Why did esau marry a canaanite woman

Rabbah , Have an update or correction? Let us know. Episode E. Lockhart's New Jewish Superhero. Kadari, Tamar. Jewish Women's Archive. Learn more. In Brief. More Like This See Also:. See Also:. Encyclopedia : Concubine of a Levite: Midrash and Aggadah. In the same way, Esau probably should have known that his parents didn't want him to marry a Canaanite wife. Apart from the fact that they told Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman, Abraham had also made sure that Isaac wouldn't marry a Canaanite woman Genesis When he finds out for certain that his parents don't want him to marry a Canaanite woman, he marries an additional wife instead of divorcing the wife his parents disapprove of, which is also a way to comply in a way with his parents' preference but without requiring him to restrain his own.

However, according to another view, this marriage resulted from negative motives This negative attitude to Esau is based on his not divorcing his two Hittite wives Adah and Judith when he married Mahalath, even though he knew that they were displeasing to his parents.

Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why did Esau marry Mahalath? Ask Question. Asked 2 years, 1 month ago. Active 9 months ago. Viewed 3k times. Improve this question. Follow Question. Why did Esau marry an Ishmaelite woman? Esau had already married Canaanite women, and he was aware that this had grieved his parents, Issac and Rebekah.

Jacob was told not to marry a Canaanite woman, but instead to marry a woman from his uncle, Laban's tribe. Esau knew he parents were unhappy with his other wives.

Why would he make that choice to marry an Ishmaelite woman, when he had to know this would upset his parents? Answers 2 Discuss.