Genesis 38:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, "By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant." And she said, "Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff."

NIV: 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."

NASB: It was while she was being brought out that she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, 'I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong.' She also said, 'Please examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?'

CSB: As she was being brought out, she sent her father-in-law this message: "I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong." And she added, "Examine them. Whose signet ring, cord, and staff are these?"

NLT: But as they were taking her out to kill her, she sent this message to her father-in-law: 'The man who owns these things made me pregnant. Look closely. Whose seal and cord and walking stick are these?'

KJV: When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

NKJV: When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, “Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.”

Tamar appears to be caught in the sin of sexual immorality. She is an unmarried woman, twice widowed but childless, promised to Judah's youngest son, yet she is pregnant (Genesis 38:24). In such cases, local customs allowed for the death penalty. This same punishment would be part of the later Mosaic law (Leviticus 20:10). Judah is all too eager to administer this penalty to Tamar.

At this point, Tamar completes the trap she laid for Judah from the beginning. He had failed to keep his commitment to marry her to his third son (Genesis 38:11, 14). She disguised herself as a prostitute, enticed Judah, and kept his personal effects as a promise of future payment (Genesis 38:15–18). When Judah sent a friend to retrieve his signet and staff, she was gone (Genesis 38:20). Tamar's very first plan might have been to reveal herself to Judah immediately, and shame him into caring for her. When he was forced to leave his staff and signet, it might have inspired her to wait to make her move. Learning she was pregnant, without a doubt, would have given her incentive to keep her secret until the perfect moment.

Now that moment has come. Judah has learned of her pregnancy and is demanding her death. She sends a message to him saying the father of her baby is the owner of a certain signet, cord, and staff. After all, that man is just as guilty of immorality as she is. Her challenge is for Judah to identify those items, and the man to whom they belong.

Of course, the items belong to Judah himself. Tamar has proof he is the father of her unborn. Judah's response is contrite, and Tamar will have gained the security she sought (Genesis 38:26).

Genesis 38:20–26 reveals the end of Tamar's scheme to obtain her rightful due as a widow. Her father-in-law, Judah, had refused to follow tradition by granting her marriage to his next son. So, she disguised herself as a prostitute and slept with Judah, keeping his signet and staff as payment. When Judah learns Tamar is pregnant, though widowed, he hypocritically demands she be killed for immorality. Tamar produces the staff and signet as proof that Judah is the father. He sheepishly admits his error.

Jacob's son Judah marries a Canaanite woman and has three sons. His first son marries a woman called Tamar but is put to death by God for an unnamed sin. Judah follows tradition and marries Er's widow to the next oldest brother. Onan takes advantage of the situation for sex, but deliberately refuses to give her children. God puts him to death as well. When Judah abandons Tamar, she disguises herself as a prostitute and has sex with him. Found to be pregnant, she proves Judah is the father, and he admits his guilt. She then gives birth to twin boys.

Genesis 38 departs from the story of Joseph (Genesis 37:26–28) to describe what happens when Judah moves away from his family at Hebron and marries a Canaanite woman. Two of his three sons are put to death by God, each while married to the same woman. When Judah abandons her, she works a scheme to trick him into having sex with her. Confronted with proof that he is the father in her scandalous pregnancy, she is allowed to live and gives birth to Judah's twin boys. The following chapter returns to a focus on Joseph and his rise within Egyptian society (Genesis 39:1).

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.