Basemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebaioth.
How many wives did Esau have? 2, 3, 6, maybe 4?
According to Genesis 26:34, Esau had two wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. “And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.”
In Genesis 28:9, another wife is mentioned, “Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael,” as it states: “so Esau went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife”
In Genesis 36:2-3, regarding the genealogy of Esau, three wives are mentioned: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael. “Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Basemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth.”
Judith, the daughter of Beeri, is not mentioned here. If we consider the variations in names and lineage, they change:
Basemath is alternatively the daughter of Elon the Hittite and sometimes the daughter of Ishmael.
Adah is sometimes the daughter of Elon and sometimes Basemath is the daughter of Elon.
Sometimes Mahalath is the daughter of Ishmael, and sometimes Basemath is the daughter of Ishmael.
According to the consolidation of verses above, these are the names of the wives Esau married:
Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite
Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite
Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebajoth
Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite
Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite
Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebajoth
One solution to this difficulty suggests that the wives’ names mentioned in Genesis 36 are their actual names, while the names mentioned in Genesis 26 and 28 are descriptive or symbolic. For instance, Rashi interprets that “Adah the daughter of Elon” is the same as “Basemath the daughter of Elon” because she was associated with offering incense to idols. Likewise, “Aholibamah” could be a nickname for Judith to imply her denial of idolatry.
As for Aholibamah, who was her mother? Was she the daughter of Anah or the daughter of Zibeon?
Zibeon was the father of Anah, which makes Aholibamah the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon. Some interpretations suggest that she was also married to Esau, and hence she could be referred to as the daughter of both Anah and Zibeon.
Esau’s attempt to please his parents led him to marry Canaanite women. However, he went to his uncle Ishmael and married Mahalath, sometimes referred to as Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, who bore him Reuel.