What’s in a name? People care that we get their names right. It frustrates us when someone doesn’t remember our name or when our parent calls us by a sibling’s name. When I was teenager, five others in my class shared my first name. Studying a biblical figure like Esau’s wife, Basemath (sometimes spelled Basemat or Bashemath, can be challenging because names aren’t unique to individuals, and people aren’t always called by one name.
There is some confusion over Basemath. Did Esau marry two women by the same name? Was there a discrepancy or inaccuracy in recording their names? To approach Basemath, we must think about the everyday challenges of names.
Why Do Some People in the Bible Have Many Names?
Ancient biblical names can be difficult to pronounce, but that’s not the only problem they present. In biblical times, there were many overlapping cultures residing in the same place, so some name discrepancies come about due to one name being spelled or pronounced differently across cultures.
We have that same challenge now. For example, Steven is sometimes spelled Stephen. Someone named Stephen could be called Steve, Stevie, Stewie, or Steph. If they live near a Spanish-speaking neighborhood, some may know them as Esteban. Two or three Stephens may live in one neighborhood, and all respond to a different nickname or use a different spelling. If there are two Stephens in a family, one may go by a middle or nickname to avoid confusion.
Some individuals have a given name but go by another because their given name is challenging to pronounce or isn’t their preference. Others may use one name for business and another for personal use as they wish to keep their family life private. People use pen names, stage names, nicknames, or other aliases.
In both the Old and the New Testament, we occasionally experience name confusion because an individual like the Apostle Paul may also be known as Saul. As another example, there are two apostles named James, two named Judas, and two named Simon (although we mostly know one of them as Peter).
Therefore, when we encounter name confusion in the biblical record, as we do with Basemath, it’s less likely to be an error than it is to be an issue common to names such as we’ve described above.
Duplicate names can be an argument for the historicity of the biblical account over it being a fictional record. When people devise stories, they generally delineate characters carefully with different names, whereas historical records simply track actual humans who often share common names.
Where Does the Bible Mention Basemath?
Basemath is mentioned in Genesis, and the name is attributed to two women. Both women are wives of Esau, the son of Isaac and the brother of Jacob (who became known as Israel).
Esau and Jacob were twins, with Jacob emerging after his brother. Their mother favored Jacob, but Esau was Isaac’s favorite because Esau was a hunter, and Isaac enjoyed eating meat. Through Esau’s foolishness, Jacob secured Esau’s birthright for himself. With help from his mother and some trickery, Jacob also gained the firstborn’s blessing from their father. Esau was known for being rash. His impulsive decision-making didn’t consider the consequences of his choices.
Genesis 26:34-35 is the first mention of Esau’s wives, and it’s not a happy passage.
“When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.” (ESV)
Here is evidence of Esau’s unwise choices. He married outside his people and apparently chose women who didn’t fit well with his family. In this case, the conflict probably had something to do with religious practices—when Israelites married outside their nation, the wives usually brought idol worship into their household.
Even with just these first two wives, there can be some name confusion. According to the Jewish Women’s Archive, “Adah (also called Basemath) is linked with harlotry, as her name is linked with jewelry and perfume. Judith (also called Ohlibamah) is similarly linked by her name to idolatry and is also described as adulterous.”
We may also get a hint about the conflict from Basemath’s name. Names had meaning, and Basemath means “fragrance” in Hebrew. In passages such as Proverbs 7, prostitutes or adulterous women were associated with perfume. Hence, Basemath’s name could have had a negative connotation.
Fragrances were sometimes associated with goods things—the romance between spouses, as in Song of Songs 4:10-14, or fragrant offerings to God, as in Leviticus 23:18. Paul says that Christians are the “aroma of Christ” in 2 Corinthians 2:15, pleasant to some but a stench to those who reject Jesus. In this case, since one of the Basemaths is associated with uncouth behavior, her name may communicate something about her behavior or reputation.
We learn in Genesis 28:6-9 that Esau finally realized his wives might be unpleasing to his parents.
“Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-Aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-Aram. So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.”
The Ishmaelites were descended from Ishmael, Abraham’s son with Hagar, so they were a non-Canaanite tribe. He was still not choosing a wife from his tribe, but he was closer to home, at least.
In Genesis 36:2-3, this third non-Canaanite wife is referred to as Basemath.
“Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel.”
This may mean she shared the same name as the first Basemath. Or maybe she took on Basemath’s behaviors after a time, so Basemath became her nickname. Mahalath, by some accounts, means “weak” or “sad song,” so perhaps Basemath 2 was easily influenced by Basemath 1.
There are many possible and reasonable explanations for this name appearing twice without having to attribute it to an error in the record.
Why Did Esau Marry Basemath?
We don’t know why Esau chose to marry his first two Canaanite wives (Adah or Basemath 1, and Judith or Oholibamah). The description of the brothers indicates one loved to hunt and made impulsive decisions (Esau), while the other “hung around the tents” and was a manipulator (Jacob). Esau may have chosen the wives he wanted without considering the consequences.
But, we also know that at some point, when he realized his choices didn’t please Isaac, he tried to make a better choice with Mahalath (or Basemath 2). We don’t know if that worked out any better for his family, but he was trying to please his parents.
What Happened to Basemath’s Children?
In Genesis 36:1-8, we learn that all three of Esau’s wives had sons, and after several generations, Esau’s family became the Edomites.
“These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir.”
As complicated as the relationship between Esau and Jacob, so was the relationship between Israel and Edom. They shared blood and a common heritage, but that didn’t make them allies. In Deuteronomy 2:1-5, we learn God allowed the Edomites land and provided a certain amount of protection from Israel. But, by the time of the kings, there was often fighting between Israel and Edom. The book of Obadiah contains God’s judgment against the Edomites.
What Can We Learn from the Marriage of Basemath and Esau Today?
The picture we get of Esau from the Bible is someone who makes rash decisions without thinking of the future. His first two wives were Canaanites, meaning they didn’t worship the God of Israel. So, a clear lesson from Basemath 1 (or Adah) is that we must prayerfully consider who we are to marry to be certain we’re uniting our lives with a spouse who also follows God. We do well to avoid a divided household with the potential to bring much sorrow and pain.
A clear lesson from Basemath 2 (or Mahaleth) is we need to pay attention to our lives. Esau clearly did care about his parents and their opinion of him and made some attempt to fix things once his mistakes dawned on him. His solution, getting more wives, wasn’t wise (the Bible repeatedly warns against polygamy). Still, Esau was at least attempting to fix his mistakes. We need to realize that none of us is an island. Our choices impact our families, friends, congregations, communities, and sometimes the world. Suppose we live only for the moment or for ourselves. Like Esau, we may wake up one day and realize we’ve negatively affected people we love and brought unhappiness to our community—unhappiness we cannot completely undo.
An important lesson from both wives named Basemath is to consider what kind of an impact we are having. Both women’s lives emitted a fragrance to those around them. For at least one Basemath, that fragrance appears to have been unpleasant. Our choices can bring refreshment and the aroma of Christ to the lives of those we love, or they can be a stench that lingers long after we’ve worked to make a change. We must consider our choices carefully to ensure our lives become a welcome fragrance to all.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Tatyana Olina
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