What does Genesis 36:2 mean?
The record of Esau's generations begins by listing his wives (Genesis 36:3). Unlike his father Isaac and his brother Jacob, Esau took wives from the local Canaanite peoples. Abraham had insisted that Isaac not marry a Canaanite woman and intermingle the covenant people of God with the idol-worshipping local populations (Genesis 24:2–4). If Esau had been given this same instruction from Isaac, he didn't follow it (Genesis 27:46).The first two wives, listed in this verse, are Adah and Oholibamah. Basemath is listed in the following verse. Oddly, the names of these three and their fathers do not match the wives and fathers given in Genesis 26:34 and 28:9. It is not clear why. Scholars suggest that perhaps Esau had six wives, not necessarily all at the same time, and these three were the most significant. It's also possible the names of his wives were changed at some point (Genesis 17:5; 32:38; 36:8).