Was Job a Descendant of Esau & Ishmael?

There are several fascinating clues in scripture and ancient tradition that suggest that Job may have been the descendant of both Esau and Ishmael.

The clues come in Genesis 36, which gives the family tree of Esau and his wives.

Jobab was a son of Zerah (Gen. 36:33), who was a son of Reuel (Gen. 36:13), who was a son of Esau & Mahalath-Bashemath who was Ishmael's daughter (Gen. 36:3).

The family tree of Jobab looks like this:

Ishmael >

Mahalath-Bashemath (Gen. 36:3)

Esau & Mahalath-Bashemath >

Reuel >

Zerah >

Jobab

It's this Jobab that is listed among the kings of Edom in Genesis 36. Many believe he is the same person as Job.

Here are a few connections:

1. Two of Job's friends are Eliphaz the Temanite who was a descendant of Esau, and Bildad the Shuhite who was a descendant of Abraham (see their family trees here)

2. Job's story takes place in the Land of Uz, which is often connected to Edom, the land of Esau's descendants.

3. The Book of Job never mentions the 12 Tribes of Israel, Law of Moses, the Exodus, Tabernacle, or the Priesthood. Yet Job is presented as a man who worships the one true God. This fits well with a descendant of Esau and Ishmael, but not a descendant of Jacob-Israel.

4. Job is listed as very wealthy; Jobab as king of Edom would have also been wealthy

5. Most interesting of all, at the end of the Book of Job in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament dated to the 3rd century BC), Job is positively identified with Jobab, descendant of Esau.

So was Job a descendant of Esau and Ishmael?

This topic has been discussed for years by scholars and commentators alike. The evidence is worth exploring.

What do you think?

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