Aholibamah (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ''ʾĀhŏlīḇāmā''; "My tabernacle of/is height/exaltation" or "Tent of the High Place"Phillips, J. ''Exploring Genesis: an expository commentary'', (, ), 2001, p. 284), is an eight-time referenced matriarch in the biblical record. Aholibamah (a descendant of Ishmael) was the daughter of

Anah Anah or Ana ( ar, عانة, ''ʾĀna'', syr, ܐܢܐ), formerly also known as Anna, is an Iraqi town on the Euphrates river, approximately midway between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Persian Gulf. Anah lies from west to east on the right ban ...

of Zibeon the

Hivite The Hivites ( he, ''Ḥiwwîm'') were one group of descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, according to the Table of Nations in (10:17). A variety of proposals have been made, but beyond the references in the Bible to Hivites in the land of Canaan, ...

. Her maternal grandfather was Zibeon the Hivite, son of Seir the

Horite The Horites ( he, ''Ḥōrīm''), were a people mentioned in the Torah (, ) inhabiting areas around Mount Seir in Canaan (). Name According to Archibald Sayce (1915), the Horites have been identified with references in Egyptian inscriptions t ...

. She was one of two Canaanite women who married

Esau Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...

, the son of

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...

, when he was in his forties. Isaac and his wife Rebecca, however, were greatly opposed to this union. So, according to some Biblical scholars, Esau changed her name to the

name "Judith", as to pacify his parents. Biblical scholars have thus conciliated the two different name accounts given in Genesis for the three wives of Esau: * Basemath (Genesis 26:34–35) = Adah (Genesis 36:2,3), the daughter of Elon the Hittite; * Judith (Genesis 26:34–35) = Aholibamah (Genesis 36:2,3), also a Canaanite; *

Mahalath Mahalath was, according to the Bible, the third wife of Esau, daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. Esau took Mahalath from the house of Ishmael to be his wife, after seeing that Canaanite wives (as was the case of his first two wives, Base ...

(Genesis 26:34–35) = Bashemath (Genesis 36:2,3), Esau's cousin and third wife, daughter of Ishmael. The name Aholibamah appears again later among the listed clans of

Edom Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...

, suggesting that a descendant of Esau had the same (female) name and became a chief.

In popular culture

In the fantasy novel '' Many Waters'' by Madeleine L'Engle, Oholibamah was the daughter of a

nephil The Nephilim (; ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or people in the Hebrew Bible who are large and strong. The word ''Nephilim'' is loosely translated as '' giants'' in some translations of the Hebrew Bible, but left untranslated in other ...

(fallen angel). She married into the family of Noah. In '' The Red Tent'', Oholibamah is mentioned as having died in childbirth, leaving only Adath and Basemath, both bitter rivals for Esau's affections.

References

Book of Genesis people Esau Women in the Hebrew Bible {{Tanakh-stub