Chapter 38

I.                 Judah’s marriage to a Canaanite woman and birth of his sons

a.      Genesis 38:1 – And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name [was] Hirah.

§        When is “at that time”? We can reconcile that Joseph was about 17 when he was sold to Potiphar, Judah would have been about 20 years old at this time.  23 years later Israel migrated to Egypt.  

§        Adullamite – עדלמי `Adullamiy, "justice of the people"

§        Hirah – חירה Chiyrah, "a noble family"

b.      Genesis 38:2 – And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name [was] Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

§        It appears obvious that Jacob was not consulted on this marriage, but Hirah.  Was it a bad marriage? We can see the character of the first two sons was so wicked that God intervenes so it appears that marrying this Canaanite was not in the Will of God.  We will see how God remedies this as the chapter continues.

§        Children should seek counsel of their parents, not their friends on matters as important as who to marry.

§        Shuah - שוע Shuwa`, "wealth"

§        Genesis 24:3 – And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

§        Genesis 26:34-35 – And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

§        Genesis 28:1 – And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

§        Deuteronomy 7:2-4 – And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

c.      Genesis 38:3 – And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

§        Er - ער `Er, "awake"

§        Judah is about 20 years old when Joseph is sold into bondage, that makes him close to 21 years old here when Er is born if this happened subsequent to Joseph being sold.

d.      Genesis 38:4 – And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

§        Onan - אונן 'Ownan, "strong"

e.      Genesis 38:5 – And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

§        Shelah – שלה Shelah, "a petition"

§        Chezib – כזיב Kĕziyb, "false"

f.       Genesis 38:6 – And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name [was] Tamar.

§        Tamar –תמר Tamar, "palm-tree"

o       Jasher 46:23 – And in those days Judah went to the house of Shem and took Tamar the daughter of Elam, the son of Shem for a wife for his firstborn Er.

o       Targum Pseudo-Jonathan  38:6 – Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, the daughter of Shem the Great, whose name was Tamar.

o       Shem lived 500 years after Arphaxad was born and begat sons and daughters, Elam was one of those sons with no record of when he was born.

o       What little evidence there is of Tamar’s lineage, it seems to support that she was of Shem and not of the Canaanites.

g.      Genesis 38:7 – And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

§        Wicked - רע ra`, bad, evil

o       There had been many wicked people up to this point in time, what did Er do that crossed the line?

o       Targum Pseudo-Jonathan 38:7 – But Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil before the Lord, because he did not have intercourse with his wife according to the manner of all the earth.  And the anger of the Lord blazed forth against him, and the Lord killed him.

a.      Note that this is an opinion of an early commentator and not necessarily true.

o       Since this was the Messianic blood line it seems that God was less tolerant of wickedness.

§        Compared to Jacob who was patient and married much later in life, Judah appears to have married very young and therefore does not appear to maintain proper authority in his home.

§        “The Lord slew him” – there are a lot of wicked people and have been many throughout history yet there are very few that it can be said the “Lord slew”  why Er?

h.     Genesis 38:8 – And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

§        Confirmed in the mosaic law

o       Deuteronomy 25:5-9 - If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her.  And it shall be, [that] the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother [which is] dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.  And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.  Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and [if] he stand [to it], and say, I like not to take her; Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house.

o       Matthew 22:24 - Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

i.       Genesis 38:9 – And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled [it] on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

§        We have a difficult time understanding this because is is so different from our culture, but what Onan has done here is a deplorable act.  Rather than just refuse to raise seed to his brother and deal with the shame of that, he went through with the act, but destroyed the seed because it would have been considered his brother’s.

j.       Genesis 38:10 – And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

§        Slew - מות muwth, to die, kill, have one executed

§        Why did God slay Onan for something that does not seem worthy of death?

o       Acts 5:3-5 - But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back [part] of the price of the land?  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.  And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

a.      Ananias was killed because he lied to the Holy Ghost (Spirit) and held back something for himself that he said he had given to the Church.

b.      The same could be said for Onan. He lied because rather than outwardly deny Tamar her right as Er’s widow, he pretended to fulfill his obligation as brother, but secretly denied her.

k.      Genesis 38:11 – Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren [did]. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

II.               Jadah’s Relations with his daughter-in-law

a.      Genesis 38:12 – And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

§        Sheepshearers - גזז gazaz, to shear, mow

o       Sheep shearing - The sheep-shearing is done in the springtime, either by the owners or by regular "shearers"

§        Timnath – תמנה Timnah, "portion", about 12 miles northwest of Hebron

§        Comforted – i.e. when he had observed all mourning rites

b.      Genesis 38:13 – And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

§        Who told her?

§        Judah was unjust to his daughter-in-law, either through negligence or design, by not giving her to Shelah he exposed her to temptation.

c.      Genesis 38:14 – And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which [is] by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

§        Obviously her motivation for doing this was not for wantonness or she would not have targeted Judah specifically, it was to claim her right as wife of the firstborn son.

§        Was this justifiable? See v. 26

§        Ruth 4:12 - And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.

o       Future generations justifying Tamar’s actions

d.      Genesis 38:15 – When Judah saw her, he thought her [to be] an harlot; because she had covered her face.

§        Harlot – זנה zanah, verb,  to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot

§        So it was the custom for harlots to cover their faces? Where has shame gone in our society today?  Sin is no longer shamed into the hiding of ones face but proudly displayed in the public arena.

e.      Genesis 38:16 – And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she [was] his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

f.       Genesis 38:17 – And he said, I will send [thee] a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give [me] a pledge, till thou send [it]?

§        Pledge - ערבון `arabown, pledge, security

§        Goats were used as currency?

§        The favour of God, the purity of the soul, the peace of conscience, and the hope of heaven, are too precious to be exposed to sale at any such rates; the Topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal them: what are those profited that lose their souls to gain the world? Matthew Henry Commentary

g.      Genesis 38:18 – And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that [is] in thine hand. And he gave [it] her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

§        Signet – חותם chowtham, seal, signet, signet-ring

§        Bracelets – פתיל pathiyl, cord, thread (twisted)

§        Staff – מטה matteh, staff, branch, tribe

h.     Genesis 38:19 – And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

i.       Genesis 38:20 – And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive [his] pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.

§        What kind of friend is this Adullamite?

§        Seems to be around whenever Judah makes a bad decision.

j.       Genesis 38:21 – Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where [is] the harlot, that [was] openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this [place].

§        They were right, there was no harlot in this place, only Tamar.

k.      Genesis 38:22 – And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, [that] there was no harlot in this [place].

§        Trying to picture this guy walking around with a baby goat asking if anyone has seen the harlot

l.       Genesis 38:23 – And Judah said, Let her take [it] to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

§        Let her keep the pledges, basically saying don’t draw attention by searching for these things in order to avoid the shame of answering how she obtained them.

§        He made an attempt to find her, met his obligation

§        He is not concerned about the sin itself, rather of being found out

m.    Genesis 38:24 – And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she [is] with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

§        Who told him?

§        Whoredom - זנונים zanuwn, adultery, fornication, prostitution

§        By law she is betrothed to Shelah and therefore under the jurisdiction of Judah even though she lives with her father.

§        This proclamation from Judah to have Tamar burned is in strict accordance with the code of Khammurabi which was the law of the land in Canaan during this period of time.  It is also according to the Babylonian code.

§        Judah’s double standard? Some women were not part of prominent families and may have been temple prostitutes that were supported by offerings or common prostitutes who were supported by men.  Their children were not entitled to any inheritance and the men who hired them were not considered to have adulterated any family bloodlines.  Judah was ready to have Tamar executed because her pregnancy being the result of prostitution would have given Judah a grandchild that was not part of his family line.

§        Sexual morality is not the question here and that is why Judah might appear to have a double standard.  Judah’s concern is keeping his inheritance in the family, unbeknownst to him; Tamar’s actions benefited Judah with legal heirs.

§        Romans 2:1 - Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

n.     Genesis 38:25 – 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.

§        She was justified before Judah because she had his possessions

o.      Genesis 38:26 – And Judah acknowledged [them], and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

§        It is difficult to deny the truth when the evidence is laid out before you

III.             Birth of Pharez and Zarah

a.      Genesis 38:27 – And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins [were] in her womb.

§        Identical or fraternal?

b.      Genesis 38:28 – And it came to pass, when she travailed, that [the one] put out [his] hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

§        Scarlet thread - שני shaniy, scarlet, crimson

c.      Genesis 38:29 – And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? [this] breach [be] upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.

§        Pharez -פרץ Perets, "breach"

§        Theme of this entire chapter “breach” for this parenthetical chapter breaches the story of Jospeh in Egypt, obviously to provide us with something important.  Pharez is ancestor to both David and Jesus.

o       Matthew 1:3-6 - And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her [that had been the wife] of Urias;

o       Pharez was ancestor to David and Jesus

§        John 8:41 - Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God.

o       This is Jesus speaking to the Jews, the Jews are of the tribe of Judah and therefore they are in error to say that “We be not born of fornication” for they were born of fornication between Judah and Tamar.

d.      Genesis 38:30 – And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

§        Zarah - זרח Zerach, "rising"

§        Zarah, who was first, was actually last and did not inherit the birthright.

o       Matthew 20:16 - So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.