Genesis 38
1 About the same time, Judah, descending from his brothers, turned toward an Adullamite man, named Hirah.
At that time, Judah left his older and younger brothers and went down from the hilly area and stayed with a man whose name was Hiram, who lived in Adullam [town].
2 And he saw there the daughter of a man called Shua, of Canaan. And taking her as a wife, he entered to her.
There he (met/became acquainted with) a woman who was the daughter of a man from Canaan named Shua. He married her. He had sex [EUP] with her,
3 And she conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Er.
and she became pregnant and later gave birth to a son, whom he named Er.
4 And conceiving offspring again, having given birth to a son, she called him Onan.
Later she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son whom she named Onan.
5 Likewise, she bore a third, whom she called Shelah, after whose birth, she ceased to bear any more.
Many years later, when Judah and his family went to live in Kezib [town], Judah’s wife gave birth to another son, whom she named Shelah.
6 Then Judah gave a wife to his first born Er, whose name was Tamar.
When Judah’s oldest son Er [grew up], Judah got a wife for him, a woman named Tamar.
7 And it also happened that Er, the first born of Judah, was wicked in the sight of the Lord and was killed by him.
But Er did something that Yahweh considered to be very wicked, so Yahweh caused him to die.
8 Therefore, Judah said to his son Onan: “Enter to the wife of your brother, and associate with her, so that you may raise offspring to your brother.”
Then Judah said to Onan, “Your older brother died without having any sons. So marry his widow and have sex [EUP] with her. That is what our customs require that you should do.”
9 He, knowing that the sons to be born would not be his, when he entered to the wife of his brother, he spilled his seed on the ground, lest children should be born in his brother’s name.
But Onan knew if he did that, any children who would be born would not be considered to be his. So every time he had sex [EUP] with his brother’s widow, he spilled his semen on the ground, so that she would not get pregnant and produce children for his older brother.
10 And for this reason, the Lord struck him down, because he did a detestable thing.
Yahweh considered that what he did was wicked, so he caused him to die also.
11 Because of this matter, Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Be a widow in your father’s house, until my son Shelah grows up.” For he was afraid, lest he also might die, just as his brothers did. She went away, and she lived in her father’s house.
Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Return to your father’s house, but do not marry anyone else. When my youngest son Shelah grows up, [he can marry you].” But Judah [really did not want Shelah to marry her, because] he was afraid that then Shelah would die too, just as his older brothers had died. So Tamar [obeyed Judah and] went back to live in her father’s house again.
12 Then, after many days had passed, the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died. And when he accepted consolation after his mourning, he went up to the shearers of his sheep at Timnah, he and Hirah, the herdsman of the Adullamite flock.
Several years later, Judah’s wife, who was the daughter of Shua, died. When the time of mourning for her was finished, Judah decided to go up to Timnah, to the place where his (men were shearing his sheep/sheep were being sheared) His friend Hiram, from Adullam, went with him.
13 And it was reported to Tamar that her father-in-law had gone up to Timnah to shear the sheep.
Someone said to Tamar, “Your father-in-law is going to [the fields near the city of] Timnah to help the men who are shearing his sheep.”
14 And storing away the garments of her widowhood, she took up a veil. And changing her clothing, she sat at the crossroad that leads to Timnah, because Shelah had grown up, and she had not received him as a husband.
[She realized that now Shelah was grown up, but Judah had not given her to him to be his wife. So] she took off her widow’s clothes, and covered her head with a veil, so that people would not (recognize her/know who she was). Then she sat down at the entrance to Enaim [town], which is on the road to Timnah.
15 And when Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot. For she had covered her face, lest she be recognized.
When Judah came along and saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her head [like prostitutes often did] (OR, [and sat where prostitutes often sat)].
16 And entering to her, he said, “Permit me to join with you.” For he did not know her to be his daughter-in-law. And she responded, “What will you give to me, to enjoy me as a concubine?”
Judah did not realize that she was his daughter-in-law. So he said to her, “Hey, let me have sex [EUP] with you!” She replied, “What will you give me for allowing you to have sex [EUP] with me?”
17 He said, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And again, she said, “I will allow what you want, if you give me a pledge, until you may send what you promise.”
He replied, “I will send you a young goat from my flock of goats.” She asked, “Will you give me something now for me to keep until you send the goat?”
18 Judah said, “What do you want to be given for a pledge?” She responded, “Your ring and bracelet, and the staff that you hold in your hand.” Thereupon, the woman, from one sexual encounter, conceived.
He replied, “What do you want me to give to you?” She replied, “Give me the ring that has your name on it that is tied by a cord around your neck, and give me the walking stick that you are holding in your hand.” So he gave them to her. Then he had sex [EUP] with her, and she became pregnant.
19 And she arose and went away. And storing away the garments that she had taken up, she was clothed in the garments of her widowhood.
After she left, she took off the veil and put her widow’s clothes on again.
20 Then Judah sent a young goat by his shepherd, the Adullamite, so that he might receive the pledge that he had given to the woman. But, when he had not found her,
Judah gave a young goat to his friend from Adullam, for him to take back to the woman, as he had promised. But his friend could not find the woman.
21 he questioned the men of that place: “Where is the woman who sat at the crossroad?” And they all responded, “There has been no harlot in this place.”
So he asked the men who lived there, “Where is the prostitute who was sitting by the road at Enaim?” They replied, “There has never been a prostitute here!”
22 He returned to Judah, and he said to him: “I did not find her. Moreover, the men of that place told me that a prostitute had never sat there.”
So he went back to Judah and said, “I did not find her. [Furthermore], the men who live in that town said, ‘There has never been a prostitute here.’”
23 Judah said: “Let her hold herself to blame. Certainly, she is not able to accuse us of a lie. I sent the young goat that I had promised, and you did not find her.”
Judah said, “She can keep the things that I gave to her. If we continued to search for her, people would ridicule us. I tried to send this young goat to her, but you could not find her to give it to her.”
24 And behold, after three months, they reported to Judah, saying, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has committed fornication and her abdomen appears to be enlarged.” And Judah said, “Produce her, so that she may be burned.”
About three months later, someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has become a prostitute and now she is pregnant!” Judah said, “Drag her outside of the city and kill her by burning her!”
25 But when she was led out to the punishment, she sent to her father-in-law, saying: “I conceived by the man to whom these things belong. Recognize whose ring, and bracelet, and staff this is.”
But as they were taking her outside of the city, she gave the ring and walking stick to someone, and told him to take them to Judah, and say to him, “The man who owns these things is the one who caused me to become pregnant.” She also said to tell him, “Look at this ring, and the cord that is attached to it, and this walking stick. Whose are they?”
26 But he, acknowledging the gifts, said: “She is more just than I am. For I did not deliver her to my son Shelah.” However, he knew her no more.
When the man did that, Judah recognized the ring and the stick. He said, “She is more righteous than I am. I did not tell my son Shelah to marry her, as I promised that I would.” And Judah did not have sex [EUP] with her again.
27 Then, at the moment of birth, there appeared twins in the womb. And so, in the very delivery of the infants, one put forth a hand, on which the midwife tied a scarlet thread, saying,
When it was time for her to give birth, [she was surprised that] there were twin boys in her womb.
28 “This one will go out first.”
As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand. So the midwife fastened a scarlet thread around his wrist, saying, “This one came out first.”
29 But in truth, drawing back his hand, the other came out. And the woman said, “Why is the partition divided for you?” And for this reason, she called his name Perez.
But he pulled his hand back inside the womb, and his brother came out first. So she said, “So this is how you break your way out first!” So she named him Perez, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘breaking out].’
30 After this, his brother came out, on whose hand was the scarlet thread. And she called him Zerah.
Then his younger brother, the one who had the scarlet thread around his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah, [which sounds like the Hebrew word that means ‘redness of dawn].’
