What Does Genesis 36:35 Mean?
And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead; and the name of his city was Avith.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith.THE KEY
The word translated “stead” also means “under”: the next reign is pictured as occupying the place beneath the one who dies.
THE MEANING
This verse holds succession and force together: Hadad occupies the dead ruler’s place, while the line identifies him by the blow against Midian in Moab. His city receives a name, so rule is placed in a specific geography. The violence remains visible inside this account of succession.
THE ROOT
תַּחְתָּיו
taḥtav
GROWS FROM
ת־ח־ת
t-ḥ-t
Beneath, below; also in the place of.
“stead” in this verse is taḥtav. The successor reigns תַּחְתָּיו (taḥtav), literally beneath him and also in his place. Succession is pictured spatially: one occupant takes the position left by another.
ALSO GROWS
taḥat: Beneath; in place of.
תַּחַת
This is the root’s direct link between physical position and succession.
taḥton: Lower; below.
תַּחְתּוֹן
The sense of being lower or beneath remains present in the word used for a successor’s place.
הַמַּכֶּה
ham-makkeh
GROWS FROM
נ־כ־ה
n-k-h
To strike or smite.
“struck” in this verse is ham-makkeh. The Hebrew form describes Hadad as “the one striking” Midian. The same root names both the act and the blow, keeping the force attached to the ruler’s description.
ALSO GROWS
nākāh: To strike or smite.
נָכָה
This is the verb behind the verse’s description of Hadad’s action against Midian.
makkāh: A blow or strike.
מַכָּה
This branch names the force of the act that marks Hadad in the line.
וַיִּמְלֹךְ
vayimlokh
GROWS FROM
מ־ל־ך
m-l-k
To rule; the root associated with kingship.
“reigned” in this verse is vayimlokh. The same root names the act of ruling, the ruler, and the kingdom. Hadad’s succession places him within a structure of kingship already occupied by another.
ALSO GROWS
melekh: King.
מֶלֶךְ
The person who rules and the act of reigning grow from the same root.
malkhut: Kingdom or kingship.
מַלְכוּת
This branch names the realm or structure that accompanies the act of reigning.
THE PATTERN
Authority passes through a position one ruler leaves and another occupies.
And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.Then Solomon settled upon the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was set very firm.For it is written in the book of Psalms, "Let his enclosure become empty, and let no one settle in it," and, "Let another take up his watch."THE THREAD
And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.The same root מ־ל־ך (m-l-k), meaning to rule, appears in both lines. The neighboring verse places Hadad’s reign within a wider succession of Edomite kings.
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