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Basemath

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Basemath, Bashemath, or Basmath (Hebrew: בָּשְׂמַת, Modern: Basmat, Tiberian: Bāśəmáṯ, "Sweet-smelling", Arabic: بسمة; "Sweet-smile") is a character in the Book of Genesis. She was the daughter of Ishmael (or as Genesis 26:34-35 shows, Elon the Hittite), the niece of Isaac, and the third wife of Esau. (Genesis 36:2,3)

Before Esau married his third wife, he had named one of his Canaanite wives after Basemath (Genesis 26:34, also see paragraph below), probably because he knew of her[1] since they were cousins.[2] The wife whom Esau named as Basemath, was Adah the Hittite, his first wife. So after he married his third wife, Esau changed Basemath the Ishmaelite's name to Mahalath.[1] Esau sought this union with a non Canaanite, in an effort to reconcile his relationship with his parents,[3] namely with his father Isaac whom he sought his blessings. (Genesis 28:6–9) However, there is no record of his parents' approval for the union of Esau and Basemath (Mahalath). She bore a son, Reuel, to Esau. (Genesis 36:4)

Esau's 3 wives are Judith, Basemath (daughter of Elon the Hittite) and Mahalath (daughter of Ishmael) from Genesis 26:34 and 28:9. Their other names are Oholibamah, Adah (daughter of Elon the Hittite) and Basemath (daughter of Ishmael) respectively from Genesis 36:2-3. Since Esau found out his parents disliked the Canaanite women, he changed Oholibamah's name to Judith and Adah's name to Basemath. When he got his third wife, also named Basemath, he changed her name to Mahalath.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Phillips, J. Exploring Genesis: an expository commentary, (ISBN 0825434882, ISBN 978-0-8254-3488-4), 2001, p. 284
  2. ^ Mandel, D. The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible, (ISBN 0882703722, ISBN 978-0-88270-372-5), 2007, p. 175
  3. ^ Easton, M. Illustrated Bible Dictionary, (ISBN 1596059478, ISBN 978-1-59605-947-4 ), 2006, p.236