Genesis 38:13
in Genesis 38When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah to shear his sheep.
KJV
And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
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This verse in Genesis 38
Commentary
2 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
his sheepshearers at Timnah
on Genesis 38:12-14
Judah's wife dies, and he goes up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, to a sheepshearing Jamieson calls the most festive season of the farming year. Tamar puts off her widow's garments, covers her face with a veil, and sits at the entrance to Enaim on his road. Shelah had grown up and she was still a widow.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And it was told Tamar,.... By some of her neighbours, or by some of Judah's family: saying, behold, thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep; which might be told her as an indifferent thing, without any design in it; but she took notice of it, and it gave her an opportunity she wanted.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Ve-tekhas is a transitive verb. It means and covered herself. 28 An intransitive verb is not followed by the object.
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
9 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֻּגַּ֥ד | vaiyugad | and it was told | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לְתָמָ֖ר | letamar | to Tamar | H8559 → | 25 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִנֵּ֥ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| חָמִ֛יךְ | chamikh | father-in-law your | H2524 → | |
| עֹלֶ֥ה | ʾoleh | [is] going up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| תִמְנָ֖תָה | timnatah | Timnah towards | H8553 → | 12 times |
| לָגֹ֥ז | lagoz | to shear | H1494 → | 15 times |
| צֹאנֽוֹ׃ | tzono | sheep his | H6629 → | 274 times |
וַיֻּגַּ֥דand it was told
vaiyugadH5046 →370 times
לְתָמָ֖רto Tamar
letamarH8559 →25 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הִנֵּ֥הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
חָמִ֛יךְfather-in-law your
chamikhH2524 →
עֹלֶ֥ה[is] going up
ʾolehH5927 →890 times
תִמְנָ֖תָהTimnah towards
timnatahH8553 →12 times
לָגֹ֥זto shear
lagozH1494 →15 times
צֹאנֽוֹ׃sheep his
tzonoH6629 →274 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.