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Genesis 38
Contemporary English Version
Genesis 38
Contemporary English Version
Judah and Tamar
38 About that time Judah left his brothers in the hill country and went to live near his friend Hirah in the town of Adullam. 2 While there he met the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite man. Judah married her, 3 and they had three sons. He named the first one Er; 4 she named the next one Onan. 5 The third one was born when Judah was in Chezib, and she named him Shelah.
6 Later, Judah chose Tamar as a wife for Er, his oldest son. 7 But Er was very evil, and the Lord took his life. 8 So Judah told Onan, “It's your duty to marry Tamar and have a child for your brother.”[a]
9 Onan knew the child would not be his,[b] and when he had sex with Tamar, he made sure that she would not get pregnant. 10 The Lord wasn't pleased with Onan and took his life too.
11 Judah did not want the same thing to happen to his son Shelah, and he told Tamar, “Go home to your father and live there as a widow until my son Shelah is grown.” So Tamar went to live with her father.
12 Some years later Judah's wife died, and he mourned for her. He then went with his friend Hirah to the town of Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared. 13 Tamar found out that her father-in-law Judah was going to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 She also realized that Shelah was now a grown man, but she had not been allowed to marry him. So she decided to dress in something other than her widow's clothes and to cover her face with a veil. After this, she sat outside the town of Enaim on the road to Timnah.
15 When Judah came along, he did not recognize her because of the veil. He thought she was a prostitute 16 and asked her to sleep with him. She asked, “What will you give me if I do?”
17 “One of my young goats,” he answered.
“What will you give me to keep until you send the goat?” she asked.
18 “What do you want?” he asked in return.
“The ring on that cord around your neck,” was her reply. “I also want the special walking stick[c] you have with you.” He gave them to her, they slept together, and she became pregnant.
19 After returning home, Tamar took off the veil and dressed in her widow's clothes again.
20 Judah asked his friend Hirah take a goat to the woman, so he could get back the ring and walking stick, but she wasn't there. 21 Hirah asked the people of Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who sat along the road outside your town?”
“There's never been one here,” they answered.
22 Hirah went back and told Judah, “I couldn't find the woman, and the people of Enaim said no prostitute had ever been there.”
23 “If you couldn't find her, we'll just let her keep the things I gave her,” Judah answered. “And we'd better forget about the goat, or else we'll look like fools.”
24 About three months later someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has behaved like a prostitute, and now she's pregnant!”
“Drag her out of town and burn her to death!” Judah shouted.
25 As Tamar was being dragged off, she sent someone to tell her father-in-law, “The man who gave me this ring, this cord, and this walking stick is the one who got me pregnant.”
26 “Those are mine!” Judah admitted. “She's a better person than I am, because I broke my promise to let her marry my son Shelah.” After this, Judah never slept with her again.
27-28 Tamar later gave birth to twins. But before either of them was born, one of them stuck a hand out of her womb. The woman who was helping tied a red thread around the baby's hand and explained, “This one came out first.”
29 At once his hand went back in, and the other child was born first. The woman then said, “What an opening you've made for yourself!” So they named the baby Perez.[d] 30 When the brother with the red thread was born, they named him Zerah.[e]
Footnotes
- 38.8 It's your duty … child … brother: If a man died without having children, his brother was to marry the dead man's wife and have a child, who was to be considered the child of the dead brother (see Deuteronomy 25.5,6).
- 38.9 the child … not be his: When Judah died, Onan would get his dead brother's share of the inheritance, but if his dead brother had a son, the inheritance would go to him instead.
- 38.18 ring … walking stick: The ring was shaped like a cylinder and could be rolled over soft clay as a way of sealing special documents. The walking stick was probably a symbol of power and the sign of leadership in the tribe, though it may have been a shepherd's rod.
- 38.29 Perez: In Hebrew “Perez” sounds like “opening.”
- 38.30 Zerah: In Hebrew “Zerah” means “bright,” probably referring to the red thread.
Genesis 38
New International Version
Genesis 38
New International Version
Judah and Tamar
38 At that time, Judah(A) left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam(B) named Hirah.(C) 2 There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua.(D) He married her and made love to her; 3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er.(E) 4 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.(F) 5 She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah.(G) It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.
6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.(H) 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight;(I) so the Lord put him to death.(J)
8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”(K) 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.(L)
11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law(M) Tamar,(N) “Live as a widow in your father’s household(O) until my son Shelah(P) grows up.”(Q) For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.
12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua,(R) died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah,(S) to the men who were shearing his sheep,(T) and his friend Hirah the Adullamite(U) went with him.
13 When Tamar(V) was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,”(W) 14 she took off her widow’s clothes,(X) covered herself with a veil(Y) to disguise herself, and then sat down(Z) at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah.(AA) For she saw that, though Shelah(AB) had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute,(AC) for she had covered her face. 16 Not realizing(AD) that she was his daughter-in-law,(AE) he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”(AF)
“And what will you give me to sleep with you?”(AG) she asked.
17 “I’ll send you a young goat(AH) from my flock,” he said.
“Will you give me something as a pledge(AI) until you send it?” she asked.
18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?”
“Your seal(AJ) and its cord, and the staff(AK) in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.(AL) 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes(AM) again.
20 Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite(AN) in order to get his pledge(AO) back from the woman, but he did not find her. 21 He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute(AP) who was beside the road at Enaim?”
“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.
22 So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”
23 Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has,(AQ) or we will become a laughingstock.(AR) After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”
24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”
Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”(AS)
25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”(AT)
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I,(AU) since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.(AV)” And he did not sleep with her again.
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.(AW) 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife(AX) took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist(AY) and said, “This one came out first.” 29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out,(AZ) and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez.[a](BA) 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist,(BB) came out. And he was named Zerah.[b](BC)
Footnotes
- Genesis 38:29 Perez means breaking out.
- Genesis 38:30 Zerah can mean scarlet or brightness.
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