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Genesis 38:16

in Genesis 38

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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Come, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee: for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

KJV

And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

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This verse in Genesis 38

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

he thought she was a prostitute

on Genesis 38:15-16

Judah takes her for a prostitute, and the veil over her face is the whole of his reason. Gill reads the place she sat in as the other half of it, a woman waiting by the road. The writer adds that Judah did not know she was his daughter-in-law.

This site's exposition

Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law

The law later forbids relations between a man and his daughter-in-law at Leviticus 18:15, and Leviticus 20:12 sets death as the penalty for both. Tamar alone knows who stands before her.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And he turned unto her by the way,....

The words behind it

22 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.

  • וַיֵּ֨טand he turned aside

    vaiyetH5186 →214 times

  • אֵלֶ֜יהָto her

    ʾeleihaH413 →5510 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַדֶּ֗רֶךְthe road

    haderekhH1870 →707 times

  • וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • הָֽבָה־give !

    havah-H3051 →34 times

  • נָּא֙please

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • אָב֣וֹאlet me go

    ʾavo'H935 →2568 times

  • אֵלַ֔יִךְinto you

    ʾelayikhH413 →5510 times

  • כִּ֚יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • לֹ֣אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יָדַ֔עhe knew

    yada'H3045 →945 times

  • כִּ֥יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • כַלָּת֖וֹ[was] daughter-in-law his

    khalatoH3618 →34 times

  • הִ֑ואshe

    hi'H1931 →1879 times

  • וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙and she said

    vatomerH559 →5305 times

  • מַה־what?

    mah-H4100 →752 times

  • תִּתֶּן־will you give

    titen-H5414 →2011 times

  • לִּ֔יto <the> me

    li

  • כִּ֥יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • תָב֖וֹאyou will come

    tavo'H935 →2568 times

  • אֵלָֽי׃into me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

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

Related verses

8 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.

1 Timothy 6:10For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.5 works2 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!”2 worksMatthew 26:15and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.2 works2 Samuel 16:21Ahithophel replied, “Sleep with your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the palace. When all Israel hears that you have become a stench to your father, then the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened.”2 worksGenesis 29:21Finally Jacob said to Laban, “Grant me my wife, for my time is complete, and I want to sleep with her.”2 worksLeviticus 20:12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both must surely be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is upon them.2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ezekiel 16:33Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.1 worksDeuteronomy 23:18You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.1 works

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

    1 Timothy 6:10

    For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 1:19

      Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

    • 1 Timothy 6:9

      Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

    • Psalms 32:10

      Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but loving devotion surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.

    • Proverbs 1:31

      So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

    • Titus 1:11

      who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.

  • Through

    Matthew 26:15

    and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 11:12–13

      Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 23:18

    You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.

    it leads to

    • Philippians 3:2

      Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

    • Revelation 22:15

      But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 38 →