CHAPTER XXXVIII Judah _marries the daughter of a Canaanite_, 1, 2; _and begets of her_ Er, 3, Onan, 4, _and_ Shelah, 5. _Er marries_ Tamar, 6; _is slain for his wickedness_, 7. _Onan, required to raise up seed to his brother, refuses_, 8, 9. _He also is slain_, 10. _Judah promises his son_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:5. _AND HE WAS AT CHEZIB WHEN SHE BARE HIM._] This town is supposed to be the same with _Achzib_, which fell to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:44. "The name," says Ainsworth, "has in Hebrew the signification of _lying_; and to it the prophet alludes, saying _the_ _houses of Achzib sh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:7. _ER-WAS WICKED IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD_] What this wickedness consisted in we are not told; but the phrase _sight of_ _the Lord_ being added, proves that it was some very great evil. It is worthy of remark that the Hebrew word used to express _Er's_ wickedness is _his own name_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:9. _ONAN KNEW THAT THE SEED SHOULD NOT BE HIS_] That is, that the child begotten of his brother's widow should be reckoned as the child of his deceased brother, and _his_ name, though the real father of it, should not appear in the genealogical tables.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:10. _WHEREFORE HE SLEW HIM ALSO._] The sin of Onan has generally been supposed to be _self-pollution_; but this is certainly a mistake; his crime was _his refusal to raise up seed to_ _his brother_, and rather than do it, by the act mentioned above, he rendered himself incapable of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:12. _IN PROCESS OF TIME_] This phrase, which is in general use in the Bible, needs explanation; the original is וירבו הימים _valyirbu haiyamim, and the days were multiplied_. Though it implies an indefinite time, yet it generally embraces a pretty long period, and in this place may... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:15. _THOUGHT HER TO BE A HARLOT_] See the original of this term, Genesis 34:31. The Hebrew is זונה _zonah_, and signifies generally a person who prostitutes herself to the public for hire, or one who lives by the public; and hence very likely applied to a _publican_, a _tavern-keepe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:17. _WILT THOU GIVE ME A PLEDGE TILL THOU SEND IT?_] The word ערבון _erabon_ signifies an _earnest_ of something promised, a _part of the price_ agreed for between a buyer and seller, by _giving_ and _receiving_ of which the bargain was ratified; or a _deposit_, which was to be res... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:21. _WHERE_ IS _THE HARLOT THAT_ WAS _OPENLY BY THE WAYSIDE?_] Our translators often render different _Hebrew_ words by the same term in _English_, and thus many important shades of meaning, which involve _traits_ of character, are lost. In Genesis 38:15, Tamar is called a _harlot_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:23. _LEST WE BE SHAMED_] Not of the _act_, for this he does not appear to have thought criminal; but lest he should fall under the raillery of his companions and neighbours, for having been tricked out of his signet, bracelets, and staff, by a prostitute.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:24. _BRING HER FORTH, AND LET HER BE BURNT._] As he had ordered Tamar to live as a widow in her own father's house till his son Shelah should be marriageable, he considers her therefore as the wife of his son; and as Shelah was not yet given to her, and she is found with child, she... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:25. _THE SIGNET_] חתמת _chothemeth_, properly a _seal_, or instrument with which _impressions_ were made to ascertain property, c. These exist in all countries. _BRACELETS_] פתילים _pethilim_, from פתל _pathal_, to twist, wreathe, twine, may signify a girdle or a collar by which pr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:26. _SHE HATH BEEN MORE RIGHTEOUS THAN I_] It is probable that Tamar was influenced by no other motive than that which was common to all the Israelitish women, _the desire to have children_ _who might be heirs of the promise made to Abraham, c_. And as Judah had obliged her to conti... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:28. _THE MIDWIFE - BOUND UPON HIS HAND A SCARLET THREAD_] The binding of the scarlet thread about the wrist of the child whose arm appeared first in the birth, serves to show us how _solicitously_ the privileges of the _birthright_ were preserved. Had not this caution been taken by... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:29. _HOW HAST THOU BROKEN FORTH?_] מה פרצת _mah paratsta_, this _breach be upon thee_, עליך פרץ aleycka parets; thou shalt bear the name of the _breach_ thou hast made, i. e., in coming first into the world. Therefore his name was called פרץ _Parets_, i. e., the person who made the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 38:30. _HIS NAME WAS CALLED ZARAH._] זרה _Zarach_, risen or sprung up, applied to the sun, rising and diffusing his light. "He had this name," says Ainsworth, "because he should have risen, i. e., have been born first, but for the breach which his brother made." THERE are several subj... [ Continue Reading ]