Person Old Testament
Bela
Bela, son of Beor, was the first king to reign in Edom before Israel had a king. Mentioned in 4 verses across 2 books, first at Genesis 36:32.
Why it matters. Son of Beor, the first king of Edom.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Bela
Bela, the son of Beor, is mentioned in Gen.36.32-33 and 1Ch.1.43-44 as the first king of Edom. The context of these passages is the genealogy of Esau, also known as Edom, and the list of kings who reigned in Edom before Israel had a king. Bela is described as reigning in Edom, with his city named Dinhabah. The mention of Bela as the first king suggests that he played a significant role in establishing the Edomite monarchy. The fact that he reigned before Israel had a king highlights the political development of Edom as a nation.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Parents
- Beor
Appears in Scripture
Named in 4 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.