Esau Marries Two Wives

To Isaac's difficulties with the Philistines a domestic cross was now added, one which caused him deep and lasting sorrow. Esau, who had already demonstrated his indifference toward religious principles, saw no reason for counseling with his parents in regard to the choice of a wife or for going to the trouble of arranging for one from among his relatives in Mesopotamia.

When he was 40 years of age, and his father 100 (ch. 25:26), he married two Hittite women, simultaneously or nearly so. In so doing he openly defied the principles of parental guidance, of nonintermarriage with the heathen, and of monogamy. The names of Esau's wives, as well as those of their fathers, are Semitic. Judith means "the praised one," Beeri, "my well," Bashemath, "fragrance," and Elon, "the strong one." These names suggest that the two Hittite families involved must have lived in Canaan for some time and had adopted the language of the Canaanites.

On the presence of Hittites in southern Palestine at this early period, see on ch. 20:1. These two women, as the Hebrew clearly indicates, became literally, "a bitterness of spirit" to Esau's parents. Their perverse and evil ways, their idolatrous religion, and their unspiritual and frivolous disposition brought heartache to Isaac and Rebekah. This sad world knows no greater grief than that which children can bring.