Week 2 Genesis 36
I read through the chapter at a fairly high rate of speed. That’s my normal practice with lists of names and I read about the Esau family without feeling too invested.
But I slow down when I see this: the sons of Zibeon were Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who discovered the hot springs in the wilderness when he was grazing his father’s donkeys.
That unexpected detail caught my attention and I checked a word book. Anah’s name came up nine times in this chapter and his claim-to-fame (apart from the hot springs) was that Esau married his daughter Oholibamah.
Thinking about this tidbit on Anah reminded me that sometimes the bible tells me virtually nothing about a person (and sometimes doesn’t tell me a single thing). So I’m left wondering what to do when it doesn’t fill-in any of the blanks for me.
One thing I don’t figure it means is that I’m free to fill them in with whatever I want.
And one thing I do figure it means is that I can – maybe have to – search around looking for answers somewhere else in the bible.
But if I can’t find a legitimate answer that makes sense I’m going to leave it blank.
I could try writing a 300-page novel about Hot Spring Anah but it wouldn’t put me any farther ahead than leaving the blank empty.
Note: quote from Genesis 36:24 (NLT)