These "dukes" corresponded with the "princes" of the tribes of Israel.

But whereas the "princes" of the Israelitish tribes did not survive the life in the desert, the "dukes" of Edom give way only to kings.

For this there was a good reason.

The invasion of Canaan and the promulgation of the Mosaic Law changed the whole organisation of the Hebrew people.

On the one hand, the Israelites required a leader who should lead them in the first instance against the Canaanites, in the second against the foreign oppressors who enslaved them from time to time.