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Genesis 38:11

in Genesis 38

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown up; for he said, Lest he also die, like his brethren. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

KJV

Then 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.

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This verse in Genesis 38

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Some think that Judah never intended to marry Shelah to Tamar, but unjustly suspected her to have been the death of her two former husbands, (whereas it was their own wickedness that slew them) and then sent her to her father's house, with a charge to remain a widow. If so, it was an inexcusable piece of prevarication; however Tamar acquiesced, and waited for the issue.

This site's exposition

until my son Shelah grows up

Judah puts Tamar in her father's house on a promise tied to a date that never comes. The verse gives his own reason, that Shelah may die like his brothers. He treats the widow as the danger to his last son. She waits there as a widow.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

ABIDE A WIDOW AT THY FATHER’s HOUSE. The meaning thereof is that “you should conduct yourself there as a widow until Shelah be grown up.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 38:11:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
3 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
He would go there continually to console himself after his wife’s death so that he may turn his attention to the sheep and forget his poverty. 170 Proverbs:7.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 38:12:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
גם אותו. According to our sages Er also died for this same type of sin, as he deliberately wasted his semen by ejaculating prematurely to prevent his wife from becoming pregnant. He wanted to preserve her physical beauty.
Rashbam: France, c. 1085–1158 · Rashbam on Genesis 38:10:1, via Sefaria, Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash
What he did was evil in the eyes of [ before ] Adonoy, and He also put him to death.
Targum · Onkelos Genesis 38:10, via Sefaria, Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 [with Onkelos translation]

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

24 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוּדָה֩Judah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • לְתָמָ֨רto Tamar

    letamarH8559 →25 times

  • כַּלָּת֜וֹdaughter-in-law his

    kalatoH3618 →34 times

  • שְׁבִ֧יdwell

    sheviH3427 →1079 times

  • אַלְמָנָ֣הa widow

    ʾalmanahH490 →

  • בֵית־[the] house of

    veit-H1004 →2046 times

  • אָבִ֗יךְfather your

    ʾavikhH1 →1212 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • יִגְדַּל֙he will grow up

    yigdalH1431 →117 times

  • שֵׁלָ֣הShelah

    shelahH7956 →8 times

  • בְנִ֔יson my

    veniH1121 →4930 times

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אָמַ֔רhe said

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • פֶּן־lest

    pen-H6435 →133 times

  • יָמ֥וּתhe should die

    yamutH4191 →839 times

  • גַּם־also

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • ה֖וּאhe

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • כְּאֶחָ֑יוlike brothers his

    keechavH251 →630 times

  • וַתֵּ֣לֶךְand she went

    vatelekhH1980 →1546 times

  • תָּמָ֔רTamar

    tamarH8559 →25 times

  • וַתֵּ֖שֶׁבand she dwelt

    vateshevH3427 →1079 times

  • בֵּ֥ית[the] house of

    beitH1004 →2046 times

  • אָבִֽיהָ׃father her

    ʾavihaH1 →1212 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Leviticus 22:13But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.5 worksRuth 1:11But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?4 worksLuke 20:28“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.3 worksEzekiel 16:38And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.2 works1 Chronicles 2:4Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.2 worksNumbers 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.2 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 38:5Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.2 worksMatthew 22:24“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.1 worksMatthew 1:3Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.0 works

The walk

2 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Leviticus 22:13

    But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 10:14

      And you and your sons and daughters may eat the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution in a ceremonially clean place, because these portions have been assigned to you…

    • Numbers 18:11–19

      And this is yours as well: the offering of their gifts, along with all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I have given this to you and your sons and daughters as a permanent…

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
The Tower of Babel, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 38 →

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 38 →