Mahalath
Third mentioned wife of Esau in the Book of Genesis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mahalath is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the third wife of Esau and the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. The biblical narrative states that Esau took Mahalath from the house of Ishmael to be his wife, after seeing that his Canaanite wives (Basemath and Judith) displeased his father, Isaac.[1]
Esau sought this union with a non-Canaanite in an effort to reconcile his relationship with his parents,[2][3] namely with his father Isaac, whose blessing he sought (Genesis 28:6–9). However, there is no record of his parents' approval for the union of Esau and Mahalath.
In Genesis 36:2,3, on the other hand, Esau's three wives are differently named; his family is mentioned as consisting of two Canaanite wives, Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah, and a third: Bashemath, Ishmael's daughter. Some scholars equate the three wives mentioned in Genesis 26 and 28 with those mentioned in Genesis 36, in the following way:[3]
- Basemath (Genesis 26:34–35) is Adah (Genesis 36:2,3), the daughter of Elon the Hittite;
- Judith (Genesis 26:34–35) is Aholibamah (Genesis 36:2,3), also a Canaanite;
- Mahalath (Genesis 28:9) is Bashemath (Genesis 36:2,3), Esau's cousin and third wife, daughter of Ishmael.
Nonetheless, other scholars dispute these connections.[4]