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Genesis 38:5

in Genesis 38

Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And she yet again bare a son, and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

KJV

And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

This verse in Genesis 38

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Hebrew Questions on Genesis · Written before 420.

(Chapter 38—Verse 5) And she added, and gave birth to a son, and called his name Shelah; but she was in Chezib when she gave birth to him. The Hebrew word here is used in place of a geographical name, which Aquila translated as a thing, saying: And she called his name Shelah. And it came to pass that she lied in childbirth after she gave birth to Shelah. For after she gave birth to Shelah, her childbirth ceased. Therefore, Chezib is called not a place name, but a deception.

This site's exposition

she conceived and gave birth to a son

on Genesis 38:3-5

Three sons arrive in three verses, Er, Onan and Shelah, and Judah names the first while their mother names the other two. Jerome reads Chezib as a word carrying the sense of deception, and Clarke ties the name to Achzib, a town that later fell to the tribe of Judah. Two of the three are dead within five verses.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And she conceived, and bare a son,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And he was at Chezib when she bare him - This town is supposed to be the same with Achzib, which fell to the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:44. “The name,” says Ainsworth, “has in Hebrew the signification of lying; and to it the prophet alludes, saying the houses of Achzib shall be (Achzab) a lie to the kings of Israel, Mic 1:14.”

The words behind it

12 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.

  • וַתֹּ֤סֶףand she repeated

    vatosefH3254212 times

  • עוֹד֙again

    ʾodH5750490 times

  • וַתֵּ֣לֶדand she bore

    vateledH3205496 times

  • בֵּ֔ןa son

    benH11214930 times

  • וַתִּקְרָ֥אand she called

    vatikra'H7121733 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • שְׁמ֖וֹname his

    shemoH8034864 times

  • שֵׁלָ֑הShelah

    shelahH79568 times

  • וְהָיָ֥הand he was

    vehayahH19613559 times

  • בִכְזִ֖יבin Kezib

    vikhzivH3580

  • בְּלִדְתָּ֥הּwhen bore she

    belidtahH3205496 times

  • אֹתֽוֹ׃<obj.> him

    ʾotoH85310935 times

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

The walk

8 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

    Numbers 26:20

    These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 46:12

      The 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.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Nehemiah 11:24

      Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, a descendant of Zerah son of Judah, was the king’s agent in every matter concerning the people.

  • Through

    Genesis 46:12

    The 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.

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 4:21

      The sons of Shelah son of Judah:

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Genesis 29:35

      And once more she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.

  • Through

    Genesis 38:26

    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.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 24:17

      and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.

  • Through

    Genesis 38:11

    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…

    it leads to

    • 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.

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 4:21

    The sons of Shelah son of Judah:

    it leads to

    • Numbers 26:20

      These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.

    • 1 Chronicles 2:3

      The 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.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Creation of Light, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Creation of Light, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).