Genesis 38

About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man from Adullam whose name was Hirah.

1And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

NoteJudah is one of Jacob's twelve sons. "Left his brothers" means he moved away from the family's camp and settled among Canaanites in the lower hill country; Adullam was a town roughly fifteen miles southwest of Bethlehem.

2There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shuah. He took her as his wife and slept with her.

2And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

NoteIn the Hebrew, Shuah is the name of the Canaanite father, not of the daughter, Judah's wife is never named in the story (see verse 12, "the daughter of Shuah"). The Canaanites were the peoples already living in the land; Abraham's family had gone to some lengths to avoid marrying into them.

3She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er.

3And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

4She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan.

4And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

5She became pregnant once more and gave birth to a son, and named him Shelah. He was at Chezib when she gave birth to him.

5And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

NoteChezib was a town in the same district, probably the place called Achzib elsewhere. The Hebrew "he was at Chezib" is unclear about who is meant; it most likely means Judah was away there at the time of the birth.

6Judah got a wife for Er, his oldest son, and her name was Tamar.

6And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

7But Er, Judah's oldest son, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death.

7And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

NoteLORD printed in capitals stands for God's personal name in Hebrew, four letters usually written YHWH, which Jewish tradition avoided pronouncing aloud. The text never says what Er's wickedness was.

8Then Judah said to Onan, "Sleep with your brother's wife. Do the duty of a brother-in-law for her, and produce children for your brother."

8And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

NoteThis is the custom later written into Israelite law as levirate marriage: if a man died without a son, his brother was to marry the widow, and her first son counted legally as the dead man's child, inheriting his name and his share of the family land. "Do the duty of a brother-in-law" is a single Hebrew verb meaning exactly this obligation.

9Onan knew that the children would not count as his. So whenever he slept with his brother's wife, he spilled his seed on the ground, so that he would not give children to his brother.

9And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

NoteThe point of Onan's refusal is inheritance. Any son born would count as Er's, not his, and would take Er's portion, including the double share due a firstborn. With no such heir, Onan as the eldest surviving son stood to gain that share himself.

10What he did was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD put him to death too.

10And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

11Then Judah said to Tamar, his son's widow, "Live as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah is grown up." For he said to himself, "He may die too, as his brothers did." So Tamar went and lived in her father's house.

11Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

NoteA childless widow normally went back to her father's household for support, but she remained legally attached to her dead husband's family and was not free to marry outside it. By promising Shelah and then withholding him, Judah leaves Tamar bound and waiting with no way forward.

12After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shuah, died. When Judah had been comforted, he went up to Timnath to the men who were shearing his sheep, together with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

12And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

Note"Been comforted" means the set period of mourning had ended. Sheepshearing came once a year and was a large festive gathering with feasting and drink, not just farm work, which is why Judah travels to it with a friend. Timnath was a town in the hills.

13Tamar was told, "Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnath to shear his sheep."

13And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

14So she took off the clothes she wore as a widow, covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself up. Then she sat down in an open place on the road to Timnath. She did this because she saw that Shelah was grown up and she had not been given to him as a wife.

14And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

NoteThe veil is a disguise that hides her face; veils were not the working dress of prostitutes, and the point is that Judah cannot see who she is. The Hebrew phrase behind "an open place" is ambiguous: it can be read as the place name "the entrance of Enaim" or as "the opening of the eyes," meaning an open spot or a fork in the road. Translators go both ways.

15When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face.

15When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.

16He turned aside to her by the road and said, "Come now, let me sleep with you." He did not know that she was his son's widow. She said, "What will you give me for sleeping with me?"

16And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

17He said, "I will send you a young goat from my flock." She said, "Will you give me something to hold as a pledge until you send it?"

17And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

NoteA young goat was a substantial payment, not a token gesture. A pledge was an object left as security, to be returned when the debt was paid.

18He said, "What pledge should I give you?" She said, "Your seal, and your cord, and the staff in your hand." So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

18And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

NoteA seal was a small engraved stone, worn on a cord around the neck, pressed into wet clay to mark documents and property as yours; a man's staff was often carved with distinctive marks. Together they identified their owner beyond dispute. Handing them over was like leaving your identity papers and signature as security.

19Then she got up and went away. She took off her veil and put back on the clothes she wore as a widow.

19And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

20Judah sent the young goat with his friend the Adullamite, to get his pledge back from the woman, but he could not find her.

20And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.

21So he asked the men of that place, "Where is the prostitute who was out in the open by the roadside?" They said, "There has been no prostitute in this place."

21Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.

NoteThe word used here is not the ordinary word for prostitute used in verse 15. It is qedeshah, "consecrated woman", a woman attached to a shrine. Hirah may be phrasing the question more respectably, or asking after a different kind of woman altogether; the Hebrew leaves it open.

22He went back to Judah and said, "I cannot find her. And the men of the place said there was no prostitute in that place."

22And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.

23Judah said, "Let her keep the things, or we will be shamed. Look, I sent this young goat, and you could not find her."

23And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

NoteThe shame Judah fears is public ridicule: being known as the man who handed over his seal and staff and was never paid back, and who then went hunting for the woman.

24About three months later, Judah was told, "Tamar, your son's widow, has acted like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant from it." Judah said, "Bring her out, and let her be burned."

24And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

NoteBecause Tamar was still pledged to Shelah, she counted as bound to Judah's household, so a pregnancy by another man was treated as unfaithfulness. As head of the family, Judah had authority to pass sentence. Burning was an unusually severe penalty, reserved in later Israelite law for a very few offenses.

25When she was brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man who owns these things." And she said, "Please look at them and see whose they are: this seal, this cord, and this staff."

25When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

26Judah recognized them and said, "She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he did not sleep with her again.

26And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

Note"More righteous than I" is legal language rather than a comment on character: she is in the right and he is in the wrong. Judah is conceding that she had a claim on him which he had refused to honor.

27When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.

27And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

28While she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand. The midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, "This one came out first."

28And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

NoteBirth order carried legal weight, the firstborn received a larger share of the inheritance and standing as head of the family, which is why the midwife marks which child appeared first.

29But as he pulled his hand back, his brother came out. She said, "How have you broken out? This breaking out is on you!" So he was named Pharez.

29And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.

NotePharez (also spelled Perez) sounds like the Hebrew word for a breach or a bursting through, so his name echoes the midwife's exclamation.

30Afterward his brother came out, the one with the scarlet thread on his hand, and he was named Zarah.

30And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

NoteZarah (also spelled Zerah) is connected with a Hebrew root meaning to shine or to dawn, possibly a play on the bright scarlet thread on his hand.