< Genesis 38 >
1 And it comes to pass, at that time, that Judah goes down from his brothers, and turns aside to a man, an Adullamite, whose name [is] Hirah;
Around this time, Judah left his brothers and set up his tents at Adullam, near to a local man named Hirah.
2 and Judah sees there the daughter of a man, a Canaanite, whose name [is] Shuah, and takes her, and goes in to her.
There Judah happened to see the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua and married her. He slept with her,
3 And she conceives, and bears a son, and he calls his name Er;
and she became pregnant and had a son he named Er.
4 and she conceives again, and bears a son, and calls his name Onan;
She became pregnant again and had a son she named Onan.
5 and she adds again, and bears a son, and calls his name Shelah; and he was in Chezib in her bearing him.
Then she had another son she named Shelah who was born in Kezib.
6 And Judah takes a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name [is] Tamar;
Much later, Judah arranged for Er, his firstborn son, to marry a woman named Tamar.
7 and Er, Judah’s firstborn, is evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH puts him to death.
But Er did what was evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord put him to death.
8 And Judah says to Onan, “Go in to the wife of your brother, and marry her, and raise up seed to your brother”;
Judah told Onan, “Go and sleep with your brother's wife to fulfill the requirements of a brother-in-law to have children on behalf of your brother.”
9 and Onan knows that the seed is not [reckoned] his; and it has come to pass, if he has gone in to his brother’s wife, that he has destroyed [it] to the earth, so as not to give seed to his brother;
Onan realized that any children he had wouldn't be his own, so whenever he slept with his brother's wife he made sure she wouldn't become pregnant by withdrawing and spilling his semen on the ground. In this way he prevented any children being born on behalf of his brother.
10 and that which he has done is evil in the eyes of YHWH, and He puts him also to death.
But what he did was evil in the Lord's sight, so he also put Onan to death.
11 And Judah says to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Abide [as] a widow at your father’s house, until my son Shelah grows up”; for he said, “Lest he die—even he—like his brothers”; and Tamar goes and dwells at her father’s house.
Then Judah told his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Go to your father's house and live there as a widow until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “Maybe he'll die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went and stayed in her father's house.
12 And the days are multiplied, and the daughter of Shuah, Judah’s wife, dies; and Judah is comforted, and goes up to his sheep-shearers, he and Hirah his friend the Adullamite, to Timnath.
A long time later Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah had finished the time of mourning, he went to visit his sheepshearers at Timnah with his friend Hirah from Adullam.
13 And it is declared to Tamar, saying, “Behold, your husband’s father is going up to Timnath to shear his flock”;
Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
14 and she turns aside the garments of her widowhood from off her, and covers herself with a veil, and wraps herself up, and sits in the opening of Enayim, which [is] by the way to Timnath, for she has seen that Shelah has grown up, and she has not been given to him for a wife.
So she took off her widow's clothes and covered herself with a veil, disguising herself. She sat down beside the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. She had realized that even though Shelah had now grown up, nothing had been done about her marrying him.
15 And Judah sees her, and reckons her for a harlot, for she has covered her face,
Judah saw her and thought she must be a prostitute because she had veiled her face.
16 and he turns aside to her by the way and says, “Please come, let me come in to you,” for he has not known that she [is] his daughter-in-law; and she says, “What do you give to me, that you may come in to me?”
He went over to her at the side of the road and said, “I want to sleep with you.” He didn't know she was his daughter-in-law. “What will you give me if I let you sleep with me?” she asked.
17 And he says, “I send a kid of the goats from the flock.” And she says, “Do you give a pledge until you send [it]?”
“I'll send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied. “What guarantee will you give me to make sure you'll send it?” she asked.
18 And he says, “What [is] the pledge that I give to you?” And she says, “Your seal, and your ribbon, and your staff which [is] in your hand”; and he gives to her, and goes in to her, and she conceives to him;
“What guarantee do I have to give you?” he asked. “Your signet seal and its cord, and your walking stick that you're holding,” she replied. He handed them over to her. He slept with her and she became pregnant.
19 and she rises, and goes, and turns aside her veil from off her, and puts on the garments of her widowhood.
She left, went home, took off her veil, and put on her widow's clothes.
20 And Judah sends the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the hand of the woman, and he has not found her.
Judah sent his friend Hirah from Adullam with a young goat to get back his belongings he'd left as a guarantee from the woman, but he couldn't find her.
21 And he asks the men of her place, saying, “Where [is] the separated one—she in Enayim, by the way?” And they say, “There has not been in this [place] a separated one.”
Hirah asked the men there, “Where's the cult prostitute that sits by the entrance road to Enaim?” “There's no cult prostitute here,” they answered.
22 And he turns back to Judah and says, “I have not found her; and the men of the place also have said, There has not been in this [place] a separated one,”
Hirah went back to Judah and told him, “I couldn't find her, and the men there said, ‘There's no cult prostitute here.’”
23 and Judah says, “Let her take to herself, lest we become despised; behold, I sent this kid, and you have not found her.”
“Let her keep what I gave her,” Judah replied. “We'll look ridiculous to people if we go on searching. In any case I did try to send her the young goat as promised but you couldn't find her.”
24 And it comes to pass about three months [after], that it is declared to Judah, saying, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has committed fornication; and also, behold, she has conceived by fornication”: and Judah says, “Bring her out—and she is burned.”
Then about three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has had sex like a prostitute and now as a result she's pregnant!” “Bring her out and burn her to death!” Judah ordered.
25 She is brought out, and she has sent to her husband’s father, saying, “To a man whose these [are], I [am] pregnant”; and she says, “Please discern whose these [are]—the seal, and the ribbons, and the staff.”
As she was brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, saying, “I'm pregnant by the man who owns these things.” Then she added, “Please look carefully at this signet seal and its cord and walking stick. Who do they belong to?”
26 And Judah discerns and says, “She has been more righteous than I, because that I did not give her to my son Shelah”; and he has not added to know her again.
Judah recognized them right away and said, “She has honored the law more than I have, because I didn't give her in marriage to my son Shelah.” He didn't sleep with Tamar again.
27 And it comes to pass in the time of her bearing, that behold, twins [are] in her womb;
When the time came for Tamar to give birth, she was found to be carrying twins.
28 and it comes to pass in her bearing, that [one] gives out a hand, and the midwife takes and binds on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, “This has come out first.”
One baby put out his hand, and the midwife tied a scarlet thread around on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.”
29 And it comes to pass as he draws back his hand, that behold, his brother has come out, and she says, “What! You have broken forth—the breach [is] on you”; and he calls his name Perez;
But then he pulled back his hand and his brother was born, she said, “How did you burst out?” So he was named Perez.
30 and afterward his brother has come out, on whose hand [is] the scarlet thread, and he calls his name Zerah.
Then his brother with the scarlet thread on his wrist was born. He was named Zerah.