As Jacob returns to the land and family from which he fled twenty or so years before, he faces a string of deep personal losses in his family. These include: Deborah, his mother's nurse who would have been a pillar in his upbringing; his beloved wife Rachel, dying in childbirth with her second son, Benjamin; and his father Isaac, who was an example to Jacob as the son struggled with the God his father feared.
Jacob's brief reunion with Esau gives us an opportunity to see what becomes of the elder brother's lineage. Through marital alliances with prominent leaders in southern Canaan, Esau and his sons rise in influence and power, becoming the Edomite people who troubled the nation of Israel at the time it was established and after. The inclusion of this genealogy in Scripture demonstrates that God's care is not exclusive: Esau's sons, even though they are not of the chosen nation of Israel, matter enough to be written down for posterity.
