Question: what is the significance of edom in the bible?
Answer: The Hebrew word Edom means "red", and the Hebrew Bible relates it to the name of its founder, Esau, the elder son of the Hebrew patriarch Isaac, because he was born "red all over". As a young adult, he sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for "red pottage". The Tanakh describes the Edomites as descendants of Esau.