 2 Like a slave we pant for a shadow, await our task like a hired worker. 

3 So I have inherited months [or years] of emptiness; nights of toil have been measured out for me. 4 If I lie down and think – When will I get up? – night drags on, and restless thoughts fill me until dawn.

Job 14:5

Amplified Bible

“Since [mans] days are determined, The number of his months [years] is with You (in Your control), And You have made his limits [a death gene or accident] so he cannot pass (his allotted time) [Ecclesiastes 3:2, NIV: ‘… a time to be born and a time to die’].

Dark, poignant and timeless truths are expressed by Job. We are born into a flawed and decaying world. There is not much to celebrate. Being physical on this earth, means enduring bondage and slavery in a corrupt world, serving evil masters. We enter and exit this life, according to the Almighty’s will and the timing of His plan for us. When Job had endured the testing and trials sent to him for long enough and the Eternal recognised a humble change in an already righteous man, then he restored Job’s wealth and family. Sources record that Job’s second wife was in fact Jacob’s daughter and Zebulon’s twin, Dinah. 

Dinah though, was born in 1741 BCE and marrying a seventy year old Job when Dinah was one hundred and fifty-five seems unreasonable. As Job, may have already married an Israelite, it is plausible he did so again; just as Jacob had married into Nahor’s family… Job was doing the reverse. A romantic solution, is that there is some truth in the record and that it was a descendant of Dinah – a great… granddaughter – who Job married.

The Creator doubled all of Job’s assets and wealth and restored the number of ten children he had previously. Curiously, the three daughters are named, though the sons are not. 

Job 42:10-16

Common English Bible

10 Then the Lord changed Job’s fortune when he prayed for his friends… 12… the Lord blessed Job’s latter days more than his former ones… 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named one Jemimah [Dove], a second Keziah [Cinnamon, ‘ended’], andthe third Keren-happuch [Darkeyes (from mascara) or ‘radiate with beautiful eyes’]. 15 No women in all the land were as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave an inheritance to them along with their brothers [The message: Their father treated them as equals with their brothers, providing the same inheritance].

The fascinating reason Job’s daughters are named, while his sons are not, is that the daughters are clearly new born girls; whereas, the sons were not new; with no need to introduce them, as the same sons had returned, or simply: they had been resurrected. We are presented new daughters but not new sons. The sons names being omitted is not a mistake, but a clue. In Job chapter one we learned that Job’s sons were righteous. This is why Job offered sacrifices for them and how they could have been resurrected. For Satan took their lives without good cause. The Adversary killed them before their time, to spite Job. Job knew full well, that his children could be resurrected. 

Job 33:28-30

The Message

28 But God stepped in and saved me from certain death. I’m alive again! Once more I see the light!’ 29-30 “This is the way God works. Over and over again He pulls our souls back from certain destruction so we’ll see the light – and live in the light!

Immeasurable joy must have filled Job to have his seven sons miraculously raised from the dead. The three original daughters had houses and an inheritance, but they were not inviting their brothers or being hospitable. The fact they were not resurrected implies they were not converted like their brothers. 

The new daughters given to Job through his second wife Dinah, were given an inheritance like their half-brothers. Job’s replacement daughters were not like the first three.  Job’s new daughters were the most fair and stunning women in that region of the world. The KJV says: “And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job…” The Hebrew word for fair or beautiful, is the same word used for Sarah, Rachel and Esther. King David is also described the same way, as is Joseph. It does mean beauty or handsomeness, though includes the description of one being fair in complexion. They are not described as ruddy or red like Esau and David; for the implication is that Sarah, Rachel, Esther, Joseph and Job’s three daughters, Jemimah, Keziah and Keren-happuch were blond and blue eyed. Whereas, Rebecca and Moses though beautiful, are not described as fair. Nor are Hagar, Keturah, Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. 

Genesis 39:5-6

King James Version

5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. 6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly [H8389, an attractive ‘figure or appearance’], person,and well favoured [H3303, fair, beautiful].

AMP: “… Now Joseph was handsome and attractive in form and appearance.” YLT: “… And Joseph is of a fair form [or well built], andof a fair appearance [or good-looking].”

The Book of Job – Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, Gerard Gertoux, 2015:

‘Why does the Bible specify that God gave 140 years of extra life to Job? Only the context allows us to answer this question. According to the Talmud, Moses wrote the Book of Job (Baba Bathra 15a) and this information is very likely true for the following reasons: the writer of the Book of Job knew him intimately because he was able to give the names of his three daughters (Job 42:12-14) as well as the exact assessment of his cattle and herds, it can be assumed that he must have met him after his trial around 1640 BCE [1586 BCE]. When Moses (1613-1493) [1526-1406 BCE] came in Midian (from 1573 to 1533) [1486-1446] he had to have met Job (1710-1500) [1656-1446] who was around 137 years old [170 and Moses was 40 years of age] at that time. Job probably heard through Moses that the Israelites were under the yoke of Egypt (since 1748 BCE) [1593 BCE] and that he had tried to stop their oppression, but without success. In the same manner that Job saw the end [to] his suffering, he also saw the end of suffering for the Israelites, 33 years before his death [in 1446 BCE]. 

If God had given him only 100 additional years, Job would not have been able to see this extraordinary deliverance. Similarly, Moses saw the Promised Land before he died (Deuteronomy 32:48-52) [in 1406 BCE, the year of his death].’ 

Esau’s enigmatic grandson born from his son Eliphaz and his Horite concubine, Timna, is Amalek which means: ‘people that wring, people that lap’ derived from the noun ‘am, ‘people’ or ‘kinsman’ and the verb laqaq, ‘to lap’ and malaq, ‘to wring.’ A Rabbinical interpretation is etymologised as am lak, ‘a people who lick (blood).’ The ten plagues, the children of Israel’s departure from Egypt and the death of the Pharaoh, left the nation’s government and military in turmoil and collapse. The Amalekites, an amalgamation of Esau’s grandson Amalek and the Rephaim – composed of Elioud giants descended from Nephilim – once learning of Egypt’s plight, descended on the nation with alacrity. Inevitably, they encountered the exiting Israelites. 

Exodus 17:8-16

English Standard Version

8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side,and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, thatI will  [at a the future date] utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Thus began a period of four hundred years of harassment, violence and barbarity by the Amalekites; with the peak of their power as the 15th Dynasty of Egypt, lasting a little over one hundred years in the Delta region of Lower Egypt. A direct approach into Palestine was difficult as related peoples of Amalek were numerous and so began a forty year serpent-like trek and sojourn from 1446 to 1406 BCE for the sons of Jacob, before they could enter the Promised Land. The tribes of Israel made camp one month – the 15th day of the second month, a Sabbath – after leaving Egypt at Rephidim. The Amalikites at this time in secular history became known as the Hyksos – as expounded by Immanuel Velikovsky and others. Notice the Eternal stated two profound prophecies: a. He would ultimately destroy the Amalekites, so that as a people or nation, they would cease to exist and b. until that point, He would cause their existence to be a continual cycle of bloodshed.

The first three Hyksos kings bear a resemblance to the last three kings of Edom listed in Genesis chapter thirty-six. They are Shaul of Rehoboth, Baal-hanan the son of Achor and Hadar. According to Cornerstone Publications, these three kings may equate to the first three Hyksos kings of Salatis, Beon and Apacnas.

‘The first king of the Hyksos dynasty in Egypt was Salatis. The two names are linguistically similar, but there is another factor to consider as well. Salatis’ capital city was Avaris (Tanis or Zoar in a different era), whereas Saul based his later operations in the region of Avim. Baal-hanan is the next-to-last Edomite ruler… whereas, according to the historian Manetho, quoted by Josephus, the second Hyksos king was Beon, which over time and transliteration could well have originally been a shortened or contracted version of Baal-hanan… the last king of Edom listed is Hadar, whose alternative name is Agena. The third Hyksos ruler is listed by the Egyptian historian Manetho as Apacnas.

… [a] quite significant bit of information comes from the Scriptures, and… the great deliverance wrought by Yahweh on behalf of Israel… when they were in Egypt… Beginning in verse 42, the various plagues thrust upon the Egyptians leading up to the Exodus are listed. “They remembered not His hand…how He had wrought his signs in Egypt…and had turned their rivers into blood… He sent divers sorts of flies among them…and frogs…  He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labor to the locusts. He destroyed their vines with hail… He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.  

He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger… by sending Evil Angels among them” (Psalm 78:42-49)… no plague remotely resembling evil angels… came upon the Egyptians. How intriguing it is that by the elimination of a single silent letter, the phrase sending of evil angels becomes sending of King-Shepherds! This is the precise meaning of the term Hyksos, and perfectly describes the Edomite invaders who spoiled and gained control of Egypt in the wake of Israel’s exodus.’

Flying Serpents and Dragons, R A Boulay, 1990, pages 151-156 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘… the Amalekites had captured the cities of the delta of Egypt. Here they had obtained the archives where the Hebrews had lived and obtained the table of descent of the Hebrews, their chiefs and the different families. The Amalekites appeared before the Israelite camps and taunted the Hebrews by name to come out, make peace with them and to transact business. Those who took the bait and answered the call were slaughtered and their bodies horribly mutilated.’

Deuteronomy 25:17-19

English Standard Version

17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, 18 how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary,and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you,and he did not fear God. 19 Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.

‘It was predicted of Israel at one time that “their kings shall rise above Agag.”… this statement makes it clear that Agag, the last Amalekite king, was of such high stature that later kings would be measured against him… it follows that he must have led a great nation… “the city of Amalek”… his capital… shows that the Hebrew tribes were up against a very powerful nation.’

Numbers 24:7

English Standard Version

Water shall flow from his [Jacob’s sons] buckets and his seed shall be in many waters; his king shall be higher than Agag [the giant king of Amalek], and his kingdom shall be exalted.

‘Josephus describes the citadel of the Hyksos… built east of the delta [Avaris built between Egypt and Palestine to guard and control both regions]: It was a city… made very strong by the walls… built around it, and by a most numerous garrison of 240,000 armed men… [The Amalekites maintained control for four hundred years through] their ruthless nature and military ability, and their policy of keeping the people of the lands they occupied impoverished and weaponless. In the First Book of Samuel… There was no smith to be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said to themselves, “The Hebrews might make swords or spears.” So all Israel would go down to the Philistines to repair any of their plowshares, mattocks, axes, or sickles… So at the time of the battle of Michmash neither sword nor spear was available to any of the soldiers who were with Saul and Jonathan. With their chariots, iron weapons, and composite bows, the Amalekites and Philistines were virtually unbeatable against an enemy who… [had] clubs, stone slings, simple bow and arrow, and stone-tipped spears. It was… later, when they could capture and seize sufficient… weapons, that the tide turned and the Israelites began to drive the Amalekites from the land. 

The Egyptian puppet king Sekenenure who ruled Thebes started the revolt against the Hyksos kings of the Seventeenth Dynasty. The revolt was carried on by his sons Kamose and Ahmose who recovered most of Egypt. The war of Kamose against the last Hyksos king Apophis (Apop) is preserved on a stele which was first erected at Karnak. His successor Ahmose… is credited with founding the Eighteenth Dynasty, completed the defeat of the Hyksos with the help of the Israelites. The scriptures describe battles against the Amalekites at the Wadi El-Arish… the city of Amalek… El-Arish… [is the same] as the city of the Hyksos… at Avaris. It is strange that scholars have not noted the close philological association of El-Arish and Av-[Aris]. 

The last Hyksos king was called Apop or Apophis (Greek)… Early Hebrew shows a striking resemblance between the letter “g” or gimel and the letter “p” or pei. No other Hebrew letters were so much alike. Since the vowels in early Hebrew are interchangable, Agag can easily become Apop. It thus appears that the last Hyksos king and the Amalekite king Agag were one and the same person.’

Numbers 24:20-22

English Standard Version

20 Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first [H7225 – re’shiyth: beginning, best, chief, choice part] among the nations, but its end is utter destruction.” 

21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, “Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock. 22 Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned when Asshur takes you away captive.”

The Nephilim descended Amalekites were of ancient high antiquity and the Edomite Amalekites were a regional power; the pre-imminent nation of lower Canaan and Lower Egypt from the Exodus in 1446 BCE till the reigns of King Saul and David beginning 1025 BCE. They were literally the first of the major nations. A significant branch of the Amalekites, knowing the sons of Jacob were leaving Egypt and that the ten plagues had brought Egypt to its knees, were heading southwest in haste to a. seize control of Egypt and b. to destroy the Israelites before they had barely left the land. The prophecy against Amalek was to smash them so that as a nation, they were obliterated. A remnant survived, as have the affiliated Kenites. 

Both have merged with the Edomites and are part of the broader group of people known as Jewish. We have studied the Kenites and observed their subsidiary relationships with Midian and Judah; yet, it is with Amalek that their primary relationship lay [refer Chapter XXVII Abraham & Keturah – Benelux & Scandinavia]. The Kenites invariably jewellers, or with names such as Gold, Goldsmith, Goldstein, Goldhammer, Goldman, Goldfinger and Diamond; were once a line of skilled coppersmiths and metalworkers. Even the Rechabite Kenites, were prohibited in practicing agriculture – Jeremiah 35:7. The Amalekites are somewhat more sinister and can often be found in todays Jewish hierarchy, holding key, usually behind the scenes positions in the world; whereby they manipulate and influence governments, big business, industry, religion, sport, music and entertainment.

1 Samuel 15:1-34

English Standard Version

And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 

2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 

6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

The Kenites were given a reprieve, though later suffered at the hand of the Assyrians. 

10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the bestof the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God,and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

Notice Saul blamed the people for sparing the best of the loot, but it was done for ‘altruistic reasons’, so as to sacrifice to the Eternal. Saul says to Samuel, “your God”, not my God. Herein lay the heart of the weakness of Saul; which we will address in the following chapter [Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes]. A sparring ensues between Samuel and Saul who have little love for each other. The Midrash says the Amalekites were sorcerers who could transform to resemble animals, thus the command to kill all livestock was necessary to completely destroy Amalek. Chillingly, the Rabbi Elyahu Kin said white Europeans in the guise of the Roman Empire was Amalek and that killing a European baby was ‘fulfilling a Mitzvah [a commandment to fulfil a religious duty].’

17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? [a note of sarcasm from Samuel, as Saul had played the false humility card when chosen as king] The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your [Saul retaliating with sarcasm] God in Gilgal.” 

22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

This was a dramatic moment and a huge turning point in Israel’s history. The fledgling Israelite Kingdom, barely a nation was heading down the wrong path, led by a weak king, who did not put the Eternal first and who did not comprehend spiritual obedience, only physical ritual and sacrifice. A new king who had the same heart as the Creator was required; who would obey the Eternal’s commands and see them through.

24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice [Saul placing blame on the people and showing the weakness of his character]. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” [false humility from Saul and ‘too little, too late’] 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor [David] of yours, who is better than you. 

Saul acknowledged his sin against the Lord, which was commendable and then spoiled it with an excuse; actually blaming the people for obeying them instead. He also asked Samuel to intercede for him with the Eternal, to pardon his sin on his behalf – much like the Universal Church today. Saul reveals his complete lack of a relationship with the Almighty and any comprehension of what one with the Creator entails. 

Saul seizing Samuel’s robe is reminiscent when later, David tears or cuts Sauls robe in a cave where he was ironically hiding from Saul in 1 Samuel 24:4-6, ESV: ‘And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 

And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him…”

29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.”And Agag came to him cheerfully.Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”33 And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.”And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.

Saul again asks Samuel to return with him and Samuel relents so as to save face for Saul in front of the elders of Israel. Samuel was clearly very angry with Saul for sparing Agag’s life. Recall, Esau was to live by the sword. His descendants did so, including his grandson Amalek. King Agag had nothing to worry about or so he thought, as he and King Saul had found mutual admiration, with Agag being more an honoured guest than a dangerous prisoner.

1 Samuel 28:17-20

English Standard Version

17 The Lord has done to you as he spoke by me, for the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover, the Lord will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me. The Lord will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.” 20 Then Saul fell at once full length on the ground, filled with fear because of the words of Samuel. And there was no strength in him, for he had eaten nothing all day and all night.

The Genesis 6 Conspiracy, Gary Wayne, 2014, pages 174-175, 190-194, 251-256 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘Of the many nations the Nephilim lived among, the Amalekites… stand out in their determined opposition to the Israelites… [containing] the descendants of Anak… What is not clear… is whether or not… the Amalekites were [a] pure Nephilim [nation] or if the Nephilim just lived among them, dominating their [kingship]. The mysterious Amalekites do not possess any archaeological traces whatsoever. It is as though they never existed; many scholars believe that Amalek and his tribe merged with the original, unknown Amalekites to form the Great Amalekite Race, or perhaps Amalek took his name, a new name, from the supposed unknown people he merged with. 

What can be said with certainty is that the Amalekites were a murky nation in both their founding and in the way they unaccountably vanished from recorded secular history… Anakites that dwelled in the land of Seir were known as Horites… [Amalekites and Horites] both considered Seir their home… linking Amalekites with Horites is an intriguing insight. Perhaps they actually were one and the same people.’ 

1 Samuel 27:8

English Standard Version

Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt.

‘The terms “ancient times, old, former times, long ago” and “before our time” were always understood as the pre-flood epoch. This, then, suggests the Amalekites were in existence as a race of giants in the epoch of the antediluvian Nephilim… both before and after the flood. If “ancient times” does not refer to antediluvian times, then it most certainly refers to an age before Abraham… to the age immediately following the deluge [in 10,837 BCE]. 

“We even saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in Negev”(Numbers 13:23)… it describes the descendants of Anak in the same breath and narrative as the Amalekites, thereby connecting… them… by application and implication… it seems to imply that the Amalekites were actually descendants of Anak… the Amalekites were some form of Nephilim,andin particular, direct descendants of Anak…Numbers 24:20 describes the Amalekites as the first among nations, suggesting once more that they did survive the flood… to form possibly the first postdiluvian nation of war. All inferences from scriptural history documenting the Amalekites tend to verify vividly that they were an ancient nation, separate from the genealogy of Noah, dating their existence back to the antediluvian age. 

In fact, this campaign could have been called “the War Against Giants” as opposed to the War of Four Kings Against Five [in actuality, Four versus Eight], because the expanded war included a campaign against an alliance of Nephilim-dominated kingdoms including the Rephaites [comprising Zamzummites [1], Avvites [2]and the Anakites [3]… the Zuzites [4] of Ham, the Emites [5]… the Horites [6][from their Hill country of] Sier, the Amalekites [7] andthe Amorites [8]…]

The Horites were inhabitants of… “Seir” before the Edomites settled there… Seir… did not descend from anyone in the Table of nations… suggesting a distinct and different chronology… Amalek received his name from the Amalekites… and his descendants were from the seed of Noah, which defiled itself with Nephilim… the tribe of Amalek merged with the original inhabitants of Seir, the giant Horites, which [then] formed the Greater Amalekite Nation. Seir… actually translates as “rough skinned and hairy”… suggesting Seir and the Horites were indeed Nephilim… Seir was the grandfather to Hori through his son Lotan… the likely root for… Horite… 

… according to Ginsberg, Esau, the patriarch of Amalek, was born evil and lost his birthright… even though Esau was the firstborn of Isaac. Because of this, Esau’s last wish on his deathbed, according to Jewish lore, was for Amalek to cut off the fledgling nation of Israel from their birthright, before they became too formidable too stop Israel from acquiring the Land of the Covenant. The Bible supports Esau’s hatred towards Jacob, with Esau’s own angry words and with his mother’s advice to Jacob… [in] Genesis 27:36-41 [and] Genesis 27:42-43. Hebrews 12:16-17 further underscores Esau’s anger…’

Hebrews 12:16-17

English Standard Version

16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent [regret, rather than true sorrow], though he sought it with [crocodile] tears.

‘One wonders whether… this passage… has… equated Esau’s godlessness… and… sexual transgressions… to the sexual sins of dark angels… Esau married at least two Horite/Nephilim females… and a number of Esau’s posterity married Horites… Esau’s descending family tree is… inexplicably interwoven and located with the Horites of Seir in the Table of nations (Genesis 36:1-40; 1 Chronicles 1:35-51). 

Sometime after Isaac’s death, legends articulate that Esau brought forth a great Edomite and Horite army, an army from Seir that likely included Amalekites, to slay his brother, Jacob, and Jacob’s entire family, but Esau and four of his sons – Reuel, Jeush, Lotan, and Korah… were slain in the battle.’ 

Reuel was born of Basemath the Ishmaelite and was fifty percent Edomite and fifty percent Ishmael – zero percent Horite. Jeush and Korah were born of Oholibamah and were thus fifty percent Horite or Nephilim descended and Lotan the son of Seir was one hundred percent Horite extraction.

‘… the Amalekites [attacked]… when Israel was weary and worn out… completely vulnerable. The Amalekites slaughtered all those who lagged behind due to exhaustion… [fighting] a despicable war of cowardly terrorism before engaging the helpless Israelites in a formal battle. At first, they remained in the hills outside of the Israelite camp, pretending to be friends and kin to Israel. The Amalekites would call out Israelites by name, inviting them to mingle and dine with their cousins, before ambushing, murdering, and mutilating the corpses of all those who did, all the while openly mocking Abraham’s covenant with Isaac and Jacob. 

Ginsberg notes the Amalekites struck like “a swarm of locusts… their purpose wasto suck the blood out of Israel”before they became strong. Deuteronomy goes on to note that the Amalekites showed no fear of God (Deuteronomy 25:18). 

They continued to maintain and nourish their faith in the fallen angels that had saved the remnant of Amalekites from the flood. These people of sorcery employed black magic when they attacked Israel,and only with the strength of God did the Israelites prevail over this sorcery, [witnessed] by Moses and his raised hands during the daylong battle.

The second charge [the first being the Amalekite’s ‘despicable warfare tactics’ making ‘them the most despised nation recorded in the Bible’] against the Amalekites derived from their inciting other nations to war against the Israelites. Josephus tells us that the Amalekites informed the other nations that Israel lay in wait, only to ruin them at a later date. This then brings into perspective the odd passage from the Psalms:

Psalm 83:2-8

New English Translation

2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion; those who hate you are hostile. 3 They carefully plot against your people, and make plans to harm the ones you cherish. 4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation. Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”5 Yes, they devise a unified strategy; they form an alliance against you. 

6 It includes the tents of Edom [State of Israel] and the Ishmaelites [Germany], Moab [France] and the Hagrites [Austria], 

7 Gebal, Ammon [Northern France], and Amalek [Jews], Philistia [Mexico & Latino-Hispano America] and the inhabitants of Tyre [Brazil led South America]. 

8 Even Assyria [Russia] has allied with them, lending its strength to the descendants of Lot [France, French Quebec]. (Selah) [think on this]

A who’s who, of the sons of Jacob’s enemies: the key players of the past and the main adversaries today and in the future. They include the brother of Jacob, his Uncle, his cousins and major neighbours and trading partners and not least their biggest adversary Asshur, the other dominant son of Shem, who vies with Arphaxad for preeminence amongst the European descended peoples. Notice, it is Edom which is stated first, while Amalek controls the agenda and pulls the strings of nearly all the nations that are allied, with Russia and Germany, providing the muscle.

‘… an explosive… vitriolic, generational blood vow… continued… appearing in all its nastiness with every available opportunity to wage an allied war against Israel. [For] after the Exodus encounter, we never read of a war waged by the Amalekites independent of their subservient allies. The third charge against the Amalekites pertained to their self-induced, brutal, and evil nature. Josephus recorded the Amalekites as the most warlike of all nations, drawing a parallel once more with the warlike tendencies of the Nephilim. The Amalekite in the book of Esther was named Haman the Agagite; he was a direct [descendant] of Agag.’

Haman’s lineage is provided in the Targum Sheni as: “Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, son of Srach, son of Buza, son of Iphlotas, son of Dyosef, son of Dyosim, son of Prome, son of Ma’dei, son of Bla’akan, son of Intimros, son of Haridom, son of Sh’gar, son of Nigar, son of Farmashta, son of Vayezatha, (son of Agag, son of Sumkei,) son of Amalek, son of the concubine [Timna] of Eliphaz, firstborn son of Esau”.

‘The appellation Agagite was interchangeable with Amalekite in its ancient application, reflecting their joint heritage. The first Agag was one of the three sons of Anak, while the second Agag was the king of the Amalekites that Saul defeated. That Agag, too, was a giant. What is most curious is that almost 700 years after the Amalekites were [‘utterly‘] destroyed by David and Saul, a descendant of the remnant of Amalek was still conspiring to continue the blood war against Israel. This blood oath was no simple pledge of vengeance. It ran much deeper than that. It almost seems to have been encoded into the Amalekite DNA by virtue of its generational ferocity [because Nephilim have inherited from their dark Angel parents the hatred towards the Creator and His chosen people]. What simply cannot be argued is that such an obsessive blood feud could have been sponsored by a simple dislike towards a nation of slaves’ exodus to freedom. There simply had to be something sponsoring this hatred that… kept it simmering within their bloodline. Israel was appointed the executioner for Amalek, which was just reward for the crimes committed against her… to “blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” What Amalek endeavored… was to “destroy [Israel] as a nation, that the name Israel be remembered no more”… The judgement pronounced by God was equal to the crime perpetrated by Amalek towards Israel, no more and no less.Only Nephilim nations originally opposed Israel in war… the indictment and punishment [extended to] all the Nephilim infested nations allied with the Amalekites… All the giants were to be exterminated.’

A digression on Haman and Esther provides further insight on the Amalekite and Israelite enmity. Quote included from Cornerstone Publications follows.

‘“Once again there is a battle between Saul and Agag. Instead of Saul, son of Kish, it is Mordecai, son of Kish. Haman the Agagite is the enemy instead of his ancestor, Agag. Saul had a partial victory over Agag, but due to his disobedience, the line of the Amalekites and the family of Agag survived to terrorize Israel in the days of the Persian empire. Mordecai, the son of Kish, succeeded and overcame the entire lineage of Agag, and was elevated to the highest position in the empire, second only to the king. Likewise, the Jewish people and all who joined with them became the favored sons of the kingdom. Indeed, in an even greater eschatological sense, Saul is a picture of Adam, the first man and ruler in the Garden of Eden. Yet Adam, and Saul, fell to sin. In this same light, Mordecai is a picture of the Messiah, the second Adam, who will succeed in overcoming all evil. Agag is a picture of Satan, and his descendant, Haman, is a picture of the False Messiah… In fact, the Midrash (Shocher Tov 9.10) states that God proclaims that neither His name nor His throne can be complete until the seed of Amalek is wiped from the face of the earth.” [Prophecies in the Book of Esther, pages 19-21].’

The conflict evidenced between Esau and Jacob is a type and a reflection of the battle between the Serpent’s seed and the woman, Eve’s seed; represented by the Messiah and the false Messiah: the first Beast, Azazel, aka Abaddon and Apollyon.

‘The book of Esther continues on with this amazing story of faith, courage, and determination in the face of absolute evil and seemingly overwhelming odds… most of the signal events transpire around the Passover season… very specific dates are mentioned, such as the 13th, 14th, and 16th days of Nisan, the first month of the sacred year. The fast which Esther eventually proclaimed for the endangered Jews actually occurred over Passover itself, and her appearance before the king transpired on the 16th day of the first month… this is the precise day on which the Israelites offered the wave sheaf, and commenced their count to Pentecost…

… Haman’s conspiracy against Mordecai and the Jews backfired, and the gallows he had built upon which to hang Mordecai became his own means of execution. This evil Edomite died on the 17th day of Nisan… What is significant about the 17th day of the first month… it is the exact date on which the ark came to rest atop the mountains of Ararat… best evidence demonstrates that ancient Israel crossed the Red Sea on this very date… If so, then the 17th day of the first month would not only mark the conclusion of the great Flood… but also the propitious occasion when the Pharaoh and all the Egyptian host were annihilated in the crashing waves of the Red Sea…

Although Mordecai does stand as a type of the Messiah… Esther has a very significant role in this unfolding saga… a mere unknown captive, incredibly she becomes queen of the Persian empire… Esther’s given name is Hadassah, which means myrtle. The myrtle tree proves to be of significance in the Scriptures… it could be said to represent Jerusalem, and thus all of Israel. The myrtle tree symbolizes joy, hope, and a blessed future. Like Esther, the myrtle tree is not nearly as impressive or showy as other plants… it grows in low places, but because of this fact, it receives extra moisture, keeping it very green and strong… it withstands drought and remains green even after being cut, indicative of the resilience of Esther… in the face of being taken captive to an alien land… When the leaves of the myrtle tree are crushed (symbolic of great trial and suffering), they produce a fragrant perfume more potent than the rose, even as did the life of Queen Esther…’

Judges 5:14

New King James Version

From Ephraim were those whose roots were in Amalek…

The context here is that Ephraim dwelt in the region of Canaan which had once belonged to Amalek. Disconcertingly, it is also a reference to Amalek in reduced number, being alive and well in modern day Ephraim. This chapter is a song and prophetic description, of the sons of Jacob by the Judge Deborah and Barak. We will learn that within Ephraim, there is a ‘root of Amalek’ that wields immense power.

Ezra 4:1-6

English Standard Version

Now when the adversaries [Edom and Amalek] of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, 2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria [681 to 669 BCE] who brought us here.” 3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” 4 Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build 5 and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus [the Great] king of Persia [559 to 530 BCE] even until the reign of Darius [I] king of Persia [in 522 until 486 BCE]. 6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus [Xerxes I, husband of Esther], in the beginning of his reign [from 485 to 465 BCE], they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

At an early date, the symbiotic and intwined relationship between Edom and Jacob or principally Judah was evident and so a complex relationship with mistaken identity the result, is not that hard to fathom. A double irony is displayed in the following article from a Jewish rabbi, considering what we have learned regarding Esau’s grandson, Amalek.

Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisades, rabbi emeritus Shammai Engelmayer – emphasis & bold mine:

‘Our prayer services are suffused with memory, as well, including a specific optional reading at the end of every weekday morning service; in the Ashkenazic rite it is known as “The Six Remembrances”; in the Sephardi rite, “The Ten Remembrances.” Both include remembering Amalek. “Amalek” actually refers to the tribe of that name, not to its founder (and our cousin, grandson of Esau and grand-nephew of Jacob). The irony is that while we survived the schemes of all of history’s Amaleks, we have ignored the Amalek closest to us – the Amalek within ourselves.’

The principal adversaries of Jacob were the descendants of Esau. Historically, Edom and Mount Seir lay to the south of the Dead Sea. It stretched to its seaport in the Gulf of Akaba, at Elath and included the famous ravine known as Petra. 

In 312 BCE the Edomites were driven from Petra north westwards by the Nabatheans – a people of Arabic ethnicity. By the middle of the second century BCE the Edomites occupied not only southern Judah but also Hebron and the land north of it [1 Maccabees 4:29; 5:65]. The same people were in control of Judea – derived from Judah and Idumea, derived from Edom, comprising Jerusalem in the south – at the time of Christ. The leading Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and Priests – many of whom had received their positions from the Idumean King Herod, having solidified his power through installing relatives and friends – were Edomites.

Prior to this, the Hasmonean dynasty had ruled Judea from circa 140 to 37 BCE. The word is linked to the tribe of Simeon from Ha Simeon, the village of Heshbon, Hashmona and also the great-grandfather Asmoneus, of patriot Mattahthias Maccabees. The Hasmonean leaders were principally from the tribe of Levi. The former lands of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been occupied in turn by Assyria, the Babylonians, the Achaemenid or Medo-Persian Empire and by Alexander the Great’s Greco-Macedonian Empire. Two of the four successor states, the Seleucid and Ptolemaic Egypt contested the region over six different wars and between 319 and 302 BCE, Jerusalem changed hands seven times.

There was unrest in Jerusalem over the office of the High Priesthood, while the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes IV was campaigning in Egypt. He was humiliatingly pressured by the Romans to withdraw from Egypt and thus in harsh retaliation, he imposed a universal tax and built a fortress in Jerusalem. Antiochus then endeavoured to suppress public observance of Jewish laws and his government set up an idol of Zeus on the Temple Mount. He forbade circumcision and possession of the scriptures, invoking the death penalty as punishment. According to Josephus: ‘Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city, or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during the siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine’s flesh upon the altar.’ He also outlawed the observance of the seventh day Sabbath and the offering of sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple; requiring the Jewish leaders to sacrifice to idols instead.

This led to the Maccabean revolt in 167 BCE, led by the priestly Levite family of Mattathias rebel leader from 170 to 167 BCE and his sons; Judas Maccabeus rebel leader from 167 to 160 BCE, as well as High priest from 165 to 162 BCE; Jonathan Apphus rebel leader from 160 to 143 BCE and High Priest from 152 to 142 BCE; and Simon Thassi – Ethnarch [Monarch] and High Priest from 142 to 135 BCE. 

In 164 BCE Judah Maccabeus entered Jerusalem and the formal worship of Yahweh was re-established. After five years of war, Judah sought an alliance with the Roman Republic to remove the Greeks. 

Later, Simon was assassinated in 135 BCE, along with his eldest sons, Matthathias and Judas. Simon’s third son John Hyrcanus assumed leadership and ruled as Ethnarch and High Priest from 134 to 104 BCE.

Antiochus Epiphanes IV – Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany

Hyrcanus conquered the neighbouring land of Idumea in 125 BCE. Josephus records: “Hyrcanus … subdued all the Idumeans; and permitted them to stay in that country, if they would circumcise their genitals, and make use of the laws of the Jews [true Judah]; and they were so desirous of living in the country of their forefathers, that they submitted to the use of circumcision, and of the rest of the Jewish ways of living; at which time therefore this befell them, that they were hereafter no other than Jews… That country is also called Judea, and the people Jews; and this name is given also to as many as embrace their religion, though of other nations [Old Testament Law of the Bible adhered to with mixed results by Israel and Judah – evolved into the Judaism of today, preserved by Edom]. But then upon what foundation so good a governor as Hyrcanus took upon himself to compel these Idumeans [Edomites] either to become Jews or to leave their country, deserves great consideration. I suppose it was because they had long ago been driven out of the land of Edom, and had seized on and possessed the [vacated land from the] Tribe of Simeon and all the southern part of the Tribe of Judah…”

The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1903 edition, confirms regarding Edom: ‘They were then incorporated with the Jewish nation, and their country was called by the Greeks and Romans “Idumea” . . . From this time the Idumeans ceased to be a separate nation, though the name “Idumea” still existed (in) the time of Jerome.’

The abominable treatment of the people of Judah at the hands of the evil Seleucid madman Antiochus IV, understandably aroused immense anger, with John Hyrcanus channeling that anger toward the Edomites. His reasoning in subjugating and humiliating the Edomites, by forcing them to convert to ‘Judaism’ was a monumental decision. This one act sowed an evil seed that would reap massive far reaching repercussions in Jewish history and that of the whole world. It encouraged the intermingling of Judah and the Idumeans; the tribe of Judah in the north and the Edomites in the south. This laid the groundwork for the Idumean’s to gain the upper hand and rule the provinces of ‘Palestine’, just as the promise of the Messiah was to be fulfilled.

The word ‘Jew’ in the Old Testament scripture refers to the tribe of Judah and has nothing to do with Edom. 

It should really be rendered Judahite, ‘as in one descended from Judah’,one of the Israelite tribes. The name for the region was called Judea, a latinised version of the word Judah and a coincidental combination of the names Jud-ah and Idum-ea. Conversely, in the New Testament verses the word Jew should read Judean, as in one who was living in the Roman province of Judea. Today, the word Jew has nothing to do with the tribe of Judah and everything to do with the people of Edom. 

The seeds of the Hasmonean collapse were planted during Hyrcanus II while High Priest from 76 to 66 and 63 to 40 BCE and as King from 67 to 66 and then 47 to 40 BCE, the grandson of John Hyrcanus. Hyrcanus II ruled twice as his younger brother Aristobulus II, due to civil war ruled in-between. During Hyrcanus’s second term, though Ethnarch, he was much like a puppet with effectively power in the hands of his advisor, Antipater the Idumaean – whom Caesar had appointed as Roman Procurator. Antipater appointed his sons to positions of influence, with Phasael as Governor of Jerusalem in Judea and Herod – the future King Herod the Great of Judea at the time of the birth of Christ – Governor of Galilee, from 47 to 40 BCE. 

There is reason to believe that Antipater and his famous son, Herod were related to the ancient King Agag the Amalekite, through Haman discussed earlier who lived at the time of Queen Esther of Persia. Antipater was assassinated in 43 BCE, however, Antipater’s sons managed to maintain their control over Judea and Hyrcanus II. 

In 40 BCE, the Parthians – sons of Jacob and one of the main bodies of the lost tribes – invaded the Roman provinces and in Judea, the Hasmonean dynasty was restored under King Antigonus, Hyrcanus’s uncle, a pro-Parthian monarch. Phasael and Hyrcanus II went to meet the Parthians but were captured instead. Antigonus, who was present, cut off Hyrcanus’s ears to make him unsuitable for the High Priesthood, while Phasael was put to death. Antigonus, Hebrew name Mattathias, bore both titles of king and High Priest for only three years, as he had unwisely not disposed of his most dangerous enemy, Herod. 

The Parthian Empire was at this time a remnant – albeit the most influential one at the time – of the tribes which had comprised the former United Kingdom of Israel and highly ironically or maybe not, were led by the tribe of Judah. They were more than capable of attacking the Roman Empire more effectively than any other peoples or tribes in 40 BCE. They were outstanding horse back riders and archers and with their repeated hit and retreat attacks, were able to overcome the strength of the Roman Legions. It was always in Rome’s interest to ensure a major conflagration did not break out with the Parthians, so that the Roman Legions could be on hand to defend other parts of their empire, like the Germanic and Gothic peoples of northern Europe; thereby ensuring peace and safety for all peoples residing and engaging in commerce within the Roman sphere of influence.

Meanwhile, Herod had escaped to Rome and after convincing Mark Antony and the Senate of his loyalties to the Rome Republic was announced ‘king of the Jews.’ 

Even though king of all Judea, he did not subjugate the whole territory until 37 BCE, as the Romans had been distracted fighting the Parthians. Herod the Great ruled as a vassal king for over forty years, crushing all opposition, including all surviving Hasmoneans except Hyrcanus II; while also initiating huge building projects, including the harbour at Caesarea, the plaza surrounded by retaining walls at the Temple Mount, the Masada fortification and the Herodium to name a few. 

Herod killed the entire Sanhedrin of sixty-eight people, apart from Hillel and Shammai* who subsequently became founders of the two main schools of the Pharisees. Hyrcanus II had been held by the Parthians since 40 BCE and until 36 BCE, he lived amid the Babylonian Jews, who paid him every mark of respect. Herod, who feared that Hyrcanus might induce the Parthians to help him regain the throne, invited him to Jerusalem. The Babylonian Jews warned him in vain, though Herod received him with hospitality and good humour, assigning him the first place at his table and the presidency of the state council; all the while awaiting an opportunity to eliminate him. As the last remaining Hasmonean, Hyrcanus was a dangerous rival for Herod. Finally, in 30 BCE, charged with plotting with the King of Arabia, Herod had Hyrcanus condemned and executed. 

Herod’s killing did not stop there, for he tried to kill the Messiah and had all male born babies and infants under two years of age murdered – reminiscent of the Pharaoh killing new born male Israelite babies. By an interesting twist of fate, we will find that the Pharaoh who instigated the mass killing was the very same Pharaoh who allowed his daughter to adopt the baby Moses. 

Matthew 2:16-20

English Standard version

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under…  But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”

There is considerable confusion over when the Messiah was born, how long he lived and when he died. A look on internet forums will confirm this point. It seems to be a subject that many people are interested in and have an opinion on, no matter what level of research they have conducted. As it is such a pivotal matter spawning an ideology – the religion of Christianity – based on the life of one Yeshua/Joshua/Jesus, the anointed Messiah/Christos/Saviour, we will survey the subject comprehensively, attempting to cover the pertinent facts. There is much we can glean from the Bible and secular sources in answering these questions. Those who have studied the subject will recognise some or more of what we will cover and hopefully, maybe be interestingly surprised with additional information they may not have been aware until now. 

As the identity of the nations in our modern world and the prophecies attached to them is the single biggest proof that the Bible is not just any other book, but a Book apart; so to is the identifying of when exactly in history the Messiah lived, the foundational proof, that someone lived who was not just any other man, but a Man apart [Appendix VIII: When the Creator came to dwell with His Creation]. 

We learn when Christ began his ministry from Luke 3:1-2, 23 ESV:

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea [26-36/37 CE], and Herod [Antipas, son of Herod the Great] being tetrarch of Galilee [4 BCE – 39 CE], and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis [4 BCE – 34 CE], and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas… Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age…

Christ was about or began to be thirty, when he started his ministry – baptised by his cousin, John the Baptist – in the fifteenth year of Emperor Tiberius. Tiberius was appointed co-regent with Augustus on July 1st in 11 CE. Fifteen years later is 26 CE. Pontius Pilate began his governorship of Judea in 26 CE. There is no debate on this, though there is on when he either left office or died in either 36 or 37 CE. 

If Christ began his ministry in 26 CE; first, how long was His ministry; second, what year did He die; and third, which year was He born? During the course of His ministry, three Passovers are directly mentioned in John 2:13, 6:4 and His final one in 11:55-57, 12:1. Thus we know Christ’s ministry was at least two years long. Many scholars agree that there is a Passover account missing between John chapters two and six, to fit in all the events in the gospels. This missing Passover is indirectly mentioned in John 5:1. The Passovers during Christ’s ministry would be in 27, 28, 29 and the fourth Passover would be in the year 30 CE.

The Jerusalem Talmud recounts: ‘Forty years before [30 CE] the destruction of the Temple [in 70 CE], the [1] western light went out, the [2] crimson thread remained crimson, and the [3] lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the [4] gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open.’ The Babylonian Talmud corroborates: ‘During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple the lot (‘For the Lord’) did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-colored strap become white; nor did the western most light shine; and the doors of the Hekel [Temple] would open by themselves.’ 

On the Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur] was a random choosing of a ‘lot’. As already discussed, this determined which of two goats would be ‘for the Lord’ and which goat would be the ‘Azazel’ or scapegoat [Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. For the two hundred years before 30 CE, when the High Priest picked one of two stones, he would select either a black stone or a white stone by chance. Sensationally for forty years in a row, the High Priest always picked the black stone. 

‘The odds against this happening are astronomical (2 to the 40th power). In other words, the chances of this occurring are 1 in approximately 1,099,511,627,776 – or over one trillion to one.’ This was considered a dire omen, portraying a significant change in the ritual. The transition from the Old Covenant, lasting forty years had begun, unbeknown to the Priesthood.

A crimson strip or cloth was tied to the Azazel goat. Some of the red cloth was removed from the goat and tied to the Temple door. Every year the red cloth on the Temple door turned white to signify the atonement of another Yom Kippur was acceptable to the Eternal. This event happened without fail until 30 CE when from then on until the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the cloth remained crimson, never again turning white. Sin of the nation was represented by the colour red for blood and placed on the Azazel goat; the goat’s death removed the sins of the people. Sins were not being forgiven anymore, or made white. 

Isaiah 1:18

English Standard Version

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Christ was now the only Saviour and redeemer. The continual sacrifice of animal’s blood was now of no effect. Atonement and reconciliation with the Father was through His son and His shed blood, sacrificed once, forgiveness offered to all.

It is recorded by the leader of the Jewish community of the time, Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai, that the Temple doors swung open every night of their own accord, for forty straight years beginning in 30 CE. Symbolically, the doors were opening so that all may now enter the Temple, even to its innermost holy section. The Almighty’s presence had visibly departed from the Temple. Access was no longer just for High Priests alone, but the doors swung open so that all can enter the Eternal’s house of worship.

The seven branched candle stick or Menorah had the most important lamp of the Temple go out repeatedly, no matter what. Every single night for forty years – over 12,500 nights in a row – the main light of the Temple lamp stand went out of its own accord; regardless what attempts and precautions the priests took to safeguard against it occurring. 

The Significance of the Year CE 30, Earnest Martin, 1994:

‘In fact, we are told in the Talmud that at dusk the lamps that were unlit in the daytime (the middle four lamps remained unlit, while the two eastern lamps normally stayed lit during the day) were to be re-lit from the flames of the western lamp (which was a lamp that was supposed to stay lit all the time – it was like the ‘eternal’ flame that we see today in some national monuments)… 

This ‘western lamp’ was to be kept lit at all times. For that reason, the priests kept extra reservoirs of olive oil and other implements in ready supply to make sure that the ‘western lamp’ (under all circumstances) would stay lit. But what happened in the forty years from the very year Messiah said the physical Temple would be destroyed? Every night for forty years the western lamp went out, and this in spite of the priests each evening preparing in a special way the western lamp so that it would remain constantly burning all night!’

The chances of the main lamp going out every night is as amazing as the preceding three miraculous occurrences. There is really no other way to explain them all, other than a supernatural origin. The light of the Menorah, symbolic of the presence of the Eternal was clearly removed. This phenomenon began 30 CE, lasting until the Temples destruction in 70 CE. Exactly forty years. This period of time in the Bible is synonymous with periods of testing and trial – of the Almighty building character in a person or people. For example the forty years the Israelites spent wandering in the Sinai wilderness and the forty days Christ fasted and was tested by the Devil. Forty is comprised of four times ten. The number four being representative of the Creator – as a foundation, builder, designer and moulder – and ten, the number of judgement and perfection.

The Messiah predicted trials and trouble for Judea in Luke 23:28-31, ESV: 

28 But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

The Apostle John says that the Jews in rebuttal to Jesus’ statement: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They said: “Forty and six years was this temple in building, and will thou rear it up in three days?” [John 2:19-20, KJV]. Their statement is significant for the temple was still under construction and was not completed until 64 CE and then ironically, destroyed some six years later. Christ predicted the temples destruction.

Matthew 24:1-2

English Standard Version

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

On August 10th, in 70 CE, the 9th of Av on the Hebrew Calendar, the very day when the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II burned the first Temple – originally built by King Solomon – in 586 BCE, the Temple, would you believe was burned again. Roman Emperor Titus, took the city of Jerusalem and put it to the torch, in the process destroying the Temple. 

The temple work had been begun by Herod the Great in the eighteenth year of his reign in 19 BCE. Counting forty-six years forward from 19 BCE brings us to the year 27 CE. Christ was in Jerusalem for the observance of the first Passover of His ministry when this discussion occurred – John 2:13. As John records three other Passovers observed by Christ during His ministry, then His death was at least three years later, during the Passover of 30 CE.

The Messiah arrived in Bethany six days before the Passover [John 12:1]. This, as it turns out is pivotal information in the last week of Christ’s life. Passover is the day the lambs were killed [Mark 14:1,12, Luke 22:1,7)] and it was on the 14th day of the first month of Abib or Nisan [Exodus 12:6, Leviticus 23:5] every year. The actual day of the 14th alternates each year on the Gregorian calendar. Within the debate and confusion surrounding the death of the Messiah are three main areas of argument. First, what year did Christ die? Second, which day of the week did Christ die? Third, the day Christ died; was it the 14th of Abib, the day of the Passover, or the 15th of Abib, the first day of the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread? The first day, the 15th and the last day, the 21st were both Holy Sabbaths or high days. Where rest and convocation were commanded, similar to the weekly Sabbath [Leviticus 23:3,7].

The most popular alternative year proposed by many researchers, apart from 30 CE is 33 CE. The remarkable mind of Sir Isaac Newton as well as being a scientific genius was an enthusiastic Biblical prophecy scholar, concluded it was 34 CE. Yet, the only years  which had a Friday fall on the 14th of Abib, during the years 22 to 36 CE were the years 26, 33 and 36 CE. The first is too early and the last, too late. Those that espouse 33 CE, advocate a Friday crucifixion on the 14th. In the year Christ was crucified, the 14th day of Abib came six days after He arrived in Bethany. If we count six days back from a Friday, we arrive at Saturday the preceding week. Christ and many other Jews would have violated the traditional Sabbath observance by making such a long journey on that day – a distance of about eighteen miles from Jericho [Matthew 20:17, 29] . 

Rather, on the 8th of Abib a Thursday, Christ and the disciples arrived in Bethany. The next day [John 12:12] they travelled the short two miles into Jerusalem, on Friday the 9th of Abib. 

John 11:18

English Standard Version

Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off…

It was on this day, the Preparation for the Sabbath that the Messiah visited the Temple and became angry when he saw business being conducted within the Temple. 

Matthew 21:12-15

English Standard Version

12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant…

Christ left Jerusalem and returned to Bethany and in the morning travelled back to Jerusalem on the seventh day, the 10th of Abib [Matthew 21:17-18]. Christ re-visits the Temple, where He is challenged by the chief priest and elders, debating with them. Christ quotes Psalm 118:22, ESV: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” He being the chief corner stone of his Fathers Holy Temple, standing in front of them all in their Temple to His very own Father. The 10th of Abib is significant and a moving coincidence in that it was not just the Sabbath day that year; for in ancient Israel the Passover lamb which was slain and eaten on the 14th, was to be selected on the 10th of Abib [Exodus 12:1-10]. Christ presented Himself within the Temple, which He had cleansed the day before. He was the very fulfilment of the Passover lamb’s ritual and symbolism every year [Ezra 6:19-20, Ezekiel 45:21]. 

Matthew chapters twenty-one to twenty-five, record the parables spoken to the public at the Temple and then the private teaching He gave the disciples on the Mount of Olives the following day. Though it doesn’t state again, their travelling back to Bethany, it is apparent that they do [Matthew 26:6]. Thus, the day spent with the disciples was  the first day of the week, a Sunday the 11th of Abib. It is then in Matthew 26:1, that Christ says, “You know after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified” [Mark 14;1]. This would have been Monday the 12th of Abib. Christ and the disciples were resting in Bethany while at the home of Simon the leper. It was here that a woman poured very expensive ointment or oil over the Messiah’s head; symbolic of his anointing and sealing for the potent role He was about to fulfil in two days time.

An important two verses in Matthew 26:17-18, tell us two key pieces of information. First, the disciples ask Christ where to prepare for Christ to eat the Passover in Jerusalem. Second, it is on the day after the 12th of Abib, that is Tuesday the 13th of Abib, yet it is called the first day of Unleavened Bread, or the first of the Unleaveneds. The first day of Unleavened Bread is the 15th of the first month, not the 13th. Passover is the 14th and precedes the first day of Unleavened Bread on the 15th. Unleavened Bread is not the Passover and Passover is not Unleavened Bread. They are two different observances on two different days, one following the other, with the 15th day being a Holy day as is the 21st of Abib. Saying that, the seven days of Unleavened Bread festival, from the 15th to the 21st of the first month and the preceding day of Passover on the 14th, also became known collectively as the Passover, and included all eight days. 

As the Passover had not yet arrived, we know it is the 13th day that the disciples are enquiring, not the 15th. The Passover lambs slaughter and preparation on the 14th was a huge undertaking at that time – some one hundred thousand lambs, plus – so the preparation of de-leavening ones house and personal property, by throwing out all products that have leavening agents in them, and yeast was performed on the 13th, so as to ease the burden on the busy Passover day. Hence, as the term Passover could be applied to just the 14th day, or all eight days, so too, did the preparatory day before the feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover, become included in the Unleavened Bread festival season, as one of the ‘Unleaveneds.’

In Matthew 12:38-40 ESV, the sign of the authenticity of the Messiah was his resurrection from the dead and the fact he would be dead and buried three days, including mornings or sunrises and nights, including evenings or sunsets: ‘Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’

Jewish reckoning counted a part of a day as a whole day and counted inclusively [as opposed to exclusively as we do in the west]. That is, 1, 2 and 3 would be three days, whereas we would count three from day number one, arriving at 1, 2, 3 and 4. Many people put credence in an inclusive count so that they can support a Friday as the day of the crucifixion. By doing this, they are then saying that Christ did not really mean three days and three nights, as in a literal period of three times twenty-four hours, equalling seventy-two hours. 

Those that present a Friday and some a Thursday, are advocating that the Messiah was merely using a figure of speech. Yet a Friday to Sunday scenario is barely twenty-seven hours – from the time of Christ’s death at 3pm and His resurrection between 3am and 6am – and Thursday to Sunday is only fifty-one hours. Both fall well short and would cast serious doubt on the Messiah’s credentials and validity of His prophecy. Friday is a stretch too far, though Thursday could be argued to satisfy inclusive counting. This still leaves the plain words by Christ, of actually ‘three days and three nights.’ 

The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:4, ESV: “… that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” See also Matthew 17:23 and Luke 9:22. Mark words it slightly differently in Mark 9:31, ESV: ‘for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” We will  learn that Christ was resurrected both after and on the third day – there isn’t a contradiction.

During the years 22 to 36 CE there are no years where the 14th of Abib falls on a Thursday, so this argument is untenable. The years that the 14th of Abib, or Passover fell on a Wednesday, include the 23, 24, 27 and 30 CE. The first three are too early and this only leaves 30 CE as a credible option. This would mean Christ did enter Bethany on Thursday the 8th of Abib as discussed – six days before the Passover that year.

There is a further point regarding the Hebrew or Jewish calendar that many not conversant with Judaism or the Jewish festivals would be totally unaware and hence their calculations on Christ’s final Passover week would be in error. The Hebrew calendar is based on the New Moon and this is the 1st day of a month. The 14/15th day would be the mid-point and when the Moon is full; as a lunar month is not quite 30 days, but 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds long. 

Passover is easy to calculate as it is the first full Moon on or after the vernal or spring equinox – approximately March 21st each year – when the hours of daylight equal those of the dark, with twelve hours of light and twelve hours of dark. Originally, the reliable and confirmed sighting of the new Moon was the basis of calculating a new month, but gradually over hundreds of years – after the Temples destruction in 70 CE – it became a fixed system, based on predetermined rules and calculations still used today. 

It was the responsibility of the Great Sanhedrin, a rabbinic council specifically appointing three members that would meet on the 29th of every month and receive witnesses to confirm the new Moon and new month. The Babylonian rabbi Samuel of Nehardea, a great astronomer, developed the necessary calculations. Between 330 and 365 CE, the finalising of the fixed Hebrew calendar was completed by Samuel’s son and successor as Nasi of the Sanhedrin, Hillel II. The rules adopted were only made known much later in writing during the ninth century.

The Hebrew calendar is complicated to a degree, as it requires aligning the solar year of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds, with the lunar year of 12 months of 29.53059 days; for the twelve lunar months are about 12 days shorter than the solar year. The Jews, in order to maintain synchronicity have added an extra month every seven years in a nineteen year time cycle. Which has Biblical basis in keeping the seasons correct for those people who keep the seven annual Festivals and the Holy Days attached to them, of which Passover and Unleavened Bread are two of them. 

What is not Biblical are the creation of four postponement rules which can delay the beginning of the secular year on the 1st of Tishri, the seventh month. Whereas the 1st of Abib or Nisan the first month, is the first day of the religious calendar and when the year began as decreed by the Creator. The 1st of Tishri, coinciding with the Feast of Trumpets, can be delayed by one or two days and this has a knock on affect for the 1st of Abib and importantly the 14th and 15th day of Abib, the Passover and first Day of Unleavened Bread.

The rules are: 1. If Rosh Hashanah [Trumpets] falls on Sunday, Wednesday or Friday, it is postponed by a day. 2. If the new moon appears after noon, Rosh Hashanah is postponed by a day. If the new day is one of those in Rule 1, Rosh Hashanah gets postponed by two days. 3. In a regular 12 month year, that is one that isn’t embolismic [containing 13 months], if the new moon of Tishri appears more than 20 seconds past 3:11 AM on a Tuesday, Rosh Hashanah is postponed by two days. 4. In years that follow an embolismic year, if the new moon appears on a Monday more than 43 seconds past 9:32 AM – then Rosh Hashanah is postponed by a day. 

As said previously, the calculation for the 1st of Abib is simple and there is no justification for these added, non-biblical rules. What does this mean for the Passovers leading up to Christ’s ministry, during and beyond? It means that all researchers are basing dates on a calendar using postponements. During the Apostolic era and the life of Christ, these postponement rules did not exist, thus the Molad would have been correct. The molad is the timing of the moon’s ‘birth’. There is a point during the moon’s orbit, when it is positioned directly between the earth and the sun; making it invisible to anyone looking from the earth’s surface. The Molad occurs when the moon has moved far enough away from this position, so that a thin crescent of its illuminated surface is visible. This marks the start of a new lunar month.

With this in mind, we can now focus on the dates without postponements; for those calculated with them are completely redundant, as they were not in existence. I appreciate that there will be readers who keep the seven annual festivals, whether they are Jewish,  particular Christians of a certain Church community or independent believers. It is important for them to appreciate that the postponement rules are not needed to calculate the Holy Days and when to observe them. Let’s look at the two key years, 30 and 33 CE and also add in 31 CE. The year 31 CE was put forth by a leader  of a high profile group that some of our readers will be familiar. It may be interesting for them to see the lunar* evidence in regard to the year 31 CE.

In the Roman Year 30 and Jewish Year 3790: the Molad for the 1st of Nisan was March 22, at 21.55. Nisan 1 was a Thursday [March 23d, the Day of the Equinox] and Nisan 14 was a Wednesday on April 5th. Interestingly, no postponements applicable even if applied.

In the Roman Year 31 and Jewish Year 3791: the Molad for the 1st Nisan was March 12, at 06.43. Nisan 1 was a Monday [March 12th] and Nisan 14 was a Sunday on March 25th, 2 days after the equinox. Postponements if applied retrospectively mean one day later, so that Nisan 14 would fall on Monday March 26th. Neither* tally with the day of Wednesday proposed for a 31 CE crucifixion.

In the Roman Year 33 and Jewish year 3793: the Molad for the 1st of Nisan was March 19, at 13.05. Nisan 1 was a Thursday [March 19th] and Nisan 14 was a Wednesday on April 1st, 9 days after the equinox. Postponements if applied retrospectively mean a two day delay, so that Nisan 14 would fall conveniently on Friday April 3rd. Those labouring under this inaccuracy have put forward an argument for a Friday to Sunday death and resurrection scenario that never happened, nor is it sustainable from Biblical or secular evidence. Now, critical scriptures supporting a Wednesday Passover and a Saturday resurrection. 

Matthew 27:57-58

English Standard Version

57 When it was evening [G3798 – opsios: late afternoon, early evening before sunset: ‘3-6pm or from 6pm to the beginning of night’], there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him [late on Wednesday, the Passover and Preparation for the Holy Day].

Mark 16:1-2

English Standard version

When the Sabbath was past [Thursday, the Holy day of Unleavened Bread], Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, [on Friday, between the Annual Holy Day Sabbath and the weekly Saturday, Sabbath] so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early [G4404 – proi: ‘early, at dawn, day-break, in the morning’ during the fourth watch – between 3-6am] on the first day of the week [Sunday], when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

Luke 24:1

English Standard Version

But on the first day [Sunday] of the week, at early dawn [G3722 – orthros: very early in the morning at ‘early dawn’ or ‘daybreak’], they [Mary Magdalene and her female friends] went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

The Hebrew Calendar sans postponements, the sign of the Messiah and His entry six days prior to the Passover, all support a Wednesday crucifixion and severely undermine a Thursday or Friday crucifixion, in either 30, 31 or 33 CE. Between 27 and 34 CE the only years that the 14th of Abib fell on a Wednesday… were the years 30 and 33 CE. 

The beginning of Christ’s ministry, the Temple in year forty-six of its construction at the time of the Messiah’s first Passover of His ministry and the miraculous, supernatural events with regard to the Temple and Priesthood beginning in 30CE for exactly forty years all show the year of Christ’s death as 30 CE and not 33 CE. 

Christ died in 30 CE on Wednesday April 5th at 3pm and was resurrected in the pre-dawn period between night and morning as the Sabbath was ending on the 8th April or 17th Abib, just prior to when Sunday morning began on the 9th April, or 18th Abib. The Mary’s had just missed the risen Christ as they approached His tomb very early Sunday morning around 5 or 6 am – during the 4th watch of the night between 3 and 6 am. Christ had been dead and buried for three days and three nights as He had predicted and from 6pm Saturday at the very earliest was resurrected or possibly during the 3rd watch of the night, which lasted from 12 midnight to 3 am. 

This complies with the scripture that He would be risen after the third day, if it was later Saturday evening, but well before the Marys arrived. It also fulfils that He was risen on the third day, as the fourth day did not begin until sunrise about 6am and so it was still the Sabbath or the third day of his burial in the ‘heart of the earth’ until then .

The question of whether the Messiah was killed on the 14th day and Passover or on the 15th day of Abib and the First Holy Day of Unleavened Bread, and whether his final meal with the disciples was the Passover or a last supper are clouded it would seem, by the fact that the Gospel of John appears to contradict the other gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke in certain points surrounding Christ’s last week. These supposed discrepancies dissolve somewhat, when we understand the lost truth about a new day beginning at sunrise, as opposed to the Jewish reckoning of sunset and entirely diffuse, when we recognise that Christ died on the Passover and not the following Holy Day [refer The Calendar Conspiracy and The Sabbath Secrecy]. 

Christ is the Passover Lamb [1 Corinthians 5:7] and so He was sacrificed at the same time that thousands of lambs and kids or young goats were being slaughtered, ready for the evening commemoration and observance. The killing of so many lambs required an early start at around Noon and so by three o’clock when Christ died, this would have been well into the ritual slaughter that needed to be completed by sunset at the latest. Passover was kept from sunset and the Jews stayed up till midnight in remembrance of the death angel passing over the Israelite homes sparing their firstborn and killing the Egyptians. Christ’s shed blood that very day, now was the covering protection which had been typified by the blood on the sons of Jacob’s doorposts and lintels before the Exodus.

John described their last meal together with Christ as ‘before the Feast of Passover [John 13:1] and that the Passover would follow the death of the Messiah [John 19:14]. During the meal [Matthew 26:26-29], the Passover as an event or the Passover lamb to be eaten were not brought up in any of the four gospel accounts. It was just a regular meal. 

What was mentioned, was the institution of bread and wine in place of the traditional Passover that was now, from the very next day not required and had been replaced by Christ’s imminent sacrifice. 

John 18:28

English Standard Version

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas [the High Priest] to the governor’s headquarters [Pontius Pilate]. It was early morning [morning of the 14th, Passover]. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eatthe Passover.

Often forgotten by those who advocate a 15th of Abib date for Christ’s death is the fact that the Jews conspiring to kill Christ were in a hurry. Here was Christ’s popularity at its highest and they were looking to act swiftly as they did not wish to have Him condemned by trial and executed during the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread. Thus it stands to reason that they would not have tried him on the 14th and dare to kill Him on the 15th, a high Sabbath and Holy Day. In fact, Joseph of Arimathea was rushing to obtain Christ’s body for burial before dark and the Holy Day beginning the next morning. A quick trial on the night of the 13th, Tuesday April 4th was the very latest Christ’s opponents could accuse and convict Him and so they did. 

Mark 14

English Standard Version

It was now two days before [12th of Abib – Monday 3rd April] the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.”

Christ was killed on the Passover. The Passover day is not a holy day – but is a preparation day for the first Holy Day of Unleavened Bread. The following day was the 15th of Abib, Thursday 6th April and it was the First Day of Unleavened Bread. It was followed by the weekly Sabbath, two days later on April 8th, that year [Matthew 27.62, Mark 15.42, Luke 23.54].

John 19:31

English Standard Version

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high [or Holy] day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

Joseph of Arimathea wasted no time in asking for Christ’s body for it was the day of Passover, the preparation for the next day, the First Holy Day of Unleavened Bread. It was late afternoon, between 4 to 6pm heading towards sunset and Joseph wanted to bury his great nephew before dark, as he could not bury Him the next day during daylight on the Holy Day, according to Biblical law [Deuteronomy 21:23].

The evidence thus far, shows that Christ began his ministry sometime in 26 CE and died in 30 CE on Wednesday 5th April, the Passover of the 14th of Abib. More crucially, Christ was resurrected three days later on the Sabbath of the 17th Abib, Saturday the 8th of April, somewhere between 6pm and 6am and likely between midnight and 3am. We will now work backwards to ascertain when He was born and thus how long Christ’s ministry lasted.

Matthew 2:16-20

English Standard version

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under…  But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”

Returning to Matthew chapter two. These verses tell us two important details. First, Christ had been born a couple of years earlier and was a toddler, He was not a new born baby; second, King Herod was still very much alive two years after Christ’s birth [Matthew 2:1, Luke 1:5]. We arrive at a substantial debate, surrounding when Herod died. Whether it was in 4 or 1 BCE and it is similar to the sizeable argument regarding when Christ died either in 30 or 33 CE. As we have investigated and solved the year of Christ’s death, we can do the same regarding His birth.

The 4 BCE theory and therefore the 6 to 4 BCE parameter for the year of Christ’s birth, has been dominant because Josephus records Herod reigning for thirty-seven years from the time of his appointment by Rome in 40 BCE and thirty-four years from his conquest of Jerusalem in 37 BCE in the Antiquities of the Jews. Latterly, scholarship has cast serious doubt on this date, with growing support for a 1 BCE date and hence the birth of Christ falling in the 3 to 2 BCE time frame.

Herod traveled to Samosata in 38 BCE to aid Mark Antony in his campaign against Antiochus. Antiochus surrendered and Herod returned to Judea the same year, arriving in the winter of 38 and 37 BCE. He began his five month siege of Jerusalem shortly thereafter, in the month of Shevat, the eleventh month, once the worst of winter had passed. Jerusalem was taken in Sivan the third month, in late spring of 37 BCE. Herod’s first year of reign from his conquest of Jerusalem is counted as the spring of 37 BCE.

The reign over Samaria and Judea of Herod’s son and successor Archelaus began in 4 BCE based on the fact that he was deposed by Caesar, in the tenth year of his reign in 6 CE. In addition, Herod the Great’s son and successor Herod Antipas, who ruled over Galilee until 39 BCE and who had ordered the execution of John the Baptist [Mark 6:14–29] also had a supporting role in Christ’s trial [Luke 23:7–12]. There are coins  which make reference to the 43rd year of his rule, placing its beginning in 4 BCE at the latest. Herod initially named Archelaus his heir in 4 BCE and at this point Archelaus may have assumed royal authority under his father. Herod then revoked his will, naming Antipas his heir instead. When he was ill and dying, Herod once again named Archelaus his heir. Thus, Archelaus would not have legally been king until after Herod’s death in early 1 BCE, but may have chosen to reckon his reign from a little over two years earlier in late 4 BCE when he first replaced Antipas as Herod’s heir.

Josephus provides clear statements regarding the authority and honour Herod had granted his sons during the last years of his life, short of the crown itself. It follows that all three of his successor sons chose to antedate their reigns to the time when they were granted a measure of royal authority; yet while their father was still alive. Co-ruling and co-regency are not an uncommon status. It was quite a common practice when an ageing or ill ruler desired a smooth transition for his heir. Although they were not officially recognised by Rome as ethnarchs or tetrarchs until after Herod’s death, the three sons nevertheless reckoned their reigns from 4 BCE and hence the confusion over Herod’s death and the assumption he too died in the year 4 BCE.

Josephus informs us that King Herod died shortly before a Passover [March/April] and brackets Herod’s death by a nebulous ‘fast’ and the Passover. He says there was a lunar eclipse on the night of the fast – the only eclipse mentioned in the entire corpus of his work. Most assume the fast mentioned is that associated with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement on the 10th day of the 7th month of Tishri [September/October]. However, there is too long a gap between this fast and Passover, some five to six months later. There is an alternative fast in Judaism a month prior to the Passover and that is related to the Feast of Purim and the fast of Esther on the 14th and 15th of Adar, the 12th month during February or March [Esther 9:31]. Some favour this fast to Atonement, believing it logical that Purim, a full moon feast, is the last full moon Herod saw; particularly as Haman and Herod, both of related Edomite stock, may have both died at the same full moon. The problem with this choice is the lack of a lunar eclipse at this time, between 4 and 1 BCE.

Four Lunar eclipses occurred in the likely time frame towards the end of Herod’s life. They were on September 15, 5 BCE, March 12/13, 4 BCE, January 10, 1 BCE and December 29, 1 BCE. The first eclipse fits Yom Kippur nearly. It was a total eclipse that became noticeable several hours after sunset, but it is widely regarded as too early and is stretching a viable chronology. 

Those scholars who date Herod’s death in 4 BCE, cite as proof, the traditional and favoured 4 BCE eclipse of March 11 [March 12/13, Julian Calendar] in that year; placing Christ’s birth in 6 or 5 BCE. This eclipse is either too close to Passover, or was the Feast of Purim that year. Even so, this was a minor partial eclipse of thirty-six percent magnitude, that commenced after midnight and was only visible very late that night in Judea, attracting the attention of very few people that early in the morning. It hardly seems a candidate even for being remembered or noted by Josephus and is the least likely of the four. The 1 BCE dates also do not fit with a fast on Atonement and must relate to a different fast. 

Regarding the December 29 eclipse, the moon though partial did rise at 53 percent magnitude, with its most visible aspect over by 6pm. There is doubt as to how visible it may have been. It is significant in that it occurred two days before the change of eras. If correct, it would date Herod’s death into the first year of the current era, four years after the date traditionally taught by Biblical scholars and academics.

Daniel Bisson in a forum on Herod’s Death, Jesus’ Birth and a Lunar Eclipse in 2017 stated: 

‘The lunar eclipse was on Thursday Dec 29 1 BC, ‘a fast day that very day’ – Thursday and Monday being public fast days as was the practice of observant Jews of that era, and also those days were when there were public readings from the Torah, of which on that eclipse day Matthius the high priest was unable to officiate. Fasting was during daylight and was over at the first sighting of stars at dusk – at the time when the December 29 1 BC partial eclipse was occurring, it was patently witnessed by many citizens [Antiquities. Book 17 Chapter 6.4]. Herod the Great died aged 70 after this eclipse and further events that took place concerning his health and governing, shortly before Passover in A.D. 1 [War. Book 1 Chapter 33.1; Antiquities. Book 17 Chapter 8.1].’

This eclipse with the earlier one in 1 BCE fits the criteria of an eclipse not long before the Passover. The partial lunar eclipse of December 27 [December 29, Julian calendar] that year could have been observable in Jerusalem but not necessarily as a conspicuous event. One commentator in the same forum states: ‘According to calculations based on Oppolzer’s Canon of Eclipses (page 343), the moon was passing out of the earth’s shadow as twilight fell in Jerusalem, and by the time it was dark the moon was again shining full. On the other hand, it is not included in the comprehensive listing by Manfred Kudlek and Erich Mickler (Solar and Lunar Eclipses of the Ancient Near East From 3000 BC to 0 With Maps, Volume I, 1971). Thus the extent to which that eclipse was visible in Jerusalem or whether it was visible at all is uncertain at this point in history.’ 

The one that stands out, is the late night third lunar eclipse which occurred in the early hours of January 8, 1 BCE [January 10, Julian calendar]. This was a total eclipse in which the moon was blacked out for one hour and forty-one minutes. It would have been noticed by anyone who was awake, even with an overcast sky. 

Even though more than one eclipse occurred shortly before a Passover, based on information available today, it seems that the one most likely to have been noted was that one on January 10, 1 BCE. Interestingly, a report by the United Press International stated: “Herod actually died in 1 B.C. rather than in 4 B.C. as commonly believed. The issue is pivotal because New Testament records make it clear that Herod was alive when Jesus was born.” Instead of earlier dates, the news service said the “research indicates that Jesus was born in the summer or early autumn of 3 B.C. or 2 B.C.” 

The 4 BCE eclipse really cannot be historically sustained, regardless of what Josephus has or hasn’t recorded regarding Herod’s reign ending in 4 BCE. Too much stock is placed on his accounts generally, as he is the principal source for this era, which is a detail that advises caution in itself. 

We rely on Josephus, when he states that Herod was seventy years old at his death and also that Herod was twenty-five years old when given the government of Galilee by his father Antipas, who in turn, had received the government of Judea in the spring of 46 BCE from Julius Caesar following his Alexandrian War in 48 BCE. If so, this would place Herod’s birth in 71 BCE making 1 BCE his seventieth year and therefore, the precise year of his death. Andrew Steinmann in, When did Herod the Great Reign, addresses sixteen synchronisations which correlate with a 1 BCE death for King Herod. The weight of considerable evidence for 1 BCE, against just Josephus saying Herod died in 4 BCE cannot be ignored; just as we could not ignore the body of evidence for a 30 CE crucifixion as opposed to the weakness of the argument of a 33 CE death for the Messiah.

We have addressed Herod’s death which is approximately two years after the birth of Christ. A one CE death would correlate to 2 BCE and a 1 BCE death of Herod to Christ being born in 3 BCE. Please note that in astronomy there is a year zero or 0 and it is actually referring to 1 BCE. Then, -1 represents 2 BCE; -2 is 3 BCE and -3 is 4 BCE and so forth. So, the year 3 BCE is actually -2 in astronomical terms.

The answer is somewhat clinched for all who uphold a plenary inspiration of the Bible and the disciple Luke’s attestation that Jesus was on the cusp of his thirtieth birthday at his baptism in 26 CE – the fifteenth year of Emperor Tiberius. As Christ was still twenty-nine and not quite thirty, it is the age of twenty-nine we deduct from 26 CE, giving a year of birth of 3 BCE. This categorically places Herod’s death sometime thereafter – that is, two years later – precluding 4 BCE as a viable possibility and highlighting the year 1 BCE as his year of death at the confirmed age of seventy.

Gerard Gertoux comments on the same forum in 2016 – emphasis & bold mine: 

‘The first coin minted by Herod the Great after his victory over Jerusalem in July 37 BCE is dated Year 3… Given that Jewish reigns began on 1st Nisan (April), Year 3 was from April 36 BCE to March 35 BCE. 

Consequently his Year 37 was from April 2 BCE to March 1 BCE. According to Josephus, Herod the Great reigned 37 years and died (on 2 Shebat according to Megillat Taanit 23a) after a day the Jews observed as a fast (on 10 Tebeth according to 2Ki 25:1, Zc 8:19) [Tevet the 10th month of the Hebrew calendar, December/January] and just before an eclipse of the moon (Jewish Antiquities XVII:166-167,213). Between 5 BCE and 1 CE there was only one full lunar eclipse, which is dated 9/10 January 1 BCE. In 1 BCE, 10 Tebeth was 5 January and 2 Shebat was 26 January.’*

Gertoux has provided confirmation of which lunar eclipse and fast preceded Herod’s death, as well as the day of Herod’s death.

‘The first coin minted by Herod Philip after his father’s death on 26 January 1 BCE is dated year 3… Consequently his Year 3 was from April 1 BCE to March 1 CE. In the decree breviarium totius imperii published in Rome on Monday 12 May 2 BCE, Caesar Augustus announced his registration called the “inventory of the world”: This census – the first – took place when Quirinius was governor of Syria (3-2 BCE) and everyone (in Judea) went to his own town to be registered (Luke 2:1-2) [with the] birth of Jesus in Bethlehem on Monday 29 September 2 BCE. Judas the Galilean rebelled during the (second) registration of Herod Archelaus’ kingdom (Acts 5:37) of Quirinius in 7 CE (Jewish War II:117-118,433). See: Herod the Great and Jesus Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence.’

Christ’s father Joseph and his mother Mary, were only travelling while Mary was heavily pregnant to satisfy the census decree. The birth date given by Gertoux is slightly inaccurate, though much closer to the truth than what is offered by most on this subject. 

Another commentator on said forum adds the following which complements Gertoux’s post: 

‘I will have to readjust the timeframe for Herod’s death to match “after a day that a fast was observed before an eclipse, before Passover”. Antiquities shows Herod still alive after “And that very night there was an eclipse of the moon”, which was January 10. Herod gathered the heads of the families into the hippodrome (about 4 days total); sought a cure in the baths (about 6 days total), which involved slow travel (about another 6 days); had Antipater killed (add a day); died five days later; was buried (same day)*; was mourned by Archelaus for seven days; Archelaus partied (likely 2 days); took the throne (1 day) and addressed the people; the people petitioned him (from 1 to 3 days later); Passover arrived (April 7, 1 B.C.E.)… Herod’s precedent for giving his sons authority just short of the crown itself, before his death. I have come to the same conclusion myself, without having seen confirmation of it anywhere else prior.’ 

We have deduced the year of the Messiah’s birth and amazingly, further evidence will provide the month and day. We will then know what time of year Christ was about to turn thirty and thus how long exactly his ministry lasted. 

The Magi or wise men as previously mentioned, were in fact from the Israelite Empire of Parthia, who were well aware of the prophecies for the coming Messiah. The sighting of ‘His star’ in Matthew chapter two, came to rest over the place where the child was – notice not a baby. It would seem to be a supernatural sign, an angel or UFO perhaps, for no star moves about in the sky like that. Regardless, there were noticeable astronomical events associated as the Magi reported with Herod, in that they had seen the new king’s ‘star in the east’ – from their origin in Parthia. 

Today we have computerised data by which we can very accurately determine astronomical events in that time frame, providing vital pieces of the puzzle with regard to the exact dating for the birth of Christ. Particularly, the celestial activity of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Regulus – the King star: four stars in two pairs in the constellation of Leo, being one of the brightest groupings in the night sky – and Venus, the Queen star, and their various combinations of conjunctions in Leo the Lion, symbolic of the Messiah as the Lion of Judah. 

Celestial signs began with a conjunction between Jupiter and Venus on August 12,* 3 BCE in the eastern sky before sunrise. A month later on September 11, 3 BCE there was a conjunction of Jupiter and the Regulus stars in the eastern sky. Nine months after the Jupiter-Regulus conjunction, there was a very close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus on June 17, 2 BCE in the southwestern sky, which would have been in the direction of Bethlehem from Jerusalem. The first event, heralding the imminent birth of the Messiah, a month later He was born and the third event appears to be a star pointing to Christ’s location when he was at least nine months old.

September 11th was already an auspicious date, before it was chosen for its diabolical undertakings in 2001, this millennia. In 3 BCE, this date was actually the Feast of Trumpets, a Holy Day on the 1st of Tishri the seventh month in the Hebrew calendar.  The Feast of Trumpets heralds the second coming of the Son of Man – this would not be a casual coincidence. 

Revelation 10:7

English Standard Version

… but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God [the Kingdom of God: repentance, forgiveness, atonement, salvation, eternal life] would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

The day the Messiah was born was the day that the Sun was in Virgo as per the prophecy in Revelation chapter twelve, verse one and two, ESV:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.

A quote from Ernest Martin summarises the astronomy and symbolism – emphasis & bold mine:

‘The giveaway is the word “sign” in vs 1. According to Genesis, the celestial bodies were to be regarded as giving signs (1:14). Some early Jewish opinion included among these “signs” the astronomical associations between the sun, moon, planets, and other constellations (Philo, Op.Mund.,55; Rashi, Commentary, volume I, page 5). There can hardly be a doubt that astronomical “signs” are mentioned in the Book of Revelation (Lange, Commentary, volume X, page 34). 

The essential factor is the identification of the Woman. She is “in heaven” – in the astronomical sense – as the sun and the moon are associated with her. This strongly suggests that the Woman herself is some kind of constellation which the two primary luminaries can traverse. Indeed, the word “sign” used here is the same one used by the ancients to denote the zodiacal constellations (Liddell and Scott, Lexicon, p.1448). And since the sun and the moon are amidst or in line with the Woman, this indicates it must be a constellation located within the normal paths of the sun and the moon. 

The only sign of a Woman which exists along the ecliptic is that of Virgo the Virgin. She occupies, in body form, a space of about 50 degrees along the ecliptic. (The head actually bridges some 10 degrees into the previous sign of Leo and her feet overlap about 10 degrees into the following sign of Libra.) In the period 3 BC the sun entered the head position of the Woman about August 12,* and exited from her feet about October 1st. But the sun more precisely “clothes” the Woman, i.e. covers her mid-body, somewhere between the neck and the middle part of her legs. In that year the sun would have “clothed” the Woman for a 20-day period, from about August 27 to about September 15.

The moon is said to be located “under her feet”. Since the feet of Virgo represent the last 7 degrees of the constellation (in Jesus’ time this was between 185 and 192 degrees along the ecliptic) the moon has to be positioned somewhere within those degrees. But it has to be in that exact location when the sun is mid-bodied to Virgo. In 3 BC these two factors came to precise agreement for a 14 hour period on September 11/12. This relationship began about 6.30 am Palestine time and lasted until around 8.30 pm. This was the only time in the entire year that such a thing could take place. But there is more. If the moon is located under Virgo’s feet at the same time the sun is in the uterine position, the moon has to be in crescent form, i.e. a new moon occasion. It has therefore to be the first day of some lunar month in late summer – the first of Tishri in 3BC – no other month is possible.”’

All this striking celestial activity told the wise men of the birth of the promised Redeemer, and so they set out to find Him. 

Matthew 2:1-12

English Standard version

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 

6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star [G792 – aster: literal or figurative] that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house [G3614 – oikia: home, household], they saw the child [G3813 – paidion: little child, infant, male child recently born] with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

The passage tells us that they came to ‘the house,’ not a manger, and saw ‘the child’ as in months old [Greek word paidion], not a ‘newborn baby’ or days old [Greek word brephos]. We learn that the Magi did not visit Jesus at the manger on the night of his birth as did the shepherds. They first came to Jerusalem, apparently thinking that in the capital city of Judea they would be able to find out where the new king had been born. After King Herod told them he had been born in Bethlehem, they went there and found him as a child in his house. This explains why Herod, who had consulted with the Magi as to the time when they saw the star in verse seven, determined to kill all the boys under two years old in the Bethlehem area. 

Herod knew that Christ was no longer a baby. The conjunction on June 17, 2 BCE when Christ was nine months old must have been His minimum age. The wise men would have seen it and then travelled at some point from Parthia to Jerusalem. The distance was considerable. If we take modern Tehran, which is a realistic location point within the large** territory ruled by the Israelite Parthians at the time; the journey today, from Tehran to Jerusalem by car is 1,300 miles. It is plausible that Christ was at least a year old or quite a bit older when the Magi met Him. 

The Parthian Empire was formidable and the only real power which Rome respected and was wary. Augustus Caesar had sent his sons Gaius and Lucius in the year 1 BCE to the region of Parthia to formalize terms with Phraates V ruler of Parthia, on an island on the river Euphrates. The Euphrates was then to remain the boundary** in which the Parthian army were not to pass. 

For those who subscribe to the birth of Christ in the heart of winter, consider that Luke 2:8 speaks of the shepherds near Bethlehem being in the fields watching their flocks at night. Shepherds in Judea did not keep their sheep out at night during the Winter; it was cold and sometimes even snowy, but they were known to keep their flocks in the fields during the Autumn after the end of the Summer harvests. For at that time, the sheep would eat the stalks of grain left over after the harvest; fertilising the ground prior to the late Autumn planting. 

Luke 2:1, explains that when Mary was due to give birth to Christ, she and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to fulfil their obligation to be counted in the Roman census. They would not travel in the Winter because it would have been a difficult journey. People tended to travel in the Autumn, between the heat of Summer and the cold of Winter. At that time of year, the grain and also some fruit were ripe and travellers were allowed to eat some of the ‘gleanings’ as they passed by [Leviticus 23:22]. 

In Luke chapter one, there is the record of the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to the priest Zechariah that he and his wife Elizabeth, also a Levite, descended from Aaron, would have a son, whom they were to call John. Verse 5 reveals important information, key to determining that Jesus was born in the Autumn and September rather than in the winter and December. The chapter says that Zechariah belonged to the priestly ‘division [KJV: course] of Abijah.’ From the time of David, Levitical priests were organised into twenty-four courses, named after the heads of the priestly families. The courses of service in the Temple began on the 1st of Abib [Nisan 1], spanning the calendar year. The course of Abijah was the eighth course and like each course, occurred twice during the year. In 4 BCE, the year prior to Christ’s birth, the first of those two courses took place during the last week of our month of May.

Zechariah and Elizabeth, who was barren were quite elderly, and had no children and the Gabriel gave them the astonishing news that they would have a son, to be named John. 

Luke 1:14-17; 3:3-4; 1:23-27, 36-44

English Standard Version

14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 

16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” 

3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight…’

We read that when Zechariah finished his service in the Temple and he returned home in early June, Elizabeth became pregnant. In her sixth month of pregnancy, during December, Gabriel spoke to Mary to tell her that she was about to become pregnant with the Son of God. Nine months later would be the month of September.

23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden… 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed  to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary… 36 And behold, your relative [G4773 – suggenes: kinsman, cousin, kin, related by blood] Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren… 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb… 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Thus, John the Baptist was born in the Spring of 3 BCE during the month of March and Abib – an Aries. His second cousin Christ, was born six months later during the month of September and Tishri – a Virgo. This is significant, as John the Baptist had lived a reclusive life as typical of all of the Eternal’s prophets, until his ministry began at the age of thirty. There appear to be contradictory statements in the Old Testament regarding when a Levite, descended from Jacob’s third son Levi, also the third son of Leah could begin Levitical duties. The answer is that not all Levites were used in the service of the Eternal and of those that were, some served with the Tabernacle and the transportation of it during the wilderness years and then later when it was located in Jerusalem; while other Levites – descended from Aaron – served directly in the Priesthood and the ceremonies pertaining to the sacrificial system. It was these Levites who lived from the tithes of the congregation of Israel.

Numbers 4:1-5, 46-49

English Standard Version

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers’ houses, 3 from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: the most holy things. 5 When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the veil of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with it… 46 All those who were listed of the Levites… everyone who could come to do the service of ministry and the service of bearing burdens in the tent of meeting, 48 those listed were 8,580… each one with his task of serving or carrying…

Notice these verses are describing the Levites not the priests, who are separate. In fact later, the age of thirty was lowered to twenty-five and then again to twenty by King David. In the time of Ezra it was still age twenty. The Levites retired at fifty, as the nature of their role involved lifting, carrying and physical work.

Numbers 8:22-26

English Standard Version

22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons [the priests]… “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. 25 And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. 26 They minister to their brothers [the sons of Aaron] in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service…

1 Chronicles 23:25-28

English Standard Version

25 For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people, and he dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the things for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and upward. 28 For their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God.

Ezra 3:8

English Standard Version

Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning [to rebuild the Temple], together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests andthe Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to supervise the work of the house of the Lord.

We are not told when the priests were selected, though we have a clue regarding a Prophets calling.

Ezekiel 1:1-3

English Standard Version

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 2 On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), 3 the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi [Genesis 22:21], in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.

Ezekiel was in his thirtieth year and nearly thirty when he began his ministry. Even if we subscribed that it was age thirty when Priests were selected, Christ unlike John the Baptist was not from the tribe of Levi but from Judah. Christ was not of the Aaronic Priesthood but rather the Order of Melchizedek [Hebrews 6:20, 7:11]. King David, also a Prophet [Acts 2:29-30] became king at age thirty [2 Samuel 5:4]. It was seen as a mark of respect and maturity to select a prophet at age thirty, for the prophet in question and the audience he would address. A man of thirty has a measure of experience, character and humility not found in most younger men and thus has the chance to gain people’s attention and trust more effectively when speaking and teaching.

Luke 1:80, ESV: ‘And the child [John] grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.’ We have come full circle back to Luke 3:1-3, ESV: ‘In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar… the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.’ John Began his ministry when he turned thirty, in March 26 CE and approximately four to five months later in July or August, Christ was baptised as He was close to or about to turn thirty [Luke 3:23]. 

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

In Luke chapter four we read of Christ’s forty day trial and testing by the Adversary and this would take Christ to mid or late September in 26 CE and when he had fully turned thirty to begin His ministry. Josephus relates that Pontius Pilate, when he first arrived in Judea, had sent troops to Jerusalem for ‘winter quarters.’ This would place Pilate’s arrival by or in the Autumn of 26 CE, coinciding with the beginning of Christ’s ministry. This would confirm that the first of His four ‘ministry’ Passovers was in fact in 27 CE.

Therefore, the Autumn or Fall of 26 CE to the Spring of 30 CE is a period of three and one half years – 42 months or approximately 1260 days – of which the significance we will now address. In Daniel chapter nine we read of the Seventy Weeks prophecy given to Daniel during the time of the Medo-Persian Empire.

Daniel 9:23-27

English Standard Version

23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you [Daniel] are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision. 

24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet,and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem [symbolics of a spiritual Temple composed of Saints] to the coming of an anointed one [the Messiah], a prince, there shall be seven weeks [490 years]. 

Then for sixty-two weeks [434 years] it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one [not the Messiah] shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince [the false Prophet] who is to come shall destroy the city [not Jerusalem of Judah or the Jerusalem of future prophecy, but the capital city in its place in the State of Israel which has the name but a different identity as the capital of Edom] and the sanctuary [the restored physical Temple building]. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war [the Great Tribulation]. Desolations are decreed. 

27 And he [Revelation 13:16] shall make a strong covenant [the mark of the Beast] with many [the world] for one week [7 years], and for half of the week [3 1/2 years] he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering [the abomination of desolation]. 

And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate [the destroyer, Apollyon (Abaddon), Azazel], until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” [refer Chapter XXI The Incredible Identity, Origin & Destiny of Nimrod]

Daniel 9:24-27 indirectly supports a three and a half year ministry. It can be demonstrated from the Seventy Weeks prophecy in Daniel chapter nine that the baptism of Jesus occurred in 26 CE which would place His birth in 3 BCE. Daniel’s prophecy set out a period of 69 weeks or sevens of years, totalling 483 years from the decree to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem until the coming of the Messiah. That decree is widely accepted to have been that of the Persian King Artaxerxes I Longimanus [Longhand] which occurred in the seventh year of his reign [Ezra 7:7-8]. Artaxerxes ruled from September 465 to October 424 BCE; thus his seventh year would have been 458/457 BCE.

As the Hebrew calendar religious year was Abib in the Spring, to Adar and the civil year was Tishri in the Autumn to Elu; thus when Ezra and his entourage left Babylon in the first month, arriving in Jerusalem during the fifth month, it is safe to assume it had been a spring and summer caravan trek, rather than an autumn and winter journey. The first month must therefore have been that of the religious year – Abib or Nisan. The Persian calendar also ran from spring to spring. We do not know whether Artaxerxes’ decree was in 458 or 457 BCE. Depending on which year one uses as the starting point and how you calculate the subtraction, affects the final figure – as is the case with all arithmetic… ask any economist or politician. 

If we subtract 483 years from 458 BCE we derive 25 CE, add one year as there is no 0 BCE or 0 CE and the final figure is 26 CE – the year the Messiah was baptised and began his three and a half year ministry. If we subtract 483 years from 457 BCE we obtain 26 CE, which is the number we require, result. If we add a year, then it is off by one. It would appear that the decree was towards the beginning of Artaxerxes’ reign and that the Judah and Benjamin captives, of which Artaxerxes later wife, Esther was included then made themselves ready to depart Babylon and were ready at the beginning of the new year in Abib.

There is scholarship that seeks to put Artaxerxes’ reign beginning in 475 BCE, so that Nehemiah [2:1] stating twenty years, arrives at 455 BCE and a final date [455 BCE – 483 = 28 + 1 = 29 CE] of 33 CE for the death of Christ [Nehemiah 2:1, 13:6]. This is achieved by adding ten years to the beginning of Artxerxes I reign of forty-one years. The ten years being deducted from his father, Xerxes I reign of twenty years from 485 to 465 BCE. This is based on a chronology according to Thucydides and the Alexandrian Chronicle that Xerxes I was murdered in 475 BCE, when his son Artaxerxes was a ‘boy’ of sixteen instead of when he was twenty-six in 465 BCE. In response: an article by Carl Olof Jonsson, The 20th Year of Artaxerxes and the “Seventy Weeks’ of Daniel, 1989 & 2003 – emphasis theirs, bold mine:

‘The decisive evidence for the length of Artaxerxes’ rule is the astronomical information found on a number of tablets dated to his reign. One such text is the astronomical “diary” “VAT 5047”, clearly dated to the 11th year of Artaxerxes. Although the text is damaged, it preserves information about two lunar positions relative to planets and the positions of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. This information suffices to identify the date of the text as 454 B.C. As this was the 11th year of Artaxerxes, the preceding year, 455 BC, cannot have been his 20th year as [some claim], but his 10th year. His 20th year, then, must have been 445/44 BC. (See Sachs/Hunger, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Volume 1, Wien 1988, pages 56-59.)

There are also some tablets dated to the 21st and last year of Xerxes. One of them, BM 32234, which is dated to day 14 or 18 of the 5th month of Xerxes’ 21st year, belongs to the group of astronomical texts called “18-year texts” or “Saros texts”. The astronomical information preserved on this tablet fixes it to the year 465 BC. The text includes the following interesting information: “Month V 14 (+x) Xerxes was murdered by his son.” This text alone not only shows that Xerxes ruled for 21 year[s], but also that his last year was 465 BC, not 475 as the Society holds!

There are several “Saros texts” of this type covering the reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes. The many detailed and dated descriptions of lunar eclipses from different years of their reigns establish the chronology of this period as an absolute chronology. Two other astronomical tablets from the reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes, BM 45674 and BM 32299, contain dated observations of the planet Venus. Again, these observations establish the chronology of this period as an absolute chronology. Thus we have numerous astronomical observations dated to different parts of the reigns of Xerxes and Axtaxerxes preserved on cuneiform tablets. In many cases, only one or two of these observations would suffice to establish the beginning and end of their reigns. The total number of astronomical observations dated to their reigns, however, are about 40 or more. It is impossible, therefore, to change their reigns even one year!’ 

Daniel’s prophecy does not explicitly state that the Messiah would be cut off after 3½ years of His ministry, though there is an inference to that effect. The event has a parallel with ‘the prince who is to come’ – probably the false Prophet, possibly the Beast, ‘Antichrist’ – breaking the seven year covenant in the middle of the week. There are a number of Bible passages of interest in line with the content of the seventy weeks prophecy, as well as some of the verses studied regarding the Messiah.

Matthew 24:15-24

English Standard Version

15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 

Daniel 8:13-14

English Standard Version

13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” 14 And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”

16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

Revelation 7:3-4, 14-17

English Standard Version

… saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel…“These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore… 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Rev 11:1-3

English Standard Version 

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses,and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Rev 12:4-6, 13-17 

English Standard Version 

And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child [they] might devour it. 

5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days… 13 And when the dragon saw that [they] had been thrown down to the earth, [they] pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his [G846 – autos: themselves, itself]* mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from [her]* mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Rev 13:5-9 

English Standard Version

5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear…

Revelation 14:1

English Standard Version

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

Revelation 3:14-22

English Standard Version

14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea* write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 

18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen,and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Matthew 27:45-66

English Standard Version

45 Now from the sixth hour [Noon] there was darkness over all the land [Mark 15:33] until the ninth hour [3pm]. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 

Luke 23:44-45

Common English Bible

44 It was now about noon, and darkness covered thewhole earth* until about three o’clock, 45 while the sun [G2246 Helios: the rays of the sun, the light of day] stopped shining [G4654 skotizo: darken, to cover with darkness, deprive of light]. Then the curtain in the sanctuary tore down the middle.

We have learned that the Messiah died on the Passover in the year of 30 CE; on the 14th day of Abib, Wednesday April 5th. The sun darkening could not be a lunar eclipse, as these result when the Earth gets in the way of the Sun’s light hitting the Moon. This can only occur during the night and a when the Moon is full. Thus a full moon fades away as Earth’s shadow covers it. The Moon can look reddish because the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs other colours while it bends some sunlight toward the Moon. The same applies to the orange and red colours of sunsets.

This leaves a solar eclipse, which occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the Sun, blocking the sun’s light, and the moon casts a shadow over the Earth. Importantly, a solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of a new moon and during daylight hours. Thus it can be dark in the middle of the day. Was it even predicted in the Old Testament, some eight hundred years before hand.

Amos 8:9

New English Translation

In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon and make the earth dark in the middle of the day [during the light of day; in a day of light].

The complication is that there isn’t a candidate for a solar eclipse taking place at this time in 30 CE… or in 33 CE. Also, the eclipse lasted a staggering three hours. Either there was an eclipse on this day but a record is missing or it was a different event and not a solar eclipse which caused the sky to darken for three hours. 

Acts 17:34 mentions Dionysius who claims to have witnessed a solar eclipse on the day of Christ’s death. ‘In letters written under the name Dionysius the Areopagite, the author claims to have observed a solar eclipse from Heliopolis* at the time of the crucifixion. Parker, John (1897). “Letter VII. Section II. To Polycarp–Hierarch. & Letter XI. Dionysius to Apollophanes, Philosopher.” The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite. London: James Parker and Co. pages 148–149, 182–183. According to the Orthodox Church in America, Dionysius… was from Athens and received a classical Greek education (i.e. Atticism). He studied astronomy at the city of Heliopolis, and it was in Heliopolis, along with his friend Apollophonos where he witnessed the solar eclipse that occurred at the moment of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ by Crucifixion. (The connection between the events was surely realized by him at a later date.) But even so, at the time of the eclipse he said, “Either the Creator of all the world now suffers, or this visible world is coming to an end.”’

If this event was an orthodox solar eclipse then from this testimony, we would have to conclude that if the dark lunar phase occurred at noon creating a solar eclipse on the 14th day of Abib, it meant none other than fifteen days earlier, the full moon had been the New Moon. In other words, the Moon being full was announcing the beginning of a new month. This would have far reaching implications on the Hebrew calendar and how it is observed today, if the current new moon is actually the Moon of the 14/15 day of a lunar month and the full moon is the intended new Moon of the 1st day of a month.

Psalm 81:3

English Standard Version

Blow the trumpet at the new moon [H2320 – bahodes: the new, in the new moon, at the new moon], at the full moon [H3677 – bakkeseh: the full, at the full moon, in the time appointed] on our feast day.

Interlinear: ‘Blow at the time of the New Moon the trumpet, at the full moon on day [of] our solemn feast.’

Psalm 81:3 either highlights the New Moon and Full Moon as two distinct days and separate events, with the new moon and its conjunction or Molad coming first – as with the blowing of the Trumpet on the 1st of Tishri, the Feast of Trumpets – then with the full moon on the 15th day of the month, as on the feast days of Unleavened Bread from the 15th to the 21st of the first month and the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkoth, from the 15th to the 22nd of the seventh month, following. Or, is it showing that the new moon is actually a full moon? 

We will return to the question regarding the New Moon as a full moon and related topics including, the exact nature of the Hebrew (Jewish) calendar, the Roman calendar, the Lunar cycle compared to the Solar, as well as Sunday versus the Sabbath, the controversy surrounding the weekly cycle of days and when the true day of rest actually falls, as well as the legality of the Law, in the articles: The Calendar Controversy and The Sabbath Secrecy.

Conversely, if the Sun had darkened during a genuine full moon it would have been a sensational occurrence with a supernatural element to have explained the movement of the moon 180 degrees out of its position to darken the Sun when it was not in conjunction. If the Moon came into closer proximity to the Earth – affecting its magnetic field – through Divine intervention, this would account for the earthquakes that accompanied the event, as science corroborates. The church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, who lived between 264 and 340 CE, quoted Phlegon from the second century CE, as saying that during the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad: “A great eclipse of the sun occurred at the sixth hour that excelled every other before it, turning the day into such darkness of night that the stars could be seen in heaven, and the earth moved in Bithynia, toppling many buildings in the city of Nicaea.” 

NASA has not revealed any record for a solar eclipse occurring at noon in the Middle East region for any date within twenty years of 30 CE. According to one commentator’s opinion: the occulted sun and moon were together at the feet of the ‘the lamb’ the constellation Aries, at precisely midday so that the Lamb’s constellation came into full view directly overhead. It is not beyond the Creator’s power to intervene in the laws of astro-physics, as recorded in 2 Kings 20:11 and Joshua 10:13. Thus, the Moon could have been brought closer to the earth and its orbit harmonised with the Sun for three hours.

One could consider a cover up regarding an event of this magnitude and it being expunged from astronomical data; particularly when five different people record the event. The third century Christian historian Sixtus Julius Africanus, in a section of his work in quotation by George Syncellus in 391 CE, stated that Thallus in 53 CE, had called the darkness during the crucifixion a solar eclipse. 

Though Third century critics declared Thallus’s statements as false, because the lunar phase was fourteen days from a crescent moon, naturally making it ‘full.’ In contradiction to the law that solar eclipses cannot occur on a full moon.

Have records been skewed surrounding an unusual solar eclipse in 30 CE? It seems possible. Especially when images from Stellarium – a simulation of what the night sky may have looked like in their respective years, based on NASA’s UTC time coordinates of GMT – reveal nothing for the years 30 or 32 CE, yet each image, viewed from Jerusalem facing due south depicting the sixth hour of Noon with the sun straight up and the moon at or nearest conjunction favours both 31 and 33 CE as possible solar eclipses. These two years do not fit all the studied data and criteria put together. The year 32 CE is not even in the running; which leaves only 30 CE to satisfy all the facts. Yet astronomical confirmation is missing?

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom [precisely at 3pm]. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split [caused by a massive earthquake]. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

The effects of the unusual and powerful earthquake were extremely violent and produced scenes which would have not been out of place in the Walking Dead and very disturbing for those witnessing these strange and frightening miracles. The curtain in the Temple tore in two, reminiscent of the miraculous events to yet occur between 30 and 70 CE, associated with Temple worship. The Book of Revelation reveals a future, spiritual parallel. 

Rev 11:19 

English Standard Version

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

Early church father Jerome, in a Letter to Hedibia recounts that the huge lintel of the Temple was broken, splintered and fell; caused by the rending of the Veil. Edersheim adds: ‘it would seem an obvious inference to connect again this breaking of the lintel with an earthquake.’ The lintel was a stone of some magnitude, being at least thirty feet long and weighing about thirty tons. The Temple Veils were sixty feet long by thirty feet wide and the thickness of the palm of a man’s hand, wrought in seventy-two squares. 

They were reputed to be so heavy that three hundred priests were required to manipulate each one. Therefore, the Veil being rent from top to bottom was a very terrible portent, as it indicated that the Creator’s own Hand had torn it in two when His presence deserted the Holy Place. 

The Jewish Talmud in Yoma 39b says of the events which must have occurred in 30 CE, for the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE: ‘Forty years before the Temple was destroyed… the gates of the Hekel or the Holy Place, opened by themselves until Rabbi Yohanan Zakkai rebuked the gates, saying “Hekel, Hekel, why alarmist thou us? We know that thou art destined to be destroyed…” For the huge doors of the Temple behind the Veil to open by themselves or as a consequence of a great earthquake, meant they pulled powerfully against the Veil and with the lintel collapsing at the same time, would have torn in two from top to bottom as the Bible claims.

62 The next day [15th Abib – Thursday April 6th, The first Day of Unleavened Bread], that is, after the day of Preparation [the Preparation for the Holy Day, the Passover], the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day [17th Abib – Saturday 8th April], lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Paid in Full, Buried & Sealed: Jesus in the Tomb, Rick Renner – emphasis & bold mine:

‘John’s Gospel tells us that near the crucifixion site was a garden. The Greek word for “garden” is kepos, and it refers to any garden with trees and spices. It can also be translated as an orchard. The same word is used in John 18:1 to describe the Garden of Gethsemane, which was an olive tree orchard. All four Gospels suggest that this tomb was near the place where Jesus was crucified, but John 19:42 says, “…The sepulchre was nigh at hand.” The word “nigh” is the Greek word aggus, meaning nearby. Most crucifixions were performed along a roadside. Evidently this garden was located in an orchard-like place, just down the road from where Jesus was crucified. John 19:41 tells us that in the garden was “…a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.” The word “new” is the Greek word kainos, meaning fresh or unused. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the tomb had recently been made but that it was a tomb that had never been used – thus, the reason John writes, “… Wherein was never man yet laid.”

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that this tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, suggesting that it was the tomb he had prepared for his own burial. The fact that it was a tomb “hewn out in the rock” (Matthew 27:60, Mark 15:46, Luke 23:53) confirms the personal wealth of Joseph of Arimathea. Only royalty or wealthy individuals could afford to have their tombs carved out of a wall of stone or in the side of a mountain. Poorer men were buried in simple graves. 

The word “hewn” in Matthew, Mark, and Luke comes from the Greek word laxeuo, meaning not only to cut out, but to polish. It implies that it was a special tomb, a highly developed tomb, a refined tomb, or a tomb that was splendid and expensive. Isaiah 53:9 had prophesied that the Messiah would be buried in a rich man’s tomb, and the word laxeuo strongly suggests that this was indeed the expensive tomb of a very rich man. John 19:42 says, “There laid they Jesus….” The word “laid” comes from the word tithimi, which means to set, to lay, to place, to deposit, or to set in place. As used here, it portrays the careful and thoughtful placing of Jesus’ body in its resting place inside the tomb. Luke 23:55 tells us that after Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb, the women who came witth Him from Galilee “… beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.” The word “beheld” in Greek is theaomai, from which we get the word theater. 

The word theaomai means to gaze upon, to fully see, or to look at intently. This is very important, for it proves the women inspected the tomb, gazing upon the dead body of Jesus to see that it had been honorably laid in place. Mark 15:47 identifies these women as Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses and says that these women “… beheld where he was laid” at the tomb. The imperfect tense is used in Mark’s account, alerting us to the fact that these women took their time in making sure Jesus was properly laid there. It could be translated, “they carefully contemplated where he was laid.” If Jesus had still been alive, those who buried Him would have known it, for they spent substantial time preparing His body for burial. Then after His dead body was deposited into the tomb, they lingered there, checking once again to see that the body was treated with the greatest love and attention. 

Once they were certain everything was done correctly, Joseph of Arimathea “… rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed” (Matthew 27:60, Mark 15:46). It was rare to find a stone entrance to a Jewish tomb in biblical times; most Jewish tombs had doors with certain types of hinges. A large stone rolled before the tomb would be much more difficult to move, making the burial site more permanent.

However, the chief priests and Pharisees weren’t so sure that the site was secure. Fearing that Jesus’ disciples would come to steal the body and claim that Jesus had been resurrected, the Jewish leaders came to Pilate… When the chief priests and Pharisees asked that “…the sepulchre be made sure…,” the Greek word sphragidzo is used. This word described a legal seal that was placed on documents, letters, possessions, or, in this case, a tomb. Its purpose was to authenticate that the sealed item had been properly inspected before sealing and that all the contents were in order. As long as the seal remained unbroken, it guaranteed that the contents inside were safe and sound. In this case, the word sphragidzo is used to signify the sealing of the tomb. In all probability, it was a string that was stretched across the stone at the entrance of the tomb, which was then sealed on both sides by Pilate’s legal authorities. Before sealing the tomb, however, these authorities were first required to inspect the inside of the tomb to see that the body of Jesus was in its place. After guaranteeing that the corpse was where it was supposed to be, they rolled the stone back in place and then sealed it with the official seal of the governor of Rome.

After hearing the suspicions of the chief priests and Pharisees, “Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can”… The word “watch” is the Greek word coustodia, from which we get the word custodian. This was a group of four Roman soldiers whose shift changed every three hours. The changing shifts assured that the tomb would be guarded 24 hours a day by soldiers who were awake, attentive, and fully alert. When Pilate said, “Ye have a watch…,” a better rendering would be, “Here – I’m giving you a set of soldiers; take them and guard the tomb.” Matthew 27:66 says, “So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.” Wasting no time, the chief priests and elders hastened to the tomb with their government-issued soldiers and the special officers assigned to inspect the tomb before placing Pilate’s seal upon it. After a full inspection had been made, the stone was put back in place, and the soldiers stood guard to protect the tomb from anyone who would attempt to touch it or remove its contents. Every three hours, new guards arrived to replace the old ones. These armed soldiers guarded the entrance to Jesus’ tomb so firmly that no one would have been able to come near it.

The purpose of the seal was to authenticate that Jesus was dead; therefore, we can know that His body was thoroughly inspected again for proof of death. There is no doubt that Jesus was dead, for He was examined again and again, even as He lay in the tomb. Some critics have claimed that only Jesus’ own disciples inspected His body and that they could have lied about His being dead. 

However, an officer from Pilate’s court also examined the body of Jesus. We can also be fairly certain that the chief priests and elders who accompanied the soldiers to the burial site demanded the right to view His dead body as well so they could verify that He was truly dead.

When Jesus came out of that grave several days later, it was no hoax or fabricated story. In addition to all the people who saw Him die on the Cross, the following individuals and groups verified that His dead body was in the tomb before the stone was permanently sealed by an officer from the Roman court of law:

• Joseph of Arimathea carefully laid Him inside the tomb.
• Nicodemus provided the embalming solutions, assisted in embalming Him, and helped Joseph of Arimathea lay Him in His place in the tomb.
• Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, lovingly examined His body and carefully contemplated every aspect of the burial site to ensure everything was done properly and respectfully.
• Rome’s official officer ordered the stone rolled back. Then he went into the tomb and examined the body of Jesus to verify that it was Jesus and that He was really dead.
• The chief priests and elders entered the tomb with Rome’s official officer so they could look upon Jesus’ dead body and put an end to their worries that He had somehow survived.
• Roman guards checked the contents of the tomb because they wanted to know for sure a body was there. They didn’t want to be guarding an empty tomb that would later be used as a claim of resurrection, while they got blamed for the disappearance of Jesus’ body.
• After all of these inspections were complete, Rome’s official officer ordered the stone rolled back in its place. While the chief priests, elders, and Roman guards watched, he secured the site and sealed it shut with the seal of the governor of Rome.

Regardless of all these efforts to secure the site and to keep Jesus inside the grave, it was impossible for death to hold Him. When preaching on the day of Pentecost, Peter proclaimed to the people of Jerusalem, “…Ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain [Jesus]: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it” [Acts 2:23-24].’

Further evidence that the year 30 CE is the correct date for the Messiah’s death is that in the same year, the Sanhedrin curiously abandoned their Chamber of Hewn Stones near the Holy Place in the Temple, which was its official location seat. It was about forty yards southeast of the entrance to the Holy Place. In 30 CE, the Sanhedrin moved to a residence called The Trading Place, farther to the east and a less significant spot. To be forced to move from a beautiful and prestigious location in the Temple to a place much less esteemed and reverential, would have been a great slight. 

The Talmud states: ‘Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the Sanhedrin was banished (from the Chamber of Hewn Stone) and sat in the trading station (on the Temple Mount)’ (Shabbat 15a). The obvious reason why the Sanhedrin were forced to relocate is due to the great earthquake on the day Christ was killed. Direct punishment for their complicity in handing Jesus over to the Romans and the Creator’s displeasure with their actions.

The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, Craig Blomberg, 1987 – emphasis & bold mine: 

‘… the claim that the Romans retained the sole right of capital punishment (John 18:31) has often been termed a Johanine error, especially in view of the counter-example in the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58). But this right is strikingly confirmed by a passage in the Talmud, which says that capital punishment had been taken from the Jews forty years  [30 CE] before the destruction of the temple in A.D.70… Stephen’s stoning reads more like mob action which defied technical legalities.’

In summary: the Messiah as can be ascertained from all pertinent material, was born in 3 BCE on September 11, corresponding to the first day of Tishri, the New Moon and the Feast of Trumpets in the seventh month of the Sacred Calendar. He lived thirty years, was then baptised and began His ministry in the autumn of 26 CE. Three and one half years later, Christ died on the 14th of Abib, corresponding to the Passover on April 5, in 30 CE.

Returning to King Herod, the historian Schurer concluded: ‘Herod died at Jericho… unwept by those of his own house, and hated by all the people.’ Upon Herod’s death his kingdom was divided among his three sons as a tetrarchy. Jewish tradition holds that the claiming of kingship by the Hasmoneans led to their eventual downfall, since that title was only to be held by descendants of the line of King David and the tribe of Judah, whereas the Maccabeans were Levites, from the tribe of Levi. 

The Edomites in positions of influence were also known as Herodians in scripture and were politically aligned with Herod. They plotted with the Pharisees to kill the Messiah [Matthew 22:16, Mark 12:13].

Mark 3:6

English Standard Version

The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Herod Agrippa I [Herod the Great’s grandson] continued the murderous acts of his Great grandfather, as he was implicated in the death of James the brother of John [Acts 12:1-2] between 41 and 44 CE. The Herodian kingship continued until 92 CE, when the last monarch, Agrippa II died, with Rome assuming full power over his de jure domain.

One faction of the Edomite ruling elite during the time of Christ, were the Sadducees, a powerful religious-political group who confronted the Messiah, attempting to trip Him up [Matthew 16:1, Mark 12:18], later also opposing the apostles [Acts 4:1-2]. The name Sadducee is related to the Hebrew word, sadaq meaning, ‘to be righteous.’ The Sadducees were a wealthy aristocratic class, which included the high priest of the temple in Jerusalem. The Sadducees held the majority of seats of the total seventy, with the High Priest making seventy-one, of the ruling council called the Greater Sanhedrin [Numbers 11:16]. They sought peace with the Romans, so as to maintain their political positions of power and in so doing, alienated themselves from the masses. The people related to the minority sect, the Pharisees and thus the Sadducees did not always have political matters their own way. 

Even though the Sadducees preserved the authority of the books of Moses, Genesis through to Deuteronomy, they denied fundamental teachings, including: the resurrection of the dead, the resurrection of Christ, a soul or afterlife and a spiritual world. As a political party they only became concerned with Christ when they perceived unwanted Roman attention. Thus they sided with the Pharisees and conspired to put the Messiah to death [John 11:48-50]. According to Josephus, the Sadducees were ‘rude, arrogant, power-hungry and quick to dispute with those who disagreed with them.’ The Sadducees ceased to exist as a group in 70 CE, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans.

The other influential faction were the Pharisees and unlike the Sadducees, were mainly members of the middle class. They were the businessmen, merchants and tradesmen of their day. This would account for the numerous Talmudic references dealing with the minute intricacies of commercialism. The Pharisees were sticklers in adhering to the law and were the fundamentalists of their day, separating themselves, particularly in Jerusalem by their strict adherence to their voluminous and complex legal tradition – becoming hypocritical formalists. The average Pharisee had no formal education, in the interpretation of the Biblical law and so relied on professional scholars – the scribes, of which most were Pharisees – in legal matters. A small number of the Pharisees were Priests, as well as regular attendees at the synagogue** – a Jewish house of worship. 

The word Pharisee is from the Greek, pharisaios derived from the Hebrew-Aramaic Perisha, meaning, ‘separated one.’ According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica there were six thousand Pharisees during the time of the Messiah. Of which, a sizeable proportion were not Jewish, as in from the tribe of Judah but rather Edomites. 

Matthew 23:1-36

English Standard Version

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens [Orthodox Judaism and strict observance of the Torah], hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father [for instance Catholic priests] on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 

13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, butwithin you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets [the prophets of Israel and Judah]. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers^, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 

34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you [Doeg the Edomite, 1 Samuel 21:7] will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you^^ may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

There is a palpable series of dots, which once joined, link the Serpent, Cain, the Kenites, Amalek and the Horites from Sier with Edom.

John 8:31-58

Common English Bible

31 Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They responded,“We are Abraham’s children [from Abraham’s grandson, Esau]; we’ve never been anyone’s slaves. How can you say that we will be set free?”

The Jewish leaders and the ones opposing Christ were predominantly Edomites. The Pharisees here can legitimately claim to be descendants of Abraham – not ever being in bondage, unlike the tribe of Judah – yet sit and act as if they are Judah. As a twin, they can be easily confused with Jacob and so they have been and are, and will continue to be.

34 Jesus answered, “I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 A slave isn’t a permanent member of the household, but a son is. 36 Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you really will be free. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s children, yet you want to kill me because you don’t welcome my teaching. 38 I’m telling you what I’ve seen when I am with the Father, but you are doing what you’ve heard from your father.”

39 They replied, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus responded, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do Abraham’s works. 40 Instead, you want to kill me, though I am the one who has spoken the truth I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this. 41 You are doing your father’s works.” They said, “Our ancestry [from Abraham and Isaac] isn’t in question! The only Father we have is God!”

John 8:41

English Standard Version

41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality [or fornication]. We have one Father – even God.”

Living Bible

No, you are obeying your real father when you act that way.” They replied, “We were not born out of wedlock – our true Father is God himself.”

Christ is flagrantly speaking of the Edomites complex ancestry and their mixed DNA.

42 Jesus replied, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God. Here I am. I haven’t come on my own. God sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I’m saying? It’s because you can’t really hear my words. 44 Your father [figure, generator] is the devil.^ You are his children,and you want to do what your father wants. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has never stood for the truth, because there’s no truth in him. Whenever that liar speaks, he speaks according to his own nature, because he’s a liar and the father of liars. 45 Because I speak the truth, you don’t believe me. 46 Who among you can show I’m guilty of sin? Since I speak the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 God’s children listen to God’s words. You don’t listen to me because you aren’t God’s children.”

Matthew 3:7

English Standard Version

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

This is alluding to Genesis 3.15 and the the enmity between the Serpent’s seed and Eve’s descendants – Matthew 12:34, Luke 3:7.

48 The Jewish opposition answered, “We were right to say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon, weren’t we?” 49 “I don’t have a demon,” Jesus replied. “But I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I’m not trying to bring glory to myself. There’s one who is seeking to glorify me, and he’s the judge. 51 I assure you that whoever keeps my word will never die.”

52 The Jewish opposition said to Jesus, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham and the prophets died, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never die.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died and the prophets died, so who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is meaningless. My Father, who you say is your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 You don’t know him, but I do. If I said I didn’t know him, I would be like you, a liar. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see my day. He saw it and was happy.” 

57 “You aren’t even 50 years old!” the Jewish opposition replied. “How can you say that you have seen Abraham?” 58 “I assure you,” Jesus replied, “before Abraham was, I Am.”

The hurried and illegal trial of Christ to pronounce his death would have been made up of some of the members of the Sanhedrin, either biased Sadducees or Pharisees of the school of Shammai.* Christ’s friend Nicodemus and his relative – Great Uncle on Mary’s side – Joseph of Arimithea, would have definitely represented the school of Hillel [John 3:1, Acts 22:3, 23:6] as well as being members of the Sanhedrin [John 19:38, Acts 5:34]. 

Rabbis were grouped into the Houses of either Hillel or Shammai during the Second Temple era. The students of Hillel were lenient, conversely the students of Shammai were stringent. The law was nearly always decided in accordance with the teachings of the House of Hillel. Following the destruction of the original Temple, two distinct academies developed; one in the Land of Israel and the other in Babylon. The traditions of each were preserved in two separate Talmuds, the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. There were some communities faithful to the teachings of the scholars in Judea and others who were influenced by the sages of Babylon. Similar to the Sephardim and Ashkenazim, these groups had differences in rite and custom, though the fundamentals of Judaism were the same. The Jews in Palestine suffered under Christian rulership and so their communal structure dissolved, while the Babylonian academies flourished. In time, Jewish communities adapted the Babylonian traditions and it is they which are now universally held.

Israeli Orthodox Rabbi 

Thus, Judaism was very different from the religion of ancient Israel. Rabbi Stephen Wise, once the Chief Rabbi of the United States, said: ‘The return from Babylon, and the adoption of the Babylonian Talmud, marks the end of Hebrewism, and the beginning of Judaism.’ It was Christ’s blatant rejection of this ‘Tradition of the Elders’ and His direct confrontation with the influential Pharisees that created the climate which led to His death. Jesus declared that their traditions had blinded the eyes of the people to a true understanding of the Law, as well as the prophecies regarding the Messiah and his coming. 

Matthew 27:24-26

Common English Bible

24 Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was starting. So he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I’m innocent of this man’s blood,”he said. “It’s your problem.” 25 All the people replied, “Let his blood be on us^^ and on our children.”26 Then he released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus whipped, then handed him over to be crucified.

The Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate had finally grown weary of King Herod  Antipas of Galilee – who reigned from 4 to 39 CE, and was eventually exiled by Emperor Caligula to Spain – and the contentious crowd. This is a profound moment in the history of the world; for both the Son of Man and the rabble rousing Jewish Idumeans. For Christ, it was the fulfilment of his role as the sacrificial Lamb for the sins of the whole world, past and present and the signing of his death warrant [1 John 2:2]. For the Idumeans and their vitriolic rogue Amalek component, it signed their warrant for persecution and violence towards them from generation to generation, for their role in Christ’s final hours. [Exodus 17:16]. The Nazi genocidal extermination of Jews during WWII: a case of paradoxical indirect retribution, coupled with unjustified persecution.

Revelation 2:9

Amplified Bible

‘I know your suffering… how you are blasphemed and slandered by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue** of Satan (they are Jews only by blood, and do not believe and truly honor the God whom they claim to worship).

Revelation 3:9

King James Version

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

These verses in the Book of Revelation are part of a personal, coded message to true believers and the elect of Christ, spanning since His death, until His return. Seven letters are written to seven Churches* with different characteristics, representing seven eras or phases. 

These verses have a dual application in that a. they refer to the universal religious establishment which claims to have divine authority [John 20.23] for so-called Christian beliefs and teachings [Matthew 16:18-19, 18:18]; acting as a religious imposter to the real spiritual Jews of the true body of Christ, which is a small flock [Luke 12:32] and b. 

cleverly refers to another influential religion which spawned Christianity [Romans 2:28-29] and a people who claim to be Judah or physical Jews and really are not. 

Judaism and Roman Catholicism are equally Babylonian Mystery religions; imposters and usurpers, both posing as the true Church of God. Catholicism and Judaism are both spiritually Edom, rejecting the true Messiah, by either denying Him or replacing Him with an Antichrist. Judaism and Catholicism are related, or if you like, brothers. Paradoxically working together, yet at enmity with one another, vying for world dominion. They are united in their wrath towards true spiritual Israel and real physical Israel.

From 70 CE, with the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans and their subsequent conquest of Jerusalem, Judea crumbled and its people dispersed. True Judah from Jacob and shadow Judah the Edomite Idumeans from Esau, disappear from the world stage. Both, later re-appear in Europe – the Idumeans as the Jews. Before we trace the Jewish people, let’s look at a branch of the Edomite people well before the time of Christ. We have discussed how various nations of Palestine had colonies in the Aegean Sea and Grecian Isles. A famous Greek society, who have gained a fascination from historians, archaeologists and the public alike; militaristic, disciplined, self-contained, an ethos of no surrender, who stood out from its kindred neighbours in Greece, was the nation state of Sparta. 

The armies of Sparta are considered as some of the most impressive in the history of warfare. Their accomplishments particularly during the Greco-Persian wars solidified their formidable reputation; particularly the battle at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. Xerxes the Great had steam rolled his way through Greek cities for four months; until he reached Thermopylae. There then ensued the mother of last stands, for a small Greek force of about seven thousand men awaited them. A Spartan soldier Dieneces is reputed to have calmly said, when told that the Persian arrows would blot out the sun: “Good news; we’ll be fighting in the shade.”

The Greeks led by a mere three hundred Spartan soldiers and one of their kings – Sparta always had two,* the other being Leotychides – Leonidas I, miraculously fended off Xerxes I and his massive army of approximately 200,000 men; which included the superior Persian Immortals, an elite, heavily armed infantry unit of 10,000 soldiers, for three days, inflicting enormous casualties. The Greeks retreated at this point, though the three hundred Spartans and seven hundred men from nearby Thespiae stayed. Leonidas was immortalised as a hero for remaining behind and fighting to the death in a battle that ultimately saw the Spartan’s one and only defeat. Leonidas is reputed to have replied, when the Persians demanded that he and the Spartans hand over their weapons: “Come and get them” [words inscribed on his statues in Sparta and at Thermopylae]. 

This laconic, witty, blunt sense of humour and style of the Spartans is replicated by and particularly indicative of the Jewish people. The Israelis’ have a reputation for being ‘a rude, abrasive or merely boundary-less people’ coupled with their ‘new incarnation as [a start-up nation].’ In 2015, the tech firm Intel provided its employees with a guide to working with Israelis. It warned to ‘expect to be cut off regularly’ and that ‘visitors are often taken aback by the tone or loudness of [a] discussion.’ English speaking immigrants to Israel [called Anglos in Israel], remark about the marked differences in cultural norms and expectations that complicate relations between themselves and the Israelis. Observations of immigrants include: “Israelis are notoriously late; super casual in dress code and speaking” and “They tend to be too personal in their opening remarks, sharing things like how many kids they have.” Also, “arguments can easily get loud and verbally violent, yet never physically violent. There is very much a culture of arguing.” 

The extreme level of martial sophistication exhibited by the Spartans is mirrored by the Jewish, whom are also renowned for their military excellence and bravery. The Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad, is one of the most effective in the world, their anti-terror unit YAMAM also arguably the best in the world, as is their military expertise, for instance the Shayetet 13 and Matkal teams which rival the United State’s SEALs and the United Kingdom’s SAS in elite skills and training. 

An example of Israeli combative skills is the daring and legendary raid of Entebbe on July 3 & 4 in 1976; with a rescue by an Israeli commando squad, of one hundred and three hostages from a French jet airliner that had been hijacked en route from Israel to France. At Entebbe airport in Uganda, the hijackers had freed those of the two hundred and fifty-eight passengers who they thought were not Israeli or Jewish; holding the rest hostage in exchange for the release of fifty-three militants imprisoned principally in Israel, but also other countries. 

In response, Israel dispatched four Hercules C-130H cargo planes, carrying 100 to 200 soldiers and escorted by Phantom jet fighters. After flying 2,500 miles from Israel to Uganda, the Israeli force dramatically rescued the hostages within an hour after landing. All seven of the terrorists were killed, and eleven MiG fighters supplied to Uganda by the Soviet Union were destroyed in the confrontation. Staggeringly, the Israelis lost only three hostages and one soldier during the entire operation. 

The Spartan soldier or hoplite, like any other Greek soldier carried a large bronze shield, wore bronze armour and carried a long, bronze-tipped spear. They similarly fought as other Greeks in a phalanx, an array of soldiers designed to create a strong line of defence, with each soldier also protecting the soldier crouching next to him using their shield. The Spartans were the best at this formation due to their military training. To become a Spartan soldier, Spartan boys under went training at the agoge, a specialised military academy, which included academics, warfare, stealth, hunting and athletics. Training was gruelling and intense, beginning at age seven.

When Spartan boys were born, they were examined by the Gerousia, a council of leading elder Spartans from the child’s tribe to ascertain whether he was fit and healthy enough to be allowed to live. Spartan boys were often sent out into the wild on their own to survive. What truly set the Spartan soldier apart was his loyalty to his fellow soldier. In the agoge, the Spartan boys were taught to depend on one another intrinsically, for the common defence; plus learning how to move in formation without breaking ranks, in attack. At the age of twenty, Spartan men would become warriors of the state and their military life would continue until they turned sixty. Though Spartan men would be ruled by discipline and military during their lives, there were other options available to them. As a member of the state at age twenty, Spartan men could marry, but they would not share a marital home until they were at least thirty. For their lives were completely dedicated to the military for these ten years. Once a Spartan man reached sixty they would be retired, with no more call for military duty or fighting. 

The Missing Simeonites, Steven M Collins – emphasis & bold mine:

‘The Spartans were famous as being the most martial of the Greek city-states. They had a rigorous, martial community which was very different from the rest of the Greek city-states… [and Esau] would be expected to “live by the sword” [Genesis 27:40] and be a martial community wherever they settled.

The book, Sparta, by A.H.M. Jones, a Professor of Ancient History at Cambridge University, noted several things about Sparta. He states the Spartans worshipped a “great law-giver” who had given them their laws in the “dim past”… This law-giver may have been [the patriarch Abraham]. Professor Jones also noted the Spartans celebrated “the new moons” and the “seventh day” [Sabbath] of the month… Prof. Jones also notes, as do other authorities, that the Spartans were known for being “ruthless” in war and times of crisis… Prof. Jones writes that the Spartans were themselves divided into several “tribes” which constituted distinct military formations within the Spartan army… The Spartans also founded a colony in Italy called “Tara”… The name “Terah” is a Semitic/Israelite name as Terah was the father of Abraham…

… I make the case in my book, The “Lost” Ten Tribes of Israel…Found!, that Carthage was founded by Semites from Israel [rather Arameans or Phoenicians from Aram], Tyre and Sidon who continued the Semitic/Hebrew language of the Israelites as well as the Baal worship that Israel, Tyre and Sidon shared. Carthage and the Greeks were historically enemies, but Sparta exhibited a community of interest with Carthage. When Carthage’s army was not fighting well against the Roman legions, it was a Spartan named Xanthippus who traveled to Carthage to reorganize and drill the Carthaginian army to fight Rome. Who better than a Spartan to teach military tactics?I have saved the greatest proof to the last, however. The Spartans themselves declared that they were a fellow tribe of the Jews and corresponded with an ancient Jewish High Priest about their relationship. The book of I Maccabees 14:16-23 records this correspondence, which includes this statement:

“And this is the copy of the letter which the Spartans sent: The Chief magistrates and the city of the Spartans send greeting to Simon, the chief priest, and to the elders and the priests and the rest of the Jewish people, our kinsmen.”’

A relationship between the Spartans and the Jews is again supported earlier in the Apocryphal text, where we read:

1 Maccabees 12:17-23

New Revised Standard Version

17 We have commanded them to go also to you and greet you and deliver to you this letter from us concerning the renewal of our family ties. 18 And now please send us a reply to this.” 19 This is a copy of the letter that they sent to Onias: 20 “King Arius of the Spartans, to the high priest Onias, greetings. 21 It has been found in writing concerning the Spartans and the Jews that they are brothers and are of the family of Abraham. 22 And now that we have learned this, please write us concerning your welfare; 23 we on our part write to you that your livestock and your property belong to us, and ours belong to you. We therefore command that our envoys report to you accordingly.”

Some writers allege that the Spartans are sons of Jacob, such as the tribes of Dan* or Simeon, yet Jacob or Israel is curiously not mentioned as their ancestor, but rather Abraham as their point of commonality. As we have read, the same Jews of the Scribes and Pharisees, referred to Abraham when they were discussing the lineage of themselves with the Messiah, not Jacob. They also don’t mention Isaac, for good reason, as it was he who gave the birthright blessings to Jacob, omitting Esau, hence the reference to Abraham instead. The Spartans are linking themselves to the Jews, not the tribe of Judah. The Edomites were called Jews by this point in history; not the true tribe of Judah.

The letter was written by Arius [Areus] king of the Lacedemonians to Onias the high priest in Palestine. The Jewish historian Uriel Rappaport attempted to put distance between the Spartans and Jews, noting that the relationship has “intrigued many scholars, and various explanations have been suggested for the problems raised… including the historicity of the Jewish leader and high priest Jonathan’s letter to the Spartans, the authenticity of the letter of Arius to Onias, cited in Jonathan’s letter, and the supposed ‘brotherhood’ of the Jews and the Spartans.” Rappaport claiming, “the authenticity of (the reply) letter of Arius is based on even less firm foundations than the letter of Jonathan.” 

There are strong similarities with the Spartan attitude, approach and culture with the modern Israeli nation today. Thus, the historical relationship documented in both books of Maccabees are note worthy, rather than to be dismissed out right as fiction. 

Spartan men wore their hair long, often braided into locks and were well groomed. Long hair symbolised being a free man and taking pride in their strength. Plutarch claimed their long hair: “… made the handsome more comely and the ugly more frightful.” A famous Danite Samson, also wore his hair long, never having cut it. Dan was a son of Jacob and when we study the tribe of Dan,* we will learn about their connection with modern day Esau. Thus, it would not be a surprise to learn of their parallel association with the Spartans [Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe]. 

There is a Greek myth written about the son of Belus or Belaus, a king of the ancient Spartans, named Danaus who arrived in Greece with his daughters by ship. His daughters called themselves Danades and they introduced the cult of the mother goddess. This cult worship became an established religion in Arcadia, developing into the worship of Diana. The Spartans in reverence for their king, adopted the name of Danaans long before they were called Spartans. The same legend records the arrival in the Peleponnesus of ‘colonists from Palestine.’ Danaus may well have been of the tribe of Dan. 

In the same letter between Arius and Onias, Josephus’s account of the correspondence refers to the Spartan seal as being an Eagle clutching a Serpent. Most have interpreted this as a symbol of the tribe of Dan and thus summarily the Spartan identity being that of Dan. Whereas the snake, serpent or viper are primary symbols for Dan, the eagle is a tertiary symbol at best behind the Lion [Deuteronomy 33:22]. Where we do find the eagle as a primary symbol is in reference to Edom [Obadiah 4 & Jeremiah 49:16,22]. As we will learn as we progress, Edom and Dan are inextricably linked. Therefore, the symbol of the Eagle clutching a serpent is revealing and may allude in part to the intermingling of Edom and Dan.

Scholars link the name Belus with the false gods of Baal, Bel and Belial from the Old Testament. The seventh king of Edom, was Baal-hanan. There may also be a link between Belus and Bela the son of Beor, the first king of Edom [Genesis 36:32, 39 & 1 Chronicles 1:43, 49], whom we have already spoken of. It is interesting to note that Balaam, who was requested to curse the sons of Jacob by Balak the king of Moab, was also a son of Beor. Numbers 22:4-5, ESV: ‘… So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw…’ Though we have learned that Balaam was from Aram-Naharaim and not Edom, as well as living much later; it should be considered that Balaam and Bela could be related. For it is a surprising coincidence, coupled with the fact that efforts in locating the city of Dinhabah who Bela was from, have remained unsuccessful. 

Sparta’s two* kings ruled by divine right, with both royal families, the Agiads and the Eurypontids, claiming ancestry with the gods; tracing their ancestry to Heracles a son of Zeus. Myth records that the two dynasties descended from twins no less. 

Eurysthenes and Procles, who conquered Sparta after the Trojan War, were the first Heraclid kings of Lacedaemon. They were the sons of Aristodemus and Argia and their sons in turn were Agis and Eurypon; with the Agyads considered the senior line. 

Most Spartans were farmers but the helots would actually work the land for them. Recall that the Kenite Rechabites would not perform agricultural labour. Nor has the Jew in the past been a farmer or agriculturalist. The Helots were a subjugated peoples and became the first slaves of the Lacedaemonian state. They originally hailed from the city of Helos, though in time it was a term used of the servile population across Laconia and Messenia. Though the helots were serfs of the lowest class, they numbered as the largest majority in Sparta. 

Sparta was located in the region of Laconia, referred to as Lacedaemon in antiquity and comprised most of the southwestern Peloponnese peninsula of the Greek mainland. It was bordered by the Taygetos Mountains to the west and the Parnon Mountains on the east and though Sparta was inland it was only about 25 miles north of the Mediterranean Sea, via the Eurotas River. The location was ideal in turning Sparta into a defensive stronghold. The terrain surrounding the region was difficult to traverse, making it difficult if not impossible for invaders to not be spotted quickly as they entered the valley. As the city state was built on the banks of the Eurotas River, it had an additional line of defence. As well as serving as a natural boundary, the river also made the region one of the most fertile and agriculturally productive in Greece, contributing to Sparta’s prosperity.

In Peoples of The Sea by Immanuel Velikovsky, 1977, he mentions Temeh or Temehu being a name used for the Spartans or Lacedaemonians, by the Egyptians. As we have read, Teman was a prominent grandson of Esau and his name means, south. The possibility exists that Edomites who colonised the Peloponnesian peninsula, used a word like Teman for the location of Sparta in the southern region of the Peloponnese. 

1 Kings 9:26

English Standard Version

King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

Cornerstone Publications provide a fascinating link between Edom, the founding of Tyre, the later Phoenician Aramaean stronghold, ancient Greece and Sparta – emphasis and bold mine.

‘According to Sanchaniathon, a people from the area of the Erythraean Sea migrated into the Galilee [North of Judea] and from there to the seacoast. The imminent Greek historian Herodotus confirms this… The word Erythraean means red… According to most of the ancient historians, including Diodorus Siculus, Aristophanes, and Plutarch, the Erythraean Sea was, in fact, the Red Sea, receiving its name not due to its color actually being red, but from Esau or Edom… some of whose descendants occupied the eastern Sinai peninsula, ranging over into certain areas of Arabia. Tyre, the greatest of the ancient Phoenician city-states, to which there are numerous Scriptural references, was, according to Sanchaniathon, colonized by one King Erythras, literally meaning King Red! 

The Jewish rabbinic scholar Rashi states in his commentary on Genesis 25:23 that Esau himself was the actual founder of Tyre… Even the name Tyre can be traced back to the Hebrew word tsur, which means rock. Indeed, in the time of the Messiah, it was strongly believed, and even recorded in I Maccabees 12 and Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, that the Spartans, on the mainland of Greece, were directly related to Abraham… this story should be of keen interest… when we consider the fact that Crete and the Aegean isles are said to have been invaded anciently by Semitic peoples from, of all places, Phoenicia, the very region where Esau and a major branch of his descendants migrated and settled!’

A scaled down version of the Spartan mentality was the ancient defensive fortification near the Dead Sea of Masada – meaning: ‘strong foundation or support’ – which I had the good fortune to visit in 1981. It is a rugged natural fortress of rock that was transformed into an exquisite palace complex and lavish royal retreat, in the classic style of the early Roman Empire, by King Herod. The water system was specially sophisticated, collecting run-off water from a single day’s rain to sustain life for nine hundred and sixty Judean rebels, including many women and children over a period of two to three years, up until April 73 CE.

With Jerusalem in ruins, eight thousand Roman troops built camps around Masada’s base, a siege wall and a ramp of earth and wooden supports. It was many months later when it became clear that the Romans were going to finally break their defences, that all but two women and five children who had hid in cisterns, chose death and took their own lives rather than become Roman slaves. The camps, fortifications and attack ramp which encircle the fortress are the most complete example of Roman siege works to have survived to the present day. 

Josephus records: “They had died in the belief that they had left not a soul of them alive to fall into Roman hands; The Romans advanced to the assault … seeing none of the enemy but on all sides the awful solitude, and flames within and silence, they were at a loss to conjecture what had happened here encountering the mass of slain, instead of exulting as over enemies, they admired the nobility of their resolve.”

The Battle of Leuctra in 371 BCE made Thebes the leading military power among the Greek city-states. The unexpected loss, dented the prestige of Sparta, ending its long dominance in Greece. Sparta never fully recovered from its losses at Leuctra, or the subsequent helot revolts. Even so, it remained a regional power for another two centuries. Neither Philip II or his son Alexander the Great attempted to conquer Sparta. During its decline it remained the ‘defender of Hellenism,’ retaining its’ ‘laconic wit’ as evidenced, ‘when Philip II sent a message to Sparta saying, “If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta”, the Spartans responded with the single, terse reply… “if.” When Philip created the League of Corinth on the pretext of unifying Greece against Persia, the Spartans chose not to join, since they had no interest in joining a pan-Greek expedition unless it were under Spartan leadership.’ After defeating the Persians at the Battle of the Granicus, Alexander I, sent three hundred Persian suits of armour to Athens, inscribed: “Alexander, son of Philip, and all the Greeks except the Spartans, give these offerings taken from the foreigners who live in Asia.” 

Spartan women were known to be literate and numerate; rare in ancient civilisation. Women were educated and interacted with their fellow male citizens, thus they were notorious for speaking their minds, even in public. Plato praised ‘Spartan women’s ability when it came to philosophical discussion.^’ Spartan women also had economic power, as they controlled their own properties as well as of their husbands. The higher status of females in Spartan society began at birth. Spartan girls were fed the same food as their brothers, allowed to exercise and even competed in sports. Rather than being married at the age of twelve or thirteen, Spartan law forbade the marriage of a girl until she was in at least her late teens. The reason was to ensure the birth of healthy children. Overall, Spartan women were fitter and lived longer than the women of other Greek cities. Many visitors to Sparta, mentioned the practice of wife-sharing. The Spartans believed that breeding should be between the most physically fit and healthy. Older men allowed younger men, to impregnate their polygamous or polyandrous wives. This practice was encouraged so that women would ‘bear as many strong-bodied children as they could.’ The Spartan population of males was hard to maintain due to the loss of the men in battle and the strict physical inspection of newborns.

Laconophilia is a love or admiration of Sparta and its culture. Sparta was the subject of considerable admiration in its day, even from its rival, Athens. Greek philosophers, especially Platonists would describe Sparta as an ideal state, strong, brave, and free from the corruptions of commerce and money. Laconophilia was even in the writings of Machiavelli. ‘The Elizabethan English constitutionalist John Aylmer compared the mixed government of Tudor England to the Spartan republic, stating that “Lacedemonia (was) the noblest and best city governed that ever was”. He commended it as a model for England. 

In the twentieth century, a Facist admiration of Spartan ideals was incredibly adopted by Adolf Hitler, himself a quarter Jewish. 

With perverse irony, Hitler praised the Spartans in 1928, recommending ‘that Germany should imitate them by limiting “the number allowed to live” [refer Chapter XXVIII The True Identity and Origin of Germany and Austria – Ishmael & Hagar]. He added that “The Spartans were once capable of such a wise measure… The subjugation of 350,000 Helots by 6,000 Spartans was only possible because of the racial superiority of the Spartans.” The Spartans had created “the first racialist state”.’ 

A further uncanny link between Sparta and the state of Israel are early Zionists and those who foundered the Kibbutz movement. They were influenced by Spartan ideals, especially education. A founding father of the Kibbutz movement and the Palmach strike force – an elite underground Israeli army from 1941 to 1948 – in Yitzhak Tabenkin, advocated ‘that education for warfare “should begin from the nursery”, that children should from kindergarten be taken to “spend nights in the mountains and valleys”.’ 

Today, the adjective ‘spartan’ means ‘simple, frugal, avoiding luxury and comfort. The term ‘laconic phrase’ describes the very terse and direct speech characteristic of the Spartans.’ During my stay in Israel and travelling the length and breadth of it, I can’t help but admit the impression of the nation overall is aptly described as spartan. So too are the Israelis direct and witty. I would have to also express how welcome I felt in Israel and how helpful many locals were to myself and my father as strangers there. Of all the nations I have been fortunate to visit, Israel stands out and it made a favourable and lasting impression on me.

The first century after 70 CE saw the beginning of the Jewish diaspora or the dispersion of Edom from Judea. We next find the Jews dwelling in three main centres of Europe, Spain, France and Germany, after migrating via Italy. Similarly, ‘Jewish’ peoples located  in the area roughly equating to Ukraine dispersed throughout Eastern Europe and Russia.

In Germany, reference to the Jews as early as 321 CE are made and they are known as the Ashkenazi Jewish community between circa 1000 to 1299 CE. Nothing to do with Ashkenaz the modern nation of Vietnam, the son of Gomer [refer Chapter V Gomer: Continental South East Asia]. The community had survived during Charlemagne’s genocides and atrocities, yet suffered later during the Crusades, with Crusaders in 1096, sweeping over Jewish settlements, laying them waste. Accusations of well poisoning during the Black Death between 1346 and 1353 CE, led to the mass slaughter of German Jews and their subsequent flight in large numbers to Poland. 

The Jews further east, known as Khazars ‘had been following a sex-orientated religion until they officially embraced Judaism in 740 AD, while rejecting Christianity and Mohammedism’ according to Charles Weisman. The Khazars suffered the loss of the destruction of their government by the Russian Slavs in 1016 and then circa 1200, their land was invaded by Genghis Khan. Large numbers of Khazar Jews migrated to either Poland or western Russia. The eastern Jews began to have contact with their brethren from the Rhineland, either through mercantile association, or by reason of the influx of western Jews into Slavic countries. 

The western Jew, possibly because of their superior learning in Judaism, gradually imposed upon the original residents their own culture and their speech. The German dialect was thus introduced among Polish Jewry and replaced Slavic. Thus the term ‘Ashkenazi’ in time, did not necessarily mean that all Ashkenazi Jews had come from Germany but that they had adopted the cluster of Ashkenazi culture; including the specific Ashkenazi religious rites and crucially, the German based Yiddish language. 

The Joys of Yiddish, Leo Rosten, 1970:

‘Of other Germanic or German-based languages, Yiddish did not take its final shape as a separate language of eastern, including EC, Europe until late medieval times. However, its immediate predecessor, Judeo-German (originating, as recent scholarship has shown, in Bavaria and Bohemia, and notably in the cities of Regensburg and Prague, and not, as was earlier thought, in the Rhine valley), spread, at least with the first wave of Jewish settlers, to Silesia, Poland proper, Lithuania, Belarus’, and western Ukraine during the high and later Middle Ages. Earlier Jewish ethnic groups had arrived in ECE (or its fringes) from the southeast: the former Khazaria (and beyond) and Kievan Rus’, switching in the new setting to some form of East Slavic speech…’

Earlier we read of the interaction between Rome and the Idumean rulership in Judea during the time of Christ; the dispersal of the Jews from Judea by the Romans after 70 CE; the settlement of a portion of Jews in German lands; and now the formation of a hybrid language, incorporating Hebrew and German dialects. The constant reader will clearly realise the more than coincidental relationship exhibited between the descendants of Esau and Ishmael [refer Chapter XXVIII The True Identity & Origin of Germany & Austria – Ishmael & Hagar].

A very interesting correlation surfaces regarding the Ashkenazi Jew and the number of wives of Esau. Recall, we looked at the evidence and it strongly appeared that Esau had four wives, though one wife, Judith, died prematurely after giving Esau two daughters – but no sons. One wonders if the persistently held tradition that a person is a Jew through their maternal descent, stems from this very event. 

Most Ashkenazi Jews from Four Women, Malcolm Ritter, 2006 – emphasis & bold mine: 

‘…about 40% of the total Ashkenazi population are descended from just four women, a genetic study indicates… lead author Dr. Doron Behar of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel [commented]… Each woman left a genetic signature that shows up in their descendants today, he and colleagues say in a report published online by the American Journal of Human Genetics. Together, their four signatures appear in about 40% of Ashkenazi Jews,while being virtually absent in non-Jews and found only rarely in Jews of non-Ashkenazi origin, the researchers said. Ashkenazi Jews are a group with mainly central and eastern European ancestry. Ultimately, though, they can be traced back to Jews who migrated from Israel to Italy in the first and second centuries… Eventually this group moved to Eastern Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries and expanded greatly, reaching about 10 million just before World War II… 

The study involved mitochondrial DNA, called mtDNA, which is passed only through the mother… Mike Hammer, who does similar research at the University of Arizona, said he found the work tracing back to just four ancestors “quite plausible… I think they’ve done a really good job of tackling this question. They may have existed in the Near East,” Hammer said. “We don’t know exactly where the four women were, but their descendants left a legacy in the population today, whereas… other women’s descendants did not.” Behar said the four women he referred to did inherit their genetic signatures from female ancestors who lived in the Near East. But he said he preferred to focus on these later European descendants because they were at the root of the Ashkenazi population explosion.’

Beginning in the thirteenth century, Jewish people were expelled from England and France as well as central Europe. Most resettling in Russia, Poland and Eastern Europe. A small percentage however, began immigrating to Palestine. In 1492, when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled all Jewish people living in Spain, some refugees settled in Palestine. 

At the turn of the twentieth century, European Jews were migrating to Palestine in large numbers, fleeing religious persecution. In Russia, Jewish people were segregated into an area along the country’s western border, called the Pale of Settlement. In 1881, Russians began mass killings of Jews called pogroms. This prompted many to flee from Russia and re-locate in Palestine. 

Prejudice against Jews, became known as anti-Semitism and was felt strongest in Germany, Austria-Hungary and France. A French army officer named Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of treason against the French government in 1894. Dreyfus was Jewish and imprisoned for five years and then later tried again, even after new information proved his innocence. The incident called The Dreyfus Affair, exposed widespread anti-Semitism in Western Europe. 

In light of this, Theodor Herzl an Austrian Jewish journalist, thought that Jewish people required their own homeland, Erez Israel, and so be free of religious persecution. In 1897 he organised the First Zionist Congress and is credited with starting the Zionist political movement; though the term Zionism had been coined by a Jew, Nathan Birnbaum in 1890. Herzl was instrumental in turning Zionism from a ‘practical and philanthropic aspect to its political, economic and military objectives…’ Zionism held that an independent Jewish state was the only way for Jewish people to escape anti-Semitism. Herzl stated: ‘It was… incumbent upon the states of Europe to assist in establishing a Jewish state and assuring it of international legitimation.’ 

In response, the British government in 1903, first offered ‘a Jewish self-governing settlement in Uganda, East Africa’ then the British-held Sinai Peninsula was offered and finally ‘a plan to make Madagascar a Jewish nation also generated no Jewish interest.’ 

Who is Esau-Edom, Charles Weisman, 1991: 

‘If half of Europe would have been offered to [the] Zionists they would still rather have the small barren land of Palestine. Why? … in Palestine they could draw Christian support as “God’s chosen people” returning to “Zion.” There would clearly be great political and financial leverage to be had by possessing “the ancient high places” of the true Israel people. The leaders of Edom did have a plan. As the counterfeit Israel people they could use their “cover” to fulfil Edomite goals – not Israelite ones.’

The issue to resolve was the fact that Palestine at this time was in the hands of the Turk and the Ottoman Empire and had been since 1299 CE. Since 1882, Edmond Rothschild had been financing a Jewish society to assist Jews in relocating to Palestine. Weisman claims that International Zionists, Bankers and Plutocrats instigated the Balkan War of 1912/1913, which led to World war I in 1914 and guided Turkey into siding with the potential loser Germany, so that the Ottoman Empire could be carved up, freeing Palestine. In the meantime, Zionists were able to convince Britain’s Arthur Balfour of their legitimacy as the Jews to a homeland. A ‘strange “Cabinet crisis” in December 1916’ led to ‘“Lloyd George [becoming] Prime Minister and Arthur Balfour, Foreign Minister. Both these men… were outspoken supporters of Zionist aspirations.”’ 

Thus pro-Zionists controlling British affairs were able to steer Great Britain towards victory over the Ottomans, by including the introduction of the United States in 1917, via President Woodrow Wilson and the insistence of his ‘intimate advisor’, Zionist agent Colonel Edward House. 

British forces ultimately seized control of Palestine from the Turks. Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild submitted a draft declaration to Balfour, demanding what the Zionists wanted. Balfour addressed the British war Cabinet and two days later, the ‘Balfour Declaration’ was adopted. The letter was dated November 2nd, 1917, addressed to Lord Rothschild:

‘I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet:

“His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.’

To ensure that Palestine would be in Zionist control, British forces occupied Jerusalem in December 1917. Muslim forces had earlier conquered the region in 637 CE. The occupying of an area already occupied ‘was an unprecedented innovation of international law.’ From that moment on, Arab discontent grew. Arab support in Europe with growing Arab nationalism in the Middle East, threatened to derail the Zionist plan. 

Both Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were willing partners of the Zionists and enlisting their assistance required little effort in bringing the United States and the United Kingdom into World War II. The aftermath of the war allowed the Jews to create the United Nations in October 1945 and by 1947, the British gave up their Palestine mandate and handed the ‘Palestine problem’ to the United Nations. The agreement reached was to partition Palestine into separate Arab and Jewish states as according to the Zionist agenda. Thus the Edomite nation of ‘Israel’ was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The very next day, the Arab countries surrounding Israel declared war on the new nation. Israel has been in an almost permanent state of internal conflict ever since. Conflict between Jews, who identify as Israeli and Arabs, who identify as Palestinian,  broke out again in the years 1956, 1967, 1987 and 2000. Esau certainly ‘lives by the sword.’ 

Who Is Esau-Edom, Charles A Weisman, 1991:

‘The only way the Jews got possession of Palestine was by using other people to steal it form the Turks and Arabs for them. The so-called “Israeli” state is nothing but a parasitic state, since it is occupied by parasites. The Jews get billions of dollars from Germany as “reparations” and “restitution payments” for its alleged “war crimes” against Jews. They get billions more every year from the United States. It has to steal or buy technology from Western nations as the Jews have not the creativity to develop their own. The Jewish state of Israel would collapse in a minute without the continued support, protection and assistance from Jacob-Israel… It is not, never has been, and never will be a self-sustaining nation.’ 

One of the singularly biggest cover ups in world history has been perpetrated; with the deliberate mistaken identity of the new inhabitants, foisted on the world so indelibly that most, when presented with this revelatory information, cannot shift the cleverly placed paradigm in their minds. The irony too, is that those of a religious persuasion, who are supposed to perceive the truth, are those who are the most deceived; simultaneously being the biggest supporters of the erroneous concept, that the Jewish state is the tribe of Judah, finally home. Rather, it is Esau who has deceptively snatched an inheritance that is not his to take. How bizarre, that the role reversal Esau is enacting, is what his brother Jacob who he hates, did to him. 

The Jewish Almanac, 1980:

‘Strictly speaking, it is incorrect to call an ancient Israelite a Jew or to call a contemporary Jew an Israelite or Hebrew.’

The Thirteenth Tribe, Arthur Koestler, 1976: 

‘The story of the Khazar Empire, as it slowly emerges from the past, begins to look like the most cruel hoax that history has ever perpetrated.’

The Jewish Encylopedia, 1925, Volume 5, Page 41: 

‘Edom is modern Jewry. The Jews are of Esau from Idumea, and therefore not of Israel or Judah…’

Harold Rosenthal:

‘Most Jews wont admit it, but our God is Lucifer, and we are his chosen. So when we say we are chosen of God we aren’t lying to the Goy [non-Jews]… We just aren’t telling them who chose us.’

Israel is a land of immigrants, with a population of 9,021,225 people; of which about seventy-four percent are Jewish and twenty-one percent Arab. Most are Ashkenazi Jews, who migrated from Eastern Europe; Sephardic Jews who have migrated from the Iberian Peninsula; and Bukharan Jews, migrants from Central Asia. 

The nation’s Law of Return grants full Israeli citizenship to all Jewish people. More than one hundred thousand Jews from sub-Saharan Africa for instance, have immigrated to Israel since 1980. 

In keeping with living by the sword and the Spartan mindset, most Israelis are drafted into the military at the age of eighteen. Men serve two years and eight months and women two years. Following mandatory service, Israeli men join the reserve forces and usually do several weeks of reserve duty every year until they are in their forties. Most women are exempt from reserve duty. 

The nation’s military relies heavily on high-tech weapons systems and is widely believed to possess chemical and biological weapons. Israel has not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, maintaining a policy of deliberate ambiguity. The Israeli Navy’s Dolphin submarines are reported to be armed with nuclear Popeye Turbo missiles. ‘Since the Gulf War in 1991, when Israel was attacked by Iraqi Scud missiles, all homes in Israel are required to have a reinforced security room… impermeable to chemical and biological substances.’ In 2016, Israel ranked 6th in the world for defence spending as a percentage of GDP, with 5.7% and 15th in total military expenditure, with $18 billion.Since 1974, the United States has been a particularly notable contributor of military aid to Israel. ‘The United States is expected to provide the country with $3.8 billion per year, or around 20% of Israel’s defence budget, from 2018 to 2028. Israel ranked 5th globally for arms exports in 2017.’

Jerusalem at night

In late 2021, the world’s Jewish population was numbered at 15.2 million. Approximate Jewish populations outside of Israel include: 

United States: 6,000,000

France: 446,000

West Bank: 418,900

Canada: 393,000

United Kingdom: 292,000

Argentina: 175,000

Russia: 150,000

Germany: 118,000

Australia: 118,000

Brazil: 92,600

South Africa: 67,500

Netherlands: 29,800

New Zealand: 7,500

Ireland: 2,600

City of Jerusalem Flag

‘The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Israeli global shipments during 2020.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$8.2 billion 
2. Gems, precious metals: $6 billion 
3. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $5.7 billion 
4. Machinery including computers: $4.4 billion 
5. Organic chemicals: $4.1 billion 
6. Plastics, plastic articles: $2.7 billion 
7. Other chemical goods: $2.5 billion 
8. Aircraft, spacecraft: $2.2 billion 
9. Pharmaceuticals: $1.7 billion 
10. Arms, ammunition: $1.2 billion 

Arms including ammunition was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 67.9% from 2019 to 2020.’

The discussion on who is a Jew, or what criteria constitutes being Jewish, is complex, multi-issued and thorny. It also highlights Esau’s fundamentally contrasting mental and physical characteristics and differences with Jacob. 

Identity of True Israel, Willie Martin – emphasis & bold mine:

‘By the time Christ came, there were now at least two different types of people in the land of Israel who were called “Jews.” Some were Israelites of the tribes of Judah, Levi or Benjamin… collectively, “Judahites…” Others called “Jews”… were Edomites who also lived in the land of Judea, and who had adopted the religion of Judaism. 

King Herod was of… Edomite blood, and thus it is not surprising that he would kill a large number of baby Israelite boys in attempting to kill the Christ child. Therefore, when Christ came preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom to “the Jews,” it is understandable why some “Jews” believed on him and others believed not and tried to kill Him. 

After the death, burial and resurrection of the Saviour, the apostles began preaching the good news first to the Judahite Israelites in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria and Galilee. Those who were truly Israelites responded to the news by becoming Christians. Those who had become “Jews” by religion (Edomites and others) clung to Judaism (Tradition of the Elders, which later became known as Judaism). This religion of Judaism… was not the true Mosaic/Hebrew religion,but was a perverted form of it which [Christ] denounced as “the traditions of men.” Paul, who was “a Pharisee of Pharisees,” (an expert in Babylonian Judaism), was a True Israelite (of the tribe of Benjamin), and thus converted to Christianity. But the “false Jews” refused to believe in Christ. 

The spurious Noachide Laws are a Jewish fable. They are not found in the Christian Bible. Instead, the Word warns us against such: “…Wherefore rebuke them sharply…Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.” [Titus 1:13-14] Such are the Noachide laws. Its followers and promoters uniformly reject the deity of Christ…’ 

We may well hear a lot more about the Noachide Laws in the future. The Noachide Laws are seven laws considered by rabbinic tradition as the minimal moral duties required by the ‘Bible’ on all men. 

Though partially based on Bible precepts, exclusion of some of the ten commandments and the insidious inclusion of law number seven, paves the way for the controlling of humanity, and its justification could be a foundational premise for continued worldwide changes [refer Chapter XXXIV Dan: The Invisible Tribe]. The seven Noachide laws, as traditionally enumerated are:

1. Do Not Deny God

2. Do Not Blaspheme God

3. Do Not Murder

4. Do Not Engage in Incestuous, Adulterous or Homosexual Relationships.

5. Do Not Steal

6. Do Not Eat of a Live Animal

7. Establish Courts/Legal System to Ensure [first six] Law Obedience

In comparison and contrast, the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament [Exodus 20:2-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21]: 

1. You shall have no other gods before Me

2. You shall not make for yourself any idol as an object to worship

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain

4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy

5. Honor your father and your mother

6. You shall not commit murder 

7. You shall not commit adultery

8. You shall not steal 

9. You shall not testify falsely

10. You shall not covet 

The commandments italicised, are ones conveniently not included in the Noachide Laws. Though some would argue that the Noachide Laws came first…

A H Sayce, page 74 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘But here again we must be careful to define what we mean by the modern Jewish type. The Jewish race is by no means a pure one. It has admitted proselytes from various nations, and at different periods in its career has intermarried with other races… and it is only by the aid of intermarriage that we can explain the contrast in type between the two great divisions of European Jews theSephardim of Spain and Italy andthe Ashkenazim of Germany, Poland, and Russia. Indeed we know that few of the leading Spanish families have not a certain admixture of Jewish blood in their veins, which implies a corresponding admixture on the other side.’

Blue Blood, True Blood, Conflict and Creation, Stewart A Swerdlow, 2002 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘There are in fact, many different physical types of Jews, covering many racial characteristics. This supports the fact that they are not a homogeneous group, but a religious group that spans many cultures. The vast majority of European/American Jews can trace their genetic lineage to the Khazars… who all converted to Judaism in the 800s to circumvent the Catholic rule of the Holy Roman Empire. In the year 2000, the University of Pavia in Italy did a genetic study of European men. They found that 80% of them had a direct lineage to Central Asia and the other 20% to the Middle East. This supports the statement that the Sumerians entered into Central Asia and then migrated to Europe and the Middle East. This also nullifies the theory of Africa as the birthplace of mankind. There is absolutely no genetic connection from Asia or Europe to Africa. The ancient Hebrews have nothing to do with modern Jews.’ 

It is not so much that Jews are a religious group encompassing many ethnicities, though this is partially true, but rather the Jews have intermarried with many ethnicities to produce a very mixed gene pool. Esau was the first to marry three out of four wives who were a different lineage from his family. The exception being Basemath from his cousins of Ishmael’s family. The Edomites have continued to mix freely since. In 1900, only two percent of married Jews worldwide were wed to non-Jews or gentiles; whereas by 1975 the figure was twenty-five percent. In 2004 it had climbed to fifty percent of marrying Jews intermarrying with non-Jews, with non-Orthodox Jews in the United States the intermarriage rate was seventy percent in 2013.  

Rabbi A H Fink: ‘The Jews do not claim to represent the twelve tribes…’ But they do incorrectly claim to be the tribe of Judah. Dr. J.H. Hertz, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, said in 1918: ‘The people known as Jews are the descendants of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with a certain number of the tribe of Levi. So far as is known, there is not any further admixture of other tribes. The Ten Tribes have been absorbed among the nations of the world. The Jews look forward to the gathering of all the tribes at some future date.’ The rabbi was incorrect on the identity of the Jews; wrong on no admixture; and he was in error regarding the location of other sons of Jacob. They have not been absorbed amongst other nations but have their own territories today and the biggest misnomer is the so-called future regathering of Judah with the other tribes. The reality is that they combined centuries ago and are in fact ironically, now in the process of separating. 

Whatever category is used to define a Jew, there is debate on its accuracy. Is a Jew, someone who practices Judaism? The religion or oral tenets of Judaism are not that of Jacob’s son Judah, based on the Old Testament, but rather the Talmud of the Edomites. Judaism isn’t actually Judah-ism. 

Is a Jew, someone with a Jewish mother? In scripture, genealogies are patrimonial and not reckoned from the mother, whose name is usually excluded. Genetic studies have produced mixed results due to the volume of intermarriage by the Jews and some results may seem surprising. It would be expected that the Edomite Haplogroups may not appear uniform, though we will look for patterns and clues later. 

The term anti-semite is highly misleading, as semite in modern parlance, is a language group not a racial group. Some three hundred and forty million people speak Semitic languages. Including an Approximate three hundred million people who speak Arabic, twenty-two million Amharic in Ethiopia, seven million Tigrinya in the Horn of Africa and ten million who speak Hebrew; not including Yiddish, which is a Germanic/Slavic language, not Semitic. By strict definition then, anti-Semitic opposes Arabs; Ethiopians; and those Jews who are Hebrew speakers. Inaccurately, unfairly and persecutory, the term is used with racial implications. Dr Benjamin Freedman in Facts Are Facts, 1954, said the term anti-Semitism doesn’t apply to Jews in the sense it is most commonly used and that it ‘should be eliminated from the English language.’ A further point to be aware of is that the term Semitic does not necessarily apply to those that descend from Shem. The semitic speaking Arabs and Ethiopians are not descended from Shem. Thus the use of Shem and semitic together is not to be trusted in every case.

The Missing Link of Jewish European Ancestry: Contrasting the Rhineland and the Khazarian Hypotheses, Eran Elhaik, 2012 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘The question of Jewish ancestry has been the subject of controversy for over two centuries and has yet to be resolved. The “Rhineland hypothesis” depicts Eastern European Jews as a “population isolate” that emerged from a small group of German Jews who migrated eastward and expanded rapidly. Alternatively, the “Khazarian hypothesis” suggests that Eastern European Jews descended from the Khazars, an amalgam of Turkic clans that settled the Caucasus in the early centuries CE and converted to Judaism in the 8th century.

The “Rhineland hypothesis” envisions modern European Jews to be the descendents of the Judeans – an assortment of Israelite-Canaanite tribes of Semitic origin. It proposes two mass migratory waves: the first occurred over the 200 years following the Muslim conquest of Palestine (638 CE) and consisted of devoted Judeans who left Muslim Palestine for Europe. Whether these migrants joined the existing Judaized Greco-Roman communities is unclear, as is the extent of their contribution to the Southern European gene pool. The second wave occurred at the beginning of the 15th century by a group of 50,000 German Jews who migrated eastward and ushered an apparent hyper-baby-boom era for half a millennium. The Rhineland hypothesis predicts a Middle Eastern ancestry to European Jews and high genetic similarity among European Jews.

The competing “Khazarian hypothesis” considers Eastern European Jews to be the descendants of Khazars. The Khazars were a confederation of Slavic, Scythian, Hunnic–Bulgar, Iranian, Alans, and Turkish tribes who formed in the central-northern Caucasus one of most powerful empires during the late Iron Age and converted to Judaism in the 8th century CE. Genetic studies attempting to infer the ancestry of European Jews yielded inconsistent results. Some studies pointed to the genetic similarity between European Jews and Caucasus populations like Adygei, whereas some pointed to the similarity to Middle Eastern populations such as Palestinians and others pointed to the similarity to Southern European populations like Italians [remember this point].

European Jews are expected to cluster with native Middle Eastern or Caucasus populations according to the Rhineland or Khazarian hypotheses, respectively. The results of all PC analyses show that over 70% of European Jews and almost all Eastern European Jews cluster with Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani Jews within the Caucasus rim. Strong evidence for the Khazarian hypothesis is the clustering of European Jews with the populations that reside on opposite ends of ancient Khazaria: Armenians, Georgians, and Azerbaijani Jews.

Central and Eastern European Jews differ mostly in their Middle Eastern (30% and 25%, respectively) and Eastern European ancestries (3% and 12%, respectively), probably due to late admixture. We emphasize that these hypotheses are not exclusive and that some European Jews may have other ancestries. We show that the Khazarian hypothesis offers a comprehensive explanation for the results, including the reported Southern European and Middle Eastern ancestries. 

By contrast, the Rhineland hypothesis could not explain the large Caucasus component in European Jews, which is rare in non-Caucasus populations. A major difficulty with the Rhineland hypothesis, in addition to the lack of historical and anthropological evidence to the multimigration waves from Palestine to Europe is to explain the vast population expansion of Eastern European Jews from fifty thousand (15th century) to eight million (20th century).’

This data does not disprove a lineage from Esau. It does highlight the heavy admixture of the Eastern European Khazar Jews with the Ashkenazi Jews from Germany and Western Europe. It confirms the lesser numbers of the Ashkenazi Jews in comparison to the Khazars and explains why their culture dominated as they were the true Jew so-to-speak, whereas the Khazar were a religious and cultural convert to Judaism rather than a genetic continuation. Further clarification is provided by Joanna Gillan.

Where are Ashkenazi Jews from? Their Origins May Surprise You, Joanna Gillan, 2020 – emphasis & bold mine:

‘… the origins of the matrilineal line for the Ashkenazi Jews comes from Europe. This goes against the common belief that Jewish people first arrived in central Europe after the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 and only began settling in Germany in the Medieval period. One of the things they are recognized for is the use of Yiddish – a High German language written in the Hebrew alphabet and influenced by classical Hebrew and Aramaic.

Ashkenazi Jews were declared a clear, homogeneous genetic subgroup following a 2006 study. Ashkenazi Jews come from the same genetic group, no matter if their ancestors were from Poland, Russia, Hungary, Lithuania, or another place with a large historical Jewish population. They are all in the same ethnic group… they didn’t reproduce at a noticeable level with others outside their group (not even with other Jewish people). Researchers have shown Ashkenazi Jews were a reproductively isolated population in Europe for about 1000 years.

Previous studies have found that 50-80% of the Ashkenazim DNA from the paternal lineage originated in the Near East… [and] the 2013 study showed 80% of Ashkenazi Jews’ maternal line comes from Europe… “This suggests that, even though Jewish men may indeed have migrated into Europe from Palestine around 2000 years ago, they seem to have married European women.” That helps explain why the Ashkenazim can trace their female lineage to southern and western Europe. In conclusion, Richards said, “The origins of the Ashkenazim is one of the big questions that people have pursued again and again and never really come to a conclusive view.”’

Khazaria – emphasis & bold mine:

‘Advanced genetic testing, including Y-DNA and mtDNA haplotyping, of modern Jewish communities around the world, has helped to determine… the degrees of separation between the groups. Important studies archived here include the University College London study of 2002, Ariella Oppenheim’s study of 2001, Ariella Oppenheim’s study of 2000, Michael Hammer’s study of 2000, Doron Behar’s study of 2008, Steven Bray’s study of 2010, and others. Key findings: The main ethnic element ofAshkenazim (German and Eastern European Jews), Sephardim (Spanish and Portuguese Jews), Mizrakhim (Middle Eastern Jews), Juhurim (Mountain Jews of the Caucasus), Italqim (Italian Jews), and most other modern Jewish populations of the world is… [the]…  Y-DNA haplogroups J and E.’

I would contend that the principal paternal Haplogroup is in fact R1b. Meaning Haplogroups J and E are evidence of peoples added to the Jewish melting pot through admixture. When we investigate Esau’s twin brother Jacob, it will be shown that the principle Y-DNA Haplogroup for his descendants is also R1b.

‘Ashkenazim also descend, in a smaller way, from European peoples from the northern Mediterranean region (including Italians and French) and even less from Slavs. 

We know most of the European ancestry came from women who married into the community since the Ashkenazic haplogroups of European origin are usually mtDNA rather than Y-DNA. Unexpectedly, most Askenazim have a tiny fraction of East Asian ancestry.* Their typically East Asian mtDNA haplogroups include M33c2 and N9a3. The characteristically East Asian hair thickness allele 1540C for the EDAR gene is carried by about 1.7% of Ashkenazim. Dutch Jews from the Netherlands also descend from northwestern Europeans.

About half of Ashkenazic Levites possess haplotypes belonging to the R1a1 haplogroup. This is almost never found among Sephardic Levites, and is rare in non-Ashkenazic populations as a whole, but the phylogeny of the branching out of R1a1 shows the Ashkenazic variety of R1a1^ to be distinct from both the Eastern European and Central Asian forms of R1a1… [showing that] Khazars who converted to Judaism introduced this lineage into Ashkenazim. The [original] source of Ashkenazic R1a1 was a population [from] Iran.’*

Nicolas D Kristoff, Is Race Real? 2003: “Among Jews, there are common genetic markers, including some found in about half the Jewish men named Cohen. But this isn’t exactly a Jewish gene: The same marker is also found in Arabs.”’

The true Levites today and any Levitical priestly line attached to them lays with Jacob’s descendants. It cannot be denied that any association between Jewish men named Cohen and a priestly line may be legitimate; though its source would be with the Idumean scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees and not with Jacob’s son Levi or his descendant Aaron and his sons [Chapter XXXI Reuben, Simeon, Levi & Gad – the Celtic Tribes].

‘Catastrophe: An Investigation Into the Origins of the Modern World, David Keys, 2000, page 99-100. Keys summarises Origins of Old Testament Priests, M. G. Thomas, Karl L. Skorecki, H. Ben-Ami, Tudor Parfitt, Neil Bradman, D. B. Goldstein, 1998, page 138-140:

“DNA tests on Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews have revealed thepossibility that at least one key section of the latter community may have genetic evidence of a potentially large-scale or even mass conversion which must have taken place sometime after around A.D. 700…. the only known mass conversion within that time frame and in that geographical area was that of the Khazars in the eighth century. Significantly, the section of the Ashkenazi community whose DNA may suggest a partially convert origin is that section which up till now had traditionally been said to be wholly descended from the Assistant Priests of ancient Israel [Edom]… 

By analyzing Y chromosomes from a sample of both [‘Levite’ and ‘non-Levite’] populations in both Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities, geneticists have discovered that an astounding 30 percent of Ashkenazi non-Cohenic Levites have a particular combination of DNA material on part of their Y-chromosome that is not shared to any extent by either non-Levite Ashkenazi Jews or the Sephardic community as a whole. 

This genetic marker does not even show up among the Cohens (descendants of the ancient Israelite Chief Priests) – but only among the descendants of Assistant Priests, and then only within Ashkenazi (northern European) Jewry. What seems to have happened is not only a potentially large-scale conversion of non-Jewish people, almost certainly Khazars, to Judaism, but also the adoption of Levite (Assistant Priest) status by a substantial number of the Khazar converts… 

A tenth-century letter of recommendation from the Jewish community of Kiev to Jewish communities outside Khazaria was signed by Jews with traditional Turkic names whose almost certainly Turkic Khazar ancestors had adopted second names… indicating that they saw themselves as descendants or close associates of the ancient tribe of Levi… Adoption of Cohenic or ordinary Levitical status by converts was and is expressly forbidden by rabbinical law, so the Khazars had to develop a mythic national history that gave them the right to Levitical status.** 

They claimed that they were the descendants of one of the lost tribes of Israel and were not converts at all but merely returnees to Judaism. Furthermore, the tribe they claimed ancestry from was that of Simeon, the brother of the founder of the tribe of Levi… Probably it was the old pre-Jewish Khazar priests – the qams – who at the conversion had become Levites en masse…” [Reuben, Simeon, Levi & Gad – the Celtic Tribes]’

‘The God Gene: How faith is Hardwired into our Genes, Dean Hamer, 2004, page 191-192: 

“A recent study by Skorecki and colleagues uncovered a subgroup of Ashkenazic Levites who have a Y-chromosome pattern that is not seen in other priests, or indeed any major Jewish group, but is common in people around the mouth of the Volga River. A little sleuthing revealed the historical connection… Sometime in the eighth century, they [Khazars] decided to convert from paganism to monotheism. Most of the common people became either Christian or Muslim, but the royal family and many members of the nobility opted for Judaism. They continued to rule the region for nearly five hundred years as a Jewish state. The DNA evidence shows that many of the Khazar converts declared themselves to be not only Jews but of the priestly caste.** Thus the infusion of new genetic lines.”’

The terms Cohen, Cohanim, Levite and Levitical are misleading as they only apply to the Ashkenazi or Khazar priesthood’s; not to the original priesthood descending from Jacob’s son Levi. We will learn that the tribe of Simeon are in no way related to the Khazars who are of Turkic-Iranian origin – as shown by their principal Y-DNA Haplogroups of J and E.* The East Asian ancestry is linked to Madai and Madai’s association with Elam, Turkey [refer Chapter IV Central Asia – Madai & the Medes & Chapter XVIII Elam & Turkey]. 

‘The Origins of Ashkenazic Levites: Many Ashkenazic Levites Probably Have a Paternal Descent from East Europeans or West Asians, Neil Bradman, Dror Rosengarten, and Karl L. Skorecki, 2002: 

“…Levite haplotype distributions were compared with… candidate source populations (north Germans and two groups of Slavonic language speakers). The Ashkenazic Levites were most similar to the Sorbians, the most westerly Slavonic speaking group… Comparisons of the Ashkenazic Levite dataset with the other groups studied suggest that Y chromosome haplotypes, present at high frequency in Ashkenazic Levites, are most likely to have an east European or west Asian origin and not to have originated in the Middle East.”

Subsequently, as I learned in 2011, it was discovered that the Ashkenazi Levite version of R1a1a^ is distinguishable from the R1a1a of European non-Jews.The Ashkenazi version is coded as L342.2+ and R1a1a1g1 and it descends from Z93, whereas the European non-Jewish R1a1a descends from Z283. (One of our sources for this information is Łukasz Łapiński who is the administrator of the R1a1a and Subclades Y-DNA Project at Family Tree DNA.) The implication is that Levites did not get this haplotype from a Slavic forebear, which was one of the possibilities. Z93 is found among peoples* of Central Asia, South Asia, and Southwest Asia including Persians, Arabs, Indians, and Tatars.’

‘Y Chromosomes of Jewish Priests, Michael F. Hammer, Karl L. Skorecki, Sara Selig, Shraga Blazer, Bruce Rappaport, Robert Bradman, Neil Bradman, P. J. Warburton, Monica Ismajlowicz, 1997: 

“Based on surveys of Jewish cemetery gravestones, priests represent approximately 5% of the estimated total male world Jewish population of roughly 7 million… We identified six haplotypes, whose frequencies are shown in the table (YAP+ DYS19A-E and YAP+ DYS19, all alleles.) Applying the x2 test to the frequencies of the T-chromosome haplotypes distinguishes priests from the lay population. The most striking difference was in the frequency of YAP+ chromosomes among compares to lay Jews. Only 1.5% of Y-chromosomes among priests were YAP+, in comparison to a frequency of 18.4% in lay Jews. In contrast, we found no significant difference in the distribution of alleles for the non-Y-chromosomes locus polymorphism D1S191. 

These Y-chromosome haplotype differences confirm a distinct paternal genealogy for Jewish priests… This result is consistent with an origin for the Jewish priesthood antedating the division of world Jewry into Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities, and is of particular interest in view of the pronounced genetic diversity displayed between the two [Sephardic and Ashkenazic] communities.”

‘Regarding the “Cohen gene”: David Goldstein, an evolutionary geneticist at Oxford University, said: “It was incredibly exciting to find something that could be tracing paternally-inherited traits over 40 to 50 generations, three or four thousand years of history [to the birth of Esau].”

Only about half, or less (40-45%), of Ashkenazi Jewish Cohens have the so-called “Kohen gene”. A somewhat greater percentage of Sephardic Cohens have the gene. But it doesn’t approach 100 percent. Tell that to the staff of Karl Skorecki’s institution, Technion University, who claim… “Professor Karl Skorecki discovered genetic proof that all Jews belonging to the Cohen family are descendents of the biblical high priest Aaron Hacohen.”’ [Dr. Skorecki himself does not approve of the university’s use of the word “all” and has asked them to fix their description of his research.]

‘Daniel Friedman observes: “Ashkenazi and Sephardic Cohanim (left two columns in the chart [above]) show significant differences in the occurrence frequencies of the haplotypes said to make up the ‘Cohen gene’. [‘Israelite’] populations from both populations (right two columns) do not show the same differences. If the ‘Cohen gene’ comes from a single Biblical ancestor, the Cohanim seem to have had different genetic histories since the split between Sepharad and Ashkenaz.”’

The Cohen gene is not from the true tribe of Levi, but a counterfeit priestly line from Esau. The differences in genetic history between the Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish lines can be accounted for by the the fact that the Sephardim are closer to the true Edomite genealogy than the Ashkenazim. By closer, it is meant less diluted through admixture. We will discover that the Haplogroups percentages of each group scientifically support this fact. Maybe not what the Ashkenazi Jew would want to learn, but it is the simple explanation of the difference between themselves and the Sephardic Jew. 

The apparent confusion regarding Jewish DNA is an important factor; for under its cloak it has been easy for scientists to say what Dr Robert Pollack, a professor of biological sciences and director of the Center for the Study of Science and Religion at Columbia University writes in his article, The Fallacy of Biological Judaism: ‘… there are no DNA sequences common to all Jews and absent from all non-Jews. There is nothing in the human genome that makes or diagnoses a person as a Jew.’ 

We will study the Haplogroups of the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jew. The Haplogroups of the Ashkenazi are, all over the place, as would be expected. The Sephardic Jew has more instantly recognisable sequential patterns. The challenge is to see those which are less obvious within the Ashkenazi and then link the two to the peoples they are most related to, such as either Jacob, Ishmael, Haran or Nahor. 

Fifteen years ago an enquiring person asked the following insightful questions online. I would be intrigued to learn if they received a response.

‘I’ve heard of Sephardi Jews being described as “fiery,” “active,” “angry,” and even “militant” when compared to their “cooler,” more saturnine Ashkenazi counterparts. Does anyone know of any research that could verify my hypothesis that red hair is MUCH more common amongst Sephardic Jews than among the Askenazim (who often have black and/or very dark brown hair). This often applies to men’s beards too, such