Genesis 38:2
in Genesis 38There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her, and went in unto her.
KJV
And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 38
Commentary
6 notes on this verseFor neither he nor his other brethren were ignorant that they sojourned in the land of Canaan, under the stipulation, that afterwards their enemies were to be cut off and destroyed, in order that they might possess the promised dominion over it.
This site's exposition
Judah left his brothers
on Genesis 38:1-2
Judah leaves his brothers straight after proposing the sale at Genesis 37:27 and settles near Hirah the Adullamite. There he takes a Canaanite wife, the daughter of Shua. Abraham made his servant swear not to take a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites at Genesis 24:3, and Isaac charged Jacob the same way at Genesis 28:1.
This site's exposition
the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua
The verbs run saw, took and slept with, the same three used of Shechem with Dinah at Genesis 34:2. Judah's wife goes unnamed in Genesis. The Chronicler also knows her only as the Canaanite daughter of Shua, at 1 Chronicles 2:3.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite,....
It is probable that she embraced the worship of the God of Israel, at least in profession, but, for aught that appears, there was little of the fear of God in the family. Judah married too young, and very rashly; he also married his sons too young, when they had neither wit nor grace to govern themselves, and the consequences were very bad.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite--Like Esau [Ge 26:34], this son of Jacob, casting off the restraints of religion, married into a Canaanite family; and it is not surprising that the family which sprang from such an unsuitable connection should be infamous for bold and unblushing wickedness.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
This does not refer to the time that Joseph was sold. 1 As the sequence of chapters would tend to indicate.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
And it was at that time, that Yehudah descended from his brothers.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּרְא־ | vaiyar'- | and he saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| שָׁ֧ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| יְהוּדָ֛ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | a daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כְּנַעֲנִ֖י | kenaani | a Canaanite | H3669 → | 73 times |
| וּשְׁמ֣וֹ | ushemo | and name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| שׁ֑וּעַ | shua' | [was] Shua | H7770 → | |
| וַיִּקָּחֶ֖הָ | vaiyikacheha | and he took her | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וַיָּבֹ֥א | vaiyavo' | and he went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֵלֶֽיהָ׃ | ʾeleiha | into her | H413 → | 5510 times |
וַיַּרְא־and he saw
vaiyar'-H7200 →1300 times
שָׁ֧םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
יְהוּדָ֛הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
בַּת־a daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
אִ֥ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
כְּנַעֲנִ֖יa Canaanite
kenaaniH3669 →73 times
וּשְׁמ֣וֹand name his
ushemoH8034 →864 times
שׁ֑וּעַ[was] Shua
shua'H7770 →
וַיִּקָּחֶ֖הָand he took her
vaiyikachehaH3947 →966 times
וַיָּבֹ֥אand he went
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
אֵלֶֽיהָ׃into her
ʾeleihaH413 →5510 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Genesis 6:4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of…
it leads to
- Numbers 13:33
We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
- 1 Samuel 17:4
Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
- Deuteronomy 3:11
(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
- 2 Samuel 21:15–22
Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines; but David became exhausted.
- Deuteronomy 2:20–21
(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
- Numbers 13:33
Through
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…
it leads to
- Genesis 26:34–35
When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14–17
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- Nehemiah 13:25
I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not…
- Genesis 26:34–35
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.