Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king of the sons of Israel reigned. Bela was the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.The chapter starts with going through the lineage of the Israelites. From Adam, it lists everyone, including many branches, up through Abraham and his children. Then, all of the sudden, in this verse it drops the Israelites, and starts talking about the Edomites. Why the sudden shift?
Without reading ahead, and I don't recall anything from reading it in the past, my only guess is that this is to show how long a history the Edomites had in the region. They were here long before the Israelites came back, yet God would not deal well with them. They were about to go away, and God was placing Israel in their position as the greatest nation of the area. Their history meant exactly nothing once God became directly involved.
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