1:43–54  The next verses (1:43–54) offer a section that is strictly speaking not a genealogy but rather a name list of Edomite kings (1:43–51a) and chiefs (1:51b–54), filled in with some narrative details. This section, a slightly adapted quotation from Genesis 36:31–43, opens with the telling remark (which the Chronicler took over from the source text) that these kings . . . reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reigned. It is clear that the implicit connection with Esau occurs through the mentioning of Edom, the area closely associated with the descendants of Esau. Through this implicit relationship these “kings” and “chiefs” are taken up into the genealogy of Esau.

The late Persian context could have influenced the Chronicler to give prominence to Edom through Esau. We will encount…