Bereshis 38
38
1And it came to pass at that time, that Yehudah went down from his achim, and turned in to an ish Adullami shmo Chirah.
2And Yehudah saw there a bat ish Kena'ani shmo Shua; and he took her, and went in unto her.
3She conceived, and bore ben; and he called shmo Er.
4And she conceived again, and bore ben; and she called shmo Onan.
5And she yet again conceived, and bore ben; and called shmo Shelah; at Keziv, when she bore him.
6And Yehudah took a wife for Er his bechor, whose shem was Tamar.
7And Er, bechor Yehudah, was rah in the eyes of Hashem; and Hashem slaughtered him.
8And Yehudah said unto Onan, Go in unto eshet achicha, and enter into levirate marriage with her, and raise up zera to achicha.
9And Onan knew that the zera should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto eshet achiv, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give zera to achiv.
10And the thing which he did was rah in the eyes of Hashem; therefore He slaughtered him also.
11Then said Yehudah to Tamar his kallah, Remain an almanah at thy bais avi, till Shelah beni is grown; for he said, Lest he die also, as his achim did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her bais avi.
12And in process of time the bat Shua, eshet Yehudah, died; and Yehudah was consoled, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his re'a Chirah the Adullami.
13And it was told Tamar, saying, Hinei, thy kham (father-in-law) goeth up to Timnah to shear his tzon.
14And she put off her widowʼs garments from her, and covered her with a tze'if (veil), and disguised herself, and sat at the crossroads which is on the derech to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him as isha.
15When Yehudah saw her, he thought her to be a zonah; because she had covered her face.
16And he turned unto her by the derech, and said, Come now, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his kallah [daughter-in-law]). And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
17And he said, I will send thee a gedi izzim (kid of the goats). And she said, Wilt thou give me an eravon (pledge), till thou send it?
18And he said, What eravon shall I give thee? And she said, Thy chotam (signet), and thy [signet neck] cord, and thy staff that is in thine yad. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
19And she arose, and went away, and took off her tze'if from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20And Yehudah sent the gedi izzim by the yad of his friend the Adullami, to get back his eravon from the yad haisha; but he found her not.
21Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the kedesha (cult prostitute) that was on the crossroads by the derech? And they said, There was no kedesha in this place.
22And he returned to Yehudah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said that there was no kedesha in this place.
23And Yehudah said, Let her take for herself, lest we become buz (laughingstock); hinei, I sent this gedi, and thou hast not found her.
24And it came to pass about shlosh chadashim (three months) later, that it was told Yehudah saying, Tamar thy kallah hath played the zonah; and also, hinei, she is with child by zenunim (whoredom). And Yehudah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burned.
25When she was brought forth, she sent to her kham (father-in-law), saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child; and she said, Discern, now, whose are these, the chotam (signet), and the [signet neck] cord, and the staff.
26And Yehudah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more tzadekah than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah beni. And he knew her again no more.
27And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, hinei te'omim (twin boys) were in her beten.
28And it came to pass, when she travailed in labor, that the one put out his yad; and the midwife took and bound upon his yad a scarlet thread, saying, This came out rishonah (first).
29And it came to pass, as he drew back his yad, that, hinei, his brother came out; and she said, How hast paratzta (thou broken out)? This paretz (breach, breaking) be upon thee; therefore shmo was called Peretz [Breaking out].
30And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his yad; and shmo was called Zerach.
Currently Selected:
Bereshis 38: TOJB2011
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 38
38
Judah and Tamar
1At that time, Judah left his brothers. He went down to stay with a man named Hirah from the town of Adullam. 2There Judah met the daughter of a man from Canaan. His name was Shua. Judah married her and slept with her. 3She became pregnant and had a son. They named him Er. 4She became pregnant again and had another son. She named him Onan. 5She had still another son. She named him Shelah. He was born at Kezib.
6Judah got a wife for his oldest son Er. Her name was Tamar. 7But Judah’s oldest son Er was evil in the Lord’s eyes. So the Lord put him to death.
8Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. After all, you are her brother-in-law. So carry out your duty to her. Provide children for your brother.” 9But Onan knew that the children wouldn’t belong to him. So every time he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground. He did it so he wouldn’t provide children for his brother. 10What he did was evil in the Lord’s eyes. So the Lord put him to death also.
11Then Judah spoke to his daughter-in-law Tamar. He said, “Live as a widow in your father’s home. Wait there until my son Shelah grows up.” Judah was thinking, “Shelah might die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s home.
12After a long time Judah’s wife died. She was the daughter of Shua. When Judah got over his sadness, he went up to Timnah. His friend Hirah from Adullam went with him. Men were clipping the wool from Judah’s sheep at Timnah.
13Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to clip the wool from his sheep.” 14So she took off her widow’s clothes. She covered her face with a veil so people wouldn’t know who she was. Then she sat down at the entrance to Enaim. Enaim is on the road to Timnah. Tamar knew that Shelah had grown up. But she hadn’t been given to him as his wife.
15Judah saw her. He thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face with a veil. 16He didn’t realize that she was his daughter-in-law. He went over to her by the side of the road. He said, “Come. Let me sleep with you.”
“What will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
17“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.
“Will you give me something that belongs to you?” she asked. “I’ll keep it until you send the goat.”
18He said, “What should I give you?”
“Give me your official seal and the string that it hangs from,” she answered. “And give me your walking stick.” So he gave them to her. Then he slept with her. And she became pregnant by him. 19After she left, she took off her veil. She put on her widow’s clothes again.
20Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat he had promised. He wanted to get back what he had given to the woman. But his friend Hirah couldn’t find her. 21He asked the men who lived at Enaim, “Where’s the temple prostitute? She used to sit beside the road here.”
“There hasn’t been any temple prostitute here,” they said.
22So Hirah went back to Judah. He said, “I couldn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there didn’t know anything about her. They said, ‘There hasn’t been any temple prostitute here.’ ”
23Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has. I don’t want people making fun of us. After all, I did send her this young goat. We can’t help it if you couldn’t find her.”
24About three months later people brought word to Judah. They said, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of being a prostitute. Now she’s pregnant.”
Judah said, “Bring her out! Have her burned to death!”
25As Tamar was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. She said, “I am pregnant by the man who owns these.” She continued, “Do you recognize this seal and string and walking stick? Do you know who they belong to?”
26Judah recognized them. He said, “She’s a better person than I am. I should have given her to my son Shelah, but I didn’t.” Judah never slept with Tamar again.
27The time came for Tamar to have her baby. There were twin boys inside her. 28As the babies were being born, one of them stuck out his hand. So the woman helping Tamar took a bright red thread. The woman tied it on the baby’s wrist. She said, “This one came out first.” 29But he pulled his hand back, and his brother came out first instead. She said, “Just look at how you have forced your way out!” So he was called Perez. 30Then his brother, who had the red thread on his wrist, came out. So he was named Zerah.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.