בראשית 38
| ויהי בעת ההוא וירד יהודה מאת אחיו ויט עד איש עדלמי ושמו חירה | 1 |
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].
| וירא שם יהודה בת איש כנעני ושמו שוע ויקחה ויבא אליה | 2 |
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,
| ותהר ותלד בן ויקרא את שמו ער | 3 |
and she became pregnant and later gave birth to a son, whom he named Er.
| ותהר עוד ותלד בן ותקרא את שמו אונן | 4 |
Later she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son whom she named Onan.
| ותסף עוד ותלד בן ותקרא את שמו שלה והיה בכזיב בלדתה אתו | 5 |
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.
| ויקח יהודה אשה לער בכורו ושמה תמר | 6 |
When Judah’s oldest son Er [grew up], Judah got a wife for him, a woman named Tamar.
| ויהי ער בכור יהודה--רע בעיני יהוה וימתהו יהוה | 7 |
But Er did something that Yahweh considered to be very wicked, so Yahweh caused him to die.
| ויאמר יהודה לאונן בא אל אשת אחיך ויבם אתה והקם זרע לאחיך | 8 |
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.”
| וידע אונן כי לא לו יהיה הזרע והיה אם בא אל אשת אחיו ושחת ארצה לבלתי נתן זרע לאחיו | 9 |
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.
| וירע בעיני יהוה אשר עשה וימת גם אתו | 10 |
Yahweh considered that what he did was wicked, so he caused him to die also.
| ויאמר יהודה לתמר כלתו שבי אלמנה בית אביך עד יגדל שלה בני--כי אמר פן ימות גם הוא כאחיו ותלך תמר ותשב בית אביה | 11 |
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.
| וירבו הימים ותמת בת שוע אשת יהודה וינחם יהודה ויעל על גזזי צאנו הוא וחירה רעהו העדלמי--תמנתה | 12 |
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.
| ויגד לתמר לאמר הנה חמיך עלה תמנתה לגז צאנו | 13 |
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.”
| ותסר בגדי אלמנותה מעליה ותכס בצעיף ותתעלף ותשב בפתח עינים אשר על דרך תמנתה כי ראתה כי גדל שלה והוא לא נתנה לו לאשה | 14 |
[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.
| ויראה יהודה ויחשבה לזונה כי כסתה פניה | 15 |
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)].
| ויט אליה אל הדרך ויאמר הבה נא אבוא אליך כי לא ידע כי כלתו הוא ותאמר מה תתן לי כי תבוא אלי | 16 |
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?”
| ויאמר אנכי אשלח גדי עזים מן הצאן ותאמר אם תתן ערבון עד שלחך | 17 |
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?”
| ויאמר מה הערבון אשר אתן לך ותאמר חתמך ופתילך ומטך אשר בידך ויתן לה ויבא אליה ותהר לו | 18 |
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.
| ותקם ותלך ותסר צעיפה מעליה ותלבש בגדי אלמנותה | 19 |
After she left, she took off the veil and put her widow’s clothes on again.
| וישלח יהודה את גדי העזים ביד רעהו העדלמי לקחת הערבון מיד האשה ולא מצאה | 20 |
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.
| וישאל את אנשי מקמה לאמר איה הקדשה הוא בעינים על הדרך ויאמרו לא היתה בזה קדשה | 21 |
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!”
| וישב אל יהודה ויאמר לא מצאתיה וגם אנשי המקום אמרו לא היתה בזה קדשה | 22 |
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.’”
| ויאמר יהודה תקח לה פן נהיה לבוז הנה שלחתי הגדי הזה ואתה לא מצאתה | 23 |
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.”
| ויהי כמשלש חדשים ויגד ליהודה לאמר זנתה תמר כלתך וגם הנה הרה לזנונים ויאמר יהודה הוציאוה ותשרף | 24 |
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!”
| הוא מוצאת והיא שלחה אל חמיה לאמר לאיש אשר אלה לו אנכי הרה ותאמר הכר נא--למי החתמת והפתילים והמטה האלה | 25 |
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?”
| ויכר יהודה ויאמר צדקה ממני כי על כן לא נתתיה לשלה בני ולא יסף עוד לדעתה | 26 |
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.
| ויהי בעת לדתה והנה תאומים בבטנה | 27 |
When it was time for her to give birth, [she was surprised that] there were twin boys in her womb.
| ויהי בלדתה ויתן יד ותקח המילדת ותקשר על ידו שני לאמר זה יצא ראשנה | 28 |
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.”
| ויהי כמשיב ידו והנה יצא אחיו ותאמר מה פרצת עליך פרץ ויקרא שמו פרץ | 29 |
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].’
| ואחר יצא אחיו אשר על ידו השני ויקרא שמו זרח | 30 |
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].’
