What Does Genesis 36:15 Mean in the King James?
These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew title behind “duke” carries the sense of a clan chief, making leadership a named branch of kinship.
THE MEANING
This verse makes a family line visible through people recognized as chiefs. For the reader now, identity appears as something carried through relationship and made visible in the people and roles a line brings forth.
THE ROOT
אַלּוּף
alluph
GROWS FROM
אלף
ʾ-l-p̄
To associate with, learn, or become familiar; related forms can mean a familiar one or a chief.
“dukes” in this verse is alluph. The title rendered “duke” is alluph, a clan chief, and its word family also carries the sense of familiarity and close association. Here, each chief is named as part of a family line: authority appears within kinship.
ALSO GROWS
ʾalaph: To learn, teach, or become familiar
אַלַף
This verb carries the root’s sense of association and familiarity alongside the chief’s title.
eleph: A thousand; a group or unit
אֶלֶף
The word family reaches from a familiar associate to a chief and a counted group, linking a leader with the people gathered around that role.
alluph: A clan chief; a familiar one
אַלּוּף
This is the title repeated for Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Kenaz.
בְּנֵי
bənê
GROWS FROM
בנה
b-n-h
To build or establish.
The word for sons is linked with the verb “build.” The repeated family terms make the lineage feel like a structure taking shape through its named branches.
ALSO GROWS
ben: Son
בֵּן
This is the singular form behind the repeated “sons” in the verse.
banah: To build
בָּנָה
The shared root places descent alongside building: a family line takes form through those who belong to it.
תֵּימָן
Tēmān
GROWS FROM
ימן
y-m-n
Right side or right hand; by orientation, south.
Teman means “south” and belongs to the same word family as yamin, “right hand” or “right side.” In the customary east-facing orientation, south lies to the right, so the first chief named here carries a direction in his name.
ALSO GROWS
yamin: Right hand; right side
יָמִין
This related word gives the directional sense behind Teman’s name.
Tēmān: South; a southern place or person
תֵּימָן
This is the name of the first chief in the verse, making the direction a marker of a branch in the family line.
THE PATTERN
A people takes form through descendants who carry its line and leaders who give that line public shape.
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.THE THREAD
These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.The same Hebrew title, alluph, names the chiefs in both verses. This later line gathers the individual names into a statement about Esau’s descendants and the chiefs who carry their line.
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