The posterity of Jacob and Esau became, according to prophecy, distinct from the first. After an absence of four hundred years, the nation of Jacob returned into Arabia, but found no brothers in the Edomites, the sons of Esau, who kept themselves so distinct from the Israelites, that they refused to let them even pass through their highways.
In 1848, J. Harnage published "The Mysterious and Prophetic History of Esau Considered, in Connection with the Numerous Prophecies Concerning Edom." It is this public domain book that has been republished here for the convenience of the interested reader.
The author's theory, as far as regards Esau and the Edomites, is this:
. that God's promise to Ishmael alone never implied anything more than chieftainship of the wandering tribes of Arabs;
. while God's promise to Esau (of great dominion) was of a much higher character;
. but that Esau married a daughter of Ishmael, and thus the two races were incorporated;
. that Edom was his dwelling, and that Esau is perpetually called Edom in scripture;
. that the prophecies about him are so remarkable that it cannot be supposed that he would disappear from the earth before the last days;
. that Esau's race was always to be at enmity with the good seed;
. that this (as far as the reviewer understands the author) is first fulfilled in the Saracens, who were Edomites;
. but further that the Romans were descendants of the Edomites;
. that the promise to Esau was, that he should live by the sword, and to Jacob that he should have corn and wine ;
. that thus Esau had a sword and no wine, Jacob wine and no sword;
. that as to Esau this answers exactly to the Mahometans, while to the latest posterity of the good seed, the Christian feast of bread and wine fulfils the promise to Jacob.
The Hebrew word Edom means "red", and is derived from the name of its founder, Esau, the elder son of the Hebrew patriarch Isaac. The Tanakh describes the Edomites as descendants of Esau.
Edom 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. Most of its former territory is now divided between Israel and Jordan. Edom appears in written sources relating to the late Bronze Age and to the Iron Age in the Levant, such as the Hebrew Bible and Egyptian and Mesopotamian records.
The study of the history of Edomites has recently gained popularity among Black Hebrew Israelites (also called Black Hebrews, African Hebrew Israelites, and Hebrew Israelites), groups of Black Americans who believe that they are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Black Hebrews adhere in varying degrees to the religious beliefs and practices of both Christianity and Judaism. One belief often expressed is a belief that Europeans are descendants of Esau, also known as Edom. (Genesis 25:25).
