20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,

21 And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.

29 These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,

30 Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.

31 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

The account now moves from Esau’s household to describe the other nobility of that land. From the Horites there came a number of dukes and kings, who would be some of the major players when Israel returned from Egyptian captivity.

We have heard briefly of the Horites before. They were among the clans that fought against King Chedorlaomer, which strife resulted in Lot being taken captive and Abraham having to go and rescue him. From this we know that the Horites were in this land for quite some time, even before Abraham and his kin had arrived.

But this land had not been promised to the Horites, they were there on borrowed time. Canaan had been promised to the descendants of Abraham, and more specifically to the descendants of Jacob. From the mortal perspective there were still many years to go before God’s promises would be fulfilled, but it was sure to happen even so.