28 Jul 2025 – jeffersonvann

Genesis 38

Genesis 38:1 It was at that time that Judah left his brothers and settled near an Adullamite man, whose name was Hirah.

Genesis 38:2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went into her,

Genesis 38:3 and she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he called his name Er.

Genesis 38:4 She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and called his name Onan.

Genesis 38:5 Yet again, she gave birth to a son and called him Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she gave birth to him.

Genesis 38:6 And Judah acquired a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

Genesis 38:7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wrong in the eyes of Yahveh, and Yahveh put him to death.

Genesis 38:8 Then Judah told Onan, “Go into your brother’s wife, perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a seed for your brother.”

Genesis 38:9 But Onan knew that the seed would not be considered his. So, whenever he went into his brother’s wife, he would waste the semen on the ground so as not to give seed to his brother.

Genesis 38:10 And what he did was wrong in the eyes of Yahveh, and he put him to death also.

Genesis 38:11 Then Judah told Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah, my son, grows up”—because he said he would die, like his brothers, apart from that. So, Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.

Genesis 38:12 In time, Judah’s wife, Shua’s daughter, died. After Judah had grieved, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

Genesis 38:13 So when Tamar was told, “Notice, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”

Genesis 38:14 she took off her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. Because she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage.

Genesis 38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.

Genesis 38:16 He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Hey, let me come into you,” because he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you pay me, that you may come into me?”

Genesis 38:17 He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me something in pledge until you send it-“

Genesis 38:18 He said, “What pledge could I give you?” She answered, “Your signet, cord, and staff that is in your hand.” So, he gave them to her and went into her, and she was conceived by him.

Genesis 38:19 Then she got up and went away, taking off her veil and putting on her widowhood clothes.

Genesis 38:20 But Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, and he did not find her.

Genesis 38:21 And he asked the men of the place, and this is what he said, “Where is the “holy woman” who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No “holy woman” has been here.”

Genesis 38:22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No “holy woman” has been here.'”

Genesis 38:23 And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or else we will be laughed at. Notice I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

Genesis 38:24 About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has been a prostitute. Notice, she is pregnant by prostitution.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned up.”

Genesis 38:25 As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, ” I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” And she said, “Recognize whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.”

Genesis 38:26 Then Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he was not intimate with her again.

Genesis 38:27 When the time of her labor came, they noticed there were twins in her uterus.

Genesis 38:28 And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand. And this is what she said: “This one came out first.”

Genesis 38:29 But as he drew back his hand, notice, his brother came out. And she said, “What a break-out you have made for yourself!” Therefore, his name was called Perez.

Genesis 38:30 Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.

Genesis 38 quotes:

“The pledge’s importance for resolving the crisis to Tamar’s life is emphasized by the fact that she breaks her characteristic silence in the narrative only twice, once when she bargains for the pledge (Gen 38:16—-18) and again when she produces it to identify Judah in this subsection (Gen 38:25).”

Menn, Esther Marie. Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38) in Ancient Jewish Exegesis : Studies in Literary Form and Hermeneutics. Brill, 1997. p. 27.

“Genesis 38 starts out with Judah making two bad decisions. One, in leaving his family and connecting with someone on a lower plain, and two, in marrying the wrong woman. As you’ll see as we go further, God doesn’t need a perfect situation to fulfill his will. The Scriptures say that all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord and those who are the called according to his purpose. Thanks be to God that by the end of this chapter, Judah is back on course for his destiny. But many people find themselves married to the wrong person, and whether it’s a person who lacks faith in God or a person that they married only for the physical attraction and the excitement of a sexual relationship, sometimes they never find themselves on course to complete their destiny. Remember, choosing a mate is not God’s responsibility, but yours. Therefore your choice should be made carefully soberly and deliberately with much counsel, prayer and of course the inner peace that comes from God.”

Clark, Eric Kincaid. Good Girl Gone Bad. Dog Ear Publishing, 2005. p. 15.

“She is banished from Judah’s house and sent back to her father’s house. As a childless widow in her father’s house, Tamar has no financial resources and she belongs to no one. She is not part of her husband’s house and she really does not belong in her father’s house anymore. And, she is not legally free to marry another man as long as her husband has a living brother.”

Essex, Barbara J. Women in the Bible. Pilgrim Press, 2001. p. 27.