Interesting Facts

• Adah was one of the wives of Esau.
• She is identified as a daughter of Heth and her name was Bosmath.
• Another source identifies her as Bashemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
• Esau called her name Adah, suggesting a renaming or an additional name.
• Adah was the mother of Esau’s firstborn son, Eliphaz.
• Adah’s ways and worship of her father’s gods provoked Isaac and Rebekah.

Genealogy

• According to one source, Adah (Bosmath) was a daughter of Heth.
• Another source states that Bashemath was the daughter of Elon the Hittite. It appears Adah and Bashemath may be the same person, with different sources or traditions providing different parentage or names.
• She became the wife of Esau. Esau married her when he was forty years old.
• Adah (Bashemath) bore Esau his firstborn son, Eliphaz.

Historical Context

Adah (referred to as Bosmath or Bashemath in other texts) lived in the land of Canaan during the time of Isaac and Rebekah and was of Hittite or Canaanite origin, belonging to the families of Heth. Her marriage to Esau, along with his other Hittite wife (Jehudith), is explicitly mentioned as a source of significant distress and “grief of mind” to Isaac and Rebekah. This indicates a cultural and likely religious conflict between the patriarchal lineage of Abraham, which Isaac and Rebekah upheld, and the indigenous populations of Canaan, including the Hittites. Adah’s continued service of her father’s gods (“gods of wood and stone”) after marrying Esau further exacerbated this tension and demonstrates a divergence in religious practices within Isaac’s immediate family. This period was characterized by the interactions and, at times, opposition between the descendants of Abraham and the established Canaanite inhabitants of the land.

Narrative

Adah’s narrative, primarily through her identity as Bosmath or Bashemath, centers on her marriage to Esau and the negative impact this union had on his parents, Isaac and Rebekah. The text notes that Adah and Esau’s other wife did not follow the ways of the Lord and instead served their father’s deities, even being described as “more wicked than their father” in their devotion to idols and the Baalim, including sacrifices and burning incense. This behavior caused Isaac and Rebekah to become “weary of them” and express a deep loathing for their situation, fearing a similar marriage for their younger son Jacob. While Adah herself has no direct dialogues or specific actions detailed beyond her religious practices, her existence and her marriage to Esau serve as a critical element in the broader narrative. They highlight the challenges faced by Isaac and Rebekah in maintaining the purity of their lineage and adherence to their religious traditions amidst the prevailing Canaanite culture. Furthermore, Adah’s role as the mother of Eliphaz establishes her as the progenitor of a significant line within Esau’s descendants.