King living at the time of the Patriarchs
Bela, son of Beor, was the first king to reign in Edom before Israel had a king.
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Bela, the son of Beor, is mentioned in Gen.36.32-33 and 1Ch.1.43-44 as the first king of Edom. The context of these passages is the genealogy of Esau, also known as Edom, and the list of kings who reigned in Edom before Israel had a king. Bela is described as reigning in Edom, with his city named Dinhabah. The mention of Bela as the first king suggests that he played a significant role in establishing the Edomite monarchy. The fact that he reigned before Israel had a king highlights the political development of Edom as a nation.
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A thing swallowed. (1.) A city on the shore of the Dead Sea, not far from Sodom, called also Zoar. It was the only one of the five cities that was spared at Lot’s intercession (Gen. 19:20, 23). It is first mentioned in Gen. 14:2, 8. (2.) The eldest son of Benjamin (Num. 26:38; “Belah,” Gen. 46:21). (3.) The son of Beor, and a king of Edom (Gen. 36:32, 33; 1 Chr. 1:43). (4.) A son of Azaz (1 Chr. 5:8).
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
4 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H1106
Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.
When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.
These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites: Bela son of Beor. His city was named Dinhabah.
When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.