O is for Oholibama

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Margot on Pinterest

So for those who read my post from yesterday. I did not mean to alarm anyone. I just got to a place of admitting that my efforts to make a living at art, music and ministry are not working as well as I had hoped. So I am re-evaluating and trying to discover a career that will actually pay a decent income for the skills I currently have. I am also considering going back to school to finish my bachelors and possibly re-train in some new field. So yesterday I was dealing with having to face that what I had tried to do has not worked. Yesterday it was hard to see ahead to what other possibilities God might have for me. I'm sure I will still continue to do many of the same things I have been doing what has to change is that I need a better way to make a living. So I am trying to figure out what's next. I'm realizing that I love creating, I don't like having to drum up customers. Its not like I have to solve this in the next day and a half or anything but I can't keep doing the same things and expect different results. So in some ways its kind of exciting to think about what I could train to become. Nursing might be interesting, my mom suggested becoming a chef. My dad suggested advertising. My pastor says 'Margot what stirs you, what have you always wanted to do? I realize I'm not much of a dreamer. Art, Music and Ministry have always been my big three. I suppose my earliest dreams were of being a heroic kind of princess who save her people from oppression and injustice. I guess I just kind of passed that idea by thinking I was not born to a royal family. Perhaps there is something to such a dream in a young child's heart. What could I become that involves compassion, mercy and justice. What might I do in a way to help people or stand up or advocate for the oppressed. I also realize there are still some broken places where I stopped dreaming because dreaming became too painful and ended in disappointment. So I locked up those dreams and concerned myself with the things in front of me. I've gained a lot of skills by simply being available and doing what needs done.

Anyway our O woman today is Oholibamah. She was married to Esau, the son of Isaac and Rebekah. He had a twin brother named Jacob who he traded his brithright to for a bowl of stew. Then his brother stole his blessing from his old blind father. So our character today is Esau's wife. It is possible she was a female chief in Edom.
Oholibamah

The first part (ohel) means tent, to pitch a tent. It is the same word as tabernacle.

The second part (bama) means ridge or high place.

So together it might mean "To pitch a tent on a high ridge."

For a woman we don't know much about she gets mentioned 6 times in the Genesis.

Gen 36:2 Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite--
Gen 36:5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan.
Gen 36:14 The sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam and Korah.
Gen 36:18 The sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah.
Gen 36:25 The children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.
Gen 36:41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

"Oholibamah is the only woman in Genesis whose mother, Anah, is figured in the line of descent in place of the father. Anah was the daughter of Zibeon. Genesis 36:24 tells us that Zibeon had a son named Aiah. Yet it is Anah, his daughter, who takes center stage as the mother of Oholibamah. Aiah is mentioned only once but Anah and Oholibamah are mentioned repeatedly.

That Anah and her daughter Oholibamah are important is evident from the diagram above. It is rare that females are listed in the line of descent of chiefs. In Oholibamah's case, she is listed because of her status - not because her father had no sons. We are told that she had a brother named Dishan." Alice Linsley

Her sons become chiefs and the son Korah has a decedent later who causes trouble with Moses. Its the story about Korah's rebellion and the ground open's up and has him for lunch.

Korah by the way means priest. So it is quite likely that Oholibama, daughter of Anah was from a priestly line.

So the advantage of at tent pitched on the hights would be that you could see for quite a distance.
Sometimes we become so focused on the things right in front of us that we forget the bigger picture. Oholibamah pitched her tents in a place of prominence. It is posible her tent was some sort of shrine. Was her home a place of worship? Was she part of the Horite line of priests who held the major wells and places of water in the region. Was she like Ziporah another priests daughter that married Moses?

Well my brain is muddled at this point - so I will leave you to ponder why this woman got named 6 times in the bible. 

From Wikipedia