Genesis 38:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”

NIV: 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.'

NASB: Then Judah said to Onan, 'Have relations with your brother’s wife and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a child for your brother.'

CSB: Then Judah said to Onan, "Sleep with your brother's wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and produce offspring for your brother."

NLT: Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, 'Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You must produce an heir for your brother.'

KJV: And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

NKJV: And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.”

After his wicked son Er has been killed by the Lord (Genesis 38:6–7), Judah turns to his second son Onan. He tells Onan to take Er's widow Tamar as his wife. Onan's specific duty is to care for Tamar as a wife, with special emphasis on providing her with children, so his departed brother would have some offspring by proxy.

While the practice seems strange today, it was a strong custom in the region at the time. The tradition was intended to keep a man's family line from being "cut off," if possible. It also served the interests of the widow, who would be left destitute and helpless without children to support her later in life. This "levirate marriage" would also become the standard practice of Israel (Deuteronomy 25:5–6), though the Law would later allow for a man to opt out of taking his brother's widow as a wife in this way.

Genesis 38:6–11 explains how Tamar came to be widowed twice. Judah's eldest, Er, marries Tamar but is killed by God for unspecified sins. By tradition, a widow would be given to the next surviving brother, with any resulting children considered successors of the deceased man. Er's brother, Onan, takes Tamar as a wife, including intercourse, but deliberately avoids providing her with children. For taking sexual advantage of Tamar, Onan is also killed by God. Judah apparently blames Tamar for his sons' deaths and tells her to wait before being married to the next brother, Shelah. When it becomes clear that Judah won't care for her, Tamar makes plans of her own.

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.

Accessed 5/19/2024 10:15:26 PM