Shammah
Shammah was a son of Reuel and a grandson of Esau, and he became a chief of Edom.
Biography
Shammah was the third son of Reuel, who was himself a son of Esau (Genesis 36:13, 17). Through this lineage, Shammah became a chief or clan leader of Edom, one of the territorial and tribal heads listed in the Table of Edomite Chiefs that concludes Genesis 36. His mother was Basemath, a daughter of Ishmael. Edom, the nation descended from Esau, occupied the rugged highland terrain south of the Dead Sea and maintained a complex relationship with Israel throughout the biblical period. Shammah's elevation to chieftainship reflects the organizational development of the Edomite peoples in their own right as a distinct nation alongside, and often in tension with, Israel.
Significance
Shammah's role as an Edomite chief illuminates the biblical narrative's careful attention to the full outworking of God's sovereign purposes even among peoples outside the direct Abrahamic covenant line. The detailed genealogy of Esau's descendants in Genesis 36 fulfills God's promise that Esau too would become a great nation (Genesis 25:23). The Edomites appear repeatedly in Israel's story as neighbors, adversaries, and prophetic subjects, and their history serves as a sobering counterpoint to Israel's own. Shammah's lineage reminds readers that God's providential governance extends to all nations, even as his redemptive purposes are channeled through the elect line of Jacob.
Verse Appearances (3)
Genesis
1Chr
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]