Genesischapter 38

A.Judah's Sons and a Widowed Tamarvv. 1-11

1 About that time, Judah left his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah, an Adullamite. 2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her. 3 So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er. 4 Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan. 5 Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him. 6 Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well. 11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

B.Tamar Waits Beside the Roadvv. 12-23

12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah. 13 When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. 16 Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired. 17 “I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.” 18 “What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “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. 19 Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again. 20 Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her. 21 He asked the men of that place, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “No shrine prostitute has been here,” they answered. 22 So Hirah returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’” 23 “Let her keep the items,” Judah replied. “Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you could not find her.”

C.She Is More Righteous Than Ivv. 24-30

24 About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!” 25 As she was being brought out, Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?” 26 Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again. 27 When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 28 And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced. 29 But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez. 30 Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

Judah and Tamar.

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Judah and Tamar. The dark interlude in the Joseph cycle. Judah marries a Canaanite; his first two sons die under divine judgment; he withholds the third from Tamar. She disguises herself as a harlot; Judah's signet, bracelets, and staff become her surety. When Judah condemns her, she produces them: ‘she hath been more righteous than I’. Twins. Pharez and Zarah. Are born; a scarlet thread is tied on the hand that first emerges. The chapter's placement matters: the line of Judah is preserved in chapter 38, just as the line of Joseph is bent in chapters 37 and 39. Both point forward to Bethlehem and the scarlet thread of the gospel.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Law · Moses — Genesis overview

A. 1–11 Judah's Sons and a Widowed Tamar
B. 12–23 Tamar Waits Beside the Road
C. 24–30 She Is More Righteous Than I

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Genesis 386 verses
- Genesis 38:11Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
- Genesis 38:14she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
- Genesis 38:18“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “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.
- Genesis 38:20Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.
- Genesis 38:25As she was being brought out, Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?”
- Genesis 38:26Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.
- Read Genesis 38 →
Genesis 243 verses
- Genesis 24:3and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,
- Genesis 24:65and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “It is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
- Genesis 24:67And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.
- Read Genesis 24 →
Judges 143 verses
- Judges 14:1One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman.
- Judges 14:2So he returned and told his father and mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”
- Judges 14:20and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.
- Read Judges 14 →
1 Chronicles 22 verses
- 1 Chronicles 2:3The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, who put him to death.
- 1 Chronicles 2:4Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.
- Read 1 Chronicles 2 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Numbers 262 verses
- Numbers 26:19The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.
- Numbers 26:20These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.
- Read Numbers 26 →
2 Samuel 132 verses
- 2 Samuel 13:3Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,
- 2 Samuel 13:11And when she had brought them to him to eat, he took hold of her and said, “Come lie with me, my sister!”
- Read 2 Samuel 13 →
2 Samuel 142 verses
- 2 Samuel 14:2So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.
- 2 Samuel 14:5“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.
- Read 2 Samuel 14 →
Genesis 461 verse
- Genesis 46:12The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
- Read Genesis 46 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.