Elon the Hittite

Background and Family

Elon was a Hittite, belonging to the 'sons of Heth' (Heth being the son of Canaan). In the chronological setting of the mid-2nd millennium BC, the Hittites were a prominent ethnic group in the region of Hebron and the surrounding hill country. According to the genealogical records in Genesis, Elon was the father of a woman named Basemath (Genesis 26:34).

In a subsequent genealogical listing in Genesis 36:2, a wife of Esau is identified as 'Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite.' Biblical scholars generally view Adah and Basemath as the same individual, noting that it was common in the Pentateuch for individuals to be known by more than one name, or for names to be updated in different genealogical contexts. Through his daughter, Elon became a father-in-law to Esau, the firstborn son of Isaac and Rebekah.

Major Life Events

The biblical text does not record specific deeds, speeches, or travels performed by Elon himself. Instead, his life is defined by the marriage of his daughter to Esau around 1756 BC (based on internal biblical chronology where Esau was forty years old).

When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. (Genesis 26:34)

This event is significant because it occurred without the approval of Esau’s parents. The text notes that Elon’s daughter and her co-wife were a 'source of grief' to Isaac and Rebekah, likely due to their pagan background and Hittite customs, which stood in contrast to the monotheistic covenant of Abraham.

Relationship to Other Biblical Figures

Elon’s primary relationship is to the Edomite lineage. By marriage, he became part of the extended family of the Hebrew patriarchs, though he remained an outsider to the covenant promises. His daughter, Adah, bore Esau his firstborn son, Eliphaz. Therefore, Elon is the maternal grandfather of Eliphaz and the ancestor of several Edomite dukes or chiefs.

His role in the narrative serves to ground the history of the Edomites in a mixture of Semitic and Canaanite heritage. While the text remains silent on Elon's personal interaction with Isaac or Jacob, his identity as a Hittite underscores the proximity of the patriarchs to the local populations of Canaan.

Spiritual Significance

The spiritual significance of Elon the Hittite is largely found in what he represents regarding the 'foreignness' of Esau’s choices. In the Genesis narrative, the choice of a spouse was a matter of spiritual fidelity. By mentioning Elon by name and ethnicity, the author emphasizes that Esau sought wives from the local populations—specifically the Hittites—rather than from the kin of Abraham.

Elon stands as a representative of the Canaanite world that surrounded the early patriarchs. His inclusion in the genealogy of Genesis 36 serves to document the fulfillment of the prophecy that Esau would become a great nation, while also explaining the cultural distance between the Israelites and the Edomites.