GENERATIONS, descendants, 'the account of' — from yalad, 'to bear.' It is the load-bearing beam of Genesis: 'these are the toledot of…' divides the whole book into about ten panels — the heavens and earth (2:4), Adam (5:1), Noah (6:9), the nations (10:1), Shem and Terah (11:10, 27), Ishmael (25:12), Isaac (25:19), ESAU (36:1, and again 36:9), and Jacob (37:2). Each toledot hands the story from one generation to the next and, tellingly, clears the SIDE line before following the chosen one — Ishmael before Isaac, Esau before Jacob — so the long catalogue of Edom here is the book settling Esau's account with honor before it turns wholly to Joseph. KJV 'generations'; NWT 'history / origins.' → first discussed at Gen 36:1