Edom: 1. The name of Esau (q.v.),
(Genesis 25:30) "Feed me, I pray thee, with
that same red pottage [Heb. haadom, haadom, i.e., 'the red
pottage, the red pottage'] was his name called Edom", i.e.,
Red.2. Idumea
(Isaiah 34:5,6; Ezekiel 35:15) "The field of Edom"
(Genesis 32:3) "the
land of Edom"
(Genesis 36:16) was mountainous
(Obadiah 1:8,9,19,21) It was
called the land, or "the mountain of Seir," the rough hills on
the east side of the Arabah. It extended from the head of the
Gulf of Akabah, the Elanitic gulf, to the foot of the Dead Sea
(1 Kings 9:26) and contained, among other cities, the rock-hewn Sela
(q.v.), generally known by the Greek name Petra
(2 Kings 14:7) It is
a wild and rugged region, traversed by fruitful valleys. Its old
capital was Bozrah
(Isaiah 63:1) The early inhabitants of the land
were Horites. They were destroyed by the Edomites
(Deuteronomy 2:12)
between whom and the kings of Israel and Judah there was
frequent war
(2 Kings 8:20; 2 Chronicles 28:17) At the time of the Exodus they
churlishly refused permission to the Israelites to pass through
their land
(Numbers 20:14-21) and ever afterwards maintained an
attitude of hostility toward them. They were conquered by David
(2 Samuel 8:14) comp.
(1 Kings 9:26) and afterwards by Amaziah
(2 Chronicles 25:11,12) But they regained again their independence, and
in later years, during the decline of the Jewish kingdom
(2 Kings 16:6) R.V. marg., "Edomites"), made war against Israel.
They took part with the Chaldeans when Nebuchadnezzar captured
Jerusalem, and afterwards they invaded and held possession of
the south of Palestine as far as Hebron. At length, however,
Edom fell under the growing Chaldean power
(Jeremiah 27:3,6)
There are many prophecies concerning Edom
(Isaiah 34:5,6)
(Jeremiah 49:7-18; Ezekiel 25:13; 35:1-15; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11; Obad 1:1-21)
(Malachi 1:3,4) which have been remarkably fulfilled. The present
desolate condition of that land is a standing testimony to the
inspiration of these prophecies. After an existence as a people
for above seventeen hundred years, they have utterly
disappeared, and their language even is forgotten for ever. In
Petra, "where kings kept their court, and where nobles
assembled, there no man dwells; it is given by lot to birds,
and beasts, and reptiles." The Edomites were Semites, closely
related in blood and in language to the Israelites. They
dispossessed the Horites of Mount Seir; though it is clear,
from
(Genesis 36:1)ff that they afterwards intermarried with
the conquered population. Edomite tribes settled also in the
south of Judah, like the Kenizzites
(Genesis 36:11) to whom Caleb
and Othniel belonged
(Joshua 15:17) The southern part of Edom
was known as Teman.
