Genesis 38
38
Judah and Tamar
1And it came about at that time, that Judah #38:1 Lit went downdeparted from his brothers and #38:1 Lit turned aside tovisited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her as a wife and had relations with her. 3And she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er. 4Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan. 5She gave birth to yet another son and named him Shelah; and it was at Chezib #38:5 Lit whenthat she gave birth to him.
6Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life. 8Then Judah said to Onan, “Have relations with your brother’s wife and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a #38:8 Lit seedchild for your brother.” 9Now Onan knew that the #38:9 Lit seedchild would not be his; so when he had relations with his brother’s wife, he #38:9 Lit spilled on the groundwasted his seed on the ground so that he would not give #38:9 Lit seeda child to his brother. 10But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also. 11Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he #38:11 Lit saidthought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
12Now #38:12 Lit the days became many andafter a considerable time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when #38:12 Lit Judah was comforted, hethe time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13And Tamar was told, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14So she #38:14 Lit removed from herselfremoved her widow’s garments and covered herself with a #38:14 Or shawlveil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of #38:14 In Josh 15:34, EnamEnaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife. 15When Judah saw her, he assumed she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, “#38:16 Or Come, nowHere now, let me have relations with you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me, that you may have relations with me?” 17He said, therefore, “I will send you a #38:17 Lit kid of goatsyoung goat from the flock.” She then said, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?” 18He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had relations with her, and she conceived by him. 19Then she got up and departed, and #38:19 Lit removed from herselfremoved her #38:19 Or shawlveil and put on her widow’s garments.
20When Judah sent the #38:20 Lit kid of goats by the hand ofyoung goat by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. 21He asked the people of her place, saying, “Where is the temple prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?” But they said, “There has been no temple prostitute here.” 22So he returned to Judah, and said, “I did not find her; and furthermore, the people of the place said, ‘There has been no temple prostitute here.’ ” 23Then Judah said, “Let her #38:23 Lit take for herselfkeep them, otherwise we will become a laughingstock. #38:23 Lit BeholdAfter all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”
24Now it was about three months later that Judah was #38:24 Lit informed, sayinginformed, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and behold, she is also pregnant by prostitution.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned!” 25It was while she was being brought out that she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, “I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong.” She also said, “Please examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?” 26And Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not #38:26 Lit know her yet againhave relations with her again.
27It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were twins in her womb. 28Moreover, it took place while she was giving birth, that one baby put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29But it came about as he drew back his hand that behold, his brother came out. Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named #38:29 I.e., a breachPerez. 30Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named #38:30 I.e., a dawning or brightnessZerah.
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Genesis 38: NASB2020
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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