Timna's role in Esau's lineage?
What role does Timna play in the lineage of Esau's descendants?

Setting the Scene in Genesis 36

• Esau (also called Edom) has three wives and several sons (Genesis 36:1–5).

• Eliphaz is Esau’s firstborn by Adah.

Genesis 36 traces not only Esau’s direct descendants but also those who marry into the family, showing how the Edomite clans emerged.


Meet Timna

Genesis 36:12: “Timna was a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Adah.”

Genesis 36:22 adds: “The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Timna was Lotan’s sister.”

– Lotan is a son of Seir the Horite, making Timna a Horite woman.

– Her union with Eliphaz links Esau’s Edomite line with the native Horites of Seir.

1 Chronicles 1:36 lists “Timna” among Eliphaz’s offspring, a textual reflection of her close connection to that branch of the family.


Timna’s Immediate Role: Mother of Amalek

• Through Timna, Eliphaz fathers Amalek.

• Amalek becomes the ancestor of the Amalekite nation—a distinct clan counted among “the chiefs of Edom” (Genesis 36:15–16).


Historical Ripples from Timna’s Line

Exodus 17:8–16: Amalekites launch the first attack on Israel after the Exodus.

Deuteronomy 25:17–19: Moses commands Israel never to forget Amalek’s ambush.

1 Samuel 15:2–33: Saul’s incomplete obedience against Amalek leads to his rejection as king.

Esther 3:1: Haman the Agagite (a later Amalekite) plots genocide against the Jews.

Timna’s son thus fathers a people who repeatedly oppose God’s covenant family, shaping centuries of biblical history.


Spiritual Insights from Timna’s Appearance

• A single, seemingly minor genealogical note can foreshadow major redemptive–historical events.

• Timna shows how alliances outside God’s covenant promises (Eliphaz with a Horite concubine) can introduce long-term conflict.

• God’s sovereignty shines: even lines hostile to Israel are traced and known, proving His complete oversight of human history.


Summary of Timna’s Role

• Horite woman, sister of Lotan.

• Concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn.

• Mother of Amalek—founder of the Amalekites.

• Her place in Esau’s genealogy explains the origin of a persistent foe of Israel, underscoring how one relationship in Genesis reverberates throughout the biblical narrative.

How does Genesis 36:12 illustrate God's sovereignty in family lineage and history?
Top of Page
Top of Page