This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the area of Mount Seir.
9. And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites Patris Edom. Though Esau had two names, yet in this place the second name refers to his posterity, who are called Idumeans. For, to make it appear what God had bestowed upon him for the sake of his father Isaac, Moses expressly calls him the father of a celebrated and famous people.
Observe here, 1. That only the names of Esau's sons and grandsons are recorded, only their names, not their history; for it is the church that Moses preserves the records of, not the record of those that are without. Those elders that lived by faith alone obtained a good report. It is Sion that produces men of renown, not Seir, Psa 87:5.
Commenting on Genesis 36:9-19
These are the names of Esau's sons,.... In this and some following verses, an account is given of the sons of Esau, which agrees with what is before observed, and of his sons' sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau: who seems to be his first wife, and this his first son: Reuel the son of Bashemath and wife of Esau; his...