Genesis 38
38
Genesis 38
1¶ And 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.
2And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah, and he took her and went in unto her.
3And she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he called his name Er.
4And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and she called his name Onan.
5And she yet again conceived and gave birth to a son and called his name Shelah. And he was at Chezib, when she gave birth to him.
6And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
7And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord and the Lord slew him.
8Then Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife and marry her and raise up seed to thy brother.
9And Onan knew that the seed would not be his, and it came to pass when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he corrupted it on the ground, to not give seed to his brother.
10And the thing which he did displeased the Lord, and he slew him also.
11Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house until Shelah, my son, is grown; for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.
12¶ And many days passed and Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shuah, died; and Judah was comforted and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite.
13And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law goes up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
14And she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself and sat by the gate to the waters by the way to Timnath, for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
15When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot because she had covered her face.
16And he turned unto her by the way and said, Come now, 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 may come in unto me?
17And he said, I will send thee from the sheep a kid from the goats. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge until thou send it?
18Then he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet and thy mantel and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
19And she arose and went away and took off her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand; but he did not find her.
21Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the cult prostitute of the waters by the way side? And they said, There was no cult prostitute in this place.
22And he returned to Judah and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said that there was no cult prostitute in this place.
23And Judah said, Let her take the things for herself lest we be shamed; behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
24¶ And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar, thy daughter-in-law, has played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth and let her be burnt.
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 mantel and staff.
26Then Judah acknowledged them, and said, She has been more righteous than I because I did not give her to Shelah, my son. And he knew her again no more.
27And it came to pass in the time of her travail that, behold, twins were in her womb.
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.
29And it came to pass as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out; and she said, Why hast thou brought this breach upon thee? Therefore his name was called Pharez.
30And afterward his brother that had the scarlet thread upon his hand came out, and his name was called Zarah.
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Genesis 38: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Genesis 38
38
1Around this time, Judah left his brothers and set up his tents at Adullam, near to a local man named Hirah. 2There Judah happened to see the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua and married her. He slept with her, 3and she became pregnant and had a son he named Er. 4She became pregnant again and had a son she named Onan. 5Then she had another son she named Shelah who was born in Kezib.
6Much later, Judah arranged for Er, his firstborn son, to marry a woman named Tamar. 7But Er did what was evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord put him to death. 8Judah told Onan, “Go and sleep with your brother's wife to fulfill the requirements of a brother-in-law to have children on behalf of your brother.”
9Onan realized that any children he had wouldn't be his own, so whenever he slept with his brother's wife he made sure she wouldn't become pregnant by withdrawing and spilling his semen on the ground. In this way he prevented any children being born on behalf of his brother. 10But what he did was evil in the Lord's sight, so he also put Onan to death.
11Then Judah told his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Go to your father's house and live there as a widow until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “Maybe he'll die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went and stayed in her father's house.
12A long time later Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah had finished the time of mourning, he went to visit his sheepshearers at Timnah with his friend Hirah from Adullam. 13Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14So she took off her widow's clothes and covered herself with a veil, disguising herself. She sat down beside the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. She had realized that even though Shelah had now grown up, nothing had been done about her marrying him.
15Judah saw her and thought she must be a prostitute because she had veiled her face. 16He went over to her at the side of the road and said, “I want to sleep with you.” He didn't know she was his daughter-in-law.
“What will you give me if I let you sleep with me?” she asked.
17“I'll send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied.
“What guarantee will you give me to make sure you'll send it?” she asked.
18“What guarantee do I have to give you?” he asked.
“Your signet seal and its cord, and your walking stick that you're holding,” she replied. He handed them over to her. He slept with her and she became pregnant. 19She left, went home, took off her veil, and put on her widow's clothes.
20Judah sent his friend Hirah from Adullam with a young goat to get back his belongings he'd left as a guarantee from the woman, but he couldn't find her. 21Hirah asked the men there, “Where's the cult prostitute that sits by the entrance road to Enaim?”
“There's no cult prostitute here,” they answered.
22Hirah went back to Judah and told him, “I couldn't find her, and the men there said, ‘There's no cult prostitute here.’”
23“Let her keep what I gave her,” Judah replied. “We'll look ridiculous to people if we go on searching. In any case I did try to send her the young goat as promised but you couldn't find her.”
24Then about three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has had sex like a prostitute and now as a result she's pregnant!”
“Bring her out and burn her to death!” Judah ordered.
25As she was brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, saying, “I'm pregnant by the man who owns these things.” Then she added, “Please look carefully at this signet seal and its cord and walking stick. Who do they belong to?”
26Judah recognized them right away and said, “She has honored the law more than I have, because I didn't give her in marriage to my son Shelah.” He didn't sleep with Tamar again.
27When the time came for Tamar to give birth, she was found to be carrying twins. 28One baby put out his hand, and the midwife tied a scarlet thread around his wrist and said, “This one came out first.” 29But then he pulled back his hand and his brother was born, she said, “How did you burst out?” So he was named Perez.#38:29. “Perez” means “burst out.” 30Then his brother with the scarlet thread on his wrist was born. He was named Zerah.#38:30. “Zerah” means “rising” (as in “sun”) with perhaps the implication of red color.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com