What does mahalath mean in the Psalms?

From the Hebrew name מָחֲלַת (Machalat) meaning “lyre”. In the Old Testament she is the daughter of Ishmael and the wife of Esau.

What is mahalath in the Bible?

Mahalath was, according to the Bible, the third wife of Esau, daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. Esau took Mahalath from the house of Ishmael to be his wife, after seeing that Canaanite wives (as was the case of his first two wives, Basemath and Judith) displeased his father, Isaac (Genesis 28:6–9).

Who were Ishmael’s daughters?

Basemath
Ishmael/Daughters
Ishmael also had one known daughter, Mahalath or Basemath, the third wife of Esau. Ishmael appeared with Isaac at the burial of Abraham.

What was wrong with Esau married mahalath?

If he had married Mahalath to fulfill his parents’ bidding, he should have divorced them; since he did not do so, he merely increased his parents’ pain and suffering (mahalah, literally, sickness). Indeed, Mahalath was as wicked as Esau’s first two wives (Midrash Aggadah, ed. Buber, 28:9).

How many wives did Esau marry?

three wives
Esau’s three wives are given more context and background by the rabbis than in the Torah.

Why did Esau go to Ishmael?

Buber, Gen. 28:9). This later marriage was also the result of negative motives: Esau plotted together with Ishmael to kill Isaac and Jacob, to marry the daughter of Ishmael, and to inherit both families.

Who was Esau’s wife?

Genesis 26:34–35 describes Esau’s marriage at the age of forty to two Canaanite women: Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

Did Esau marry his cousin?

Upon seeing that his brother was blessed and that their father rejected Esau’s union to Canaanites, Esau went to the house of his uncle Ishmael and married his cousin, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, and sister of Nebajoth.

Why did Esau marry a daughter of Ishmael?

Some of the Rabbis maintain Esau’s marriage to Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael reflected his desire to repent of his evil deeds and act in accordance with the wishes of his parents Isaac and Rebekah for a proper mate (JT Bikkurim 3:3, 65c–d).