Génesis 38
Biblia del Jubileo
38 ¶ Y aconteció en aquel tiempo, que Judá descendió con sus hermanos, y se fue a un varón adulamita, que se llamaba Hira.
2 Y vio allí Judá la hija de un hombre cananeo, el cual se llamaba Súa; y la tomó, y entró a ella,
3 la cual concibió, y dio a luz un hijo; y llamó su nombre Er.
4 Y concibió otra vez, y dio a luz un hijo, y llamó su nombre Onán.
5 Y volvió a concebir, y dio a luz un hijo, y llamó su nombre Sela. Y estaba en Quezib cuando lo dio a luz.
6 Y Judá tomó mujer para su primogénito Er, la cual se llamaba Tamar.
7 Y Er, el primogénito de Judá, fue malo a los ojos del SEÑOR, y lo mató el SEÑOR.
8 Entonces Judá dijo a Onán: Entra a la mujer de tu hermano, y haz parentesco con ella, y levanta simiente a tu hermano.
9 Y sabiendo Onán que la simiente no había de ser suya, sucedía que cuando entraba a la mujer de su hermano corrompía en tierra, por no dar simiente a su hermano.
10 Y desagradó en ojos del SEÑOR lo que hacía, y lo mató también a él.
11 Y Judá dijo a Tamar su nuera: Estate viuda en casa de tu padre, hasta que crezca Sela mi hijo; porque dijo: Que por ventura no muera él también como sus hermanos. Y se fue Tamar, y estuvo en casa de su padre.
12 ¶ Y pasaron muchos días, y murió la hija de Súa, mujer de Judá; y Judá se consoló, y subía a los trasquiladores de sus ovejas a Timnat, él y su amigo Hira el adulamita.
13 Y fue dado aviso a Tamar, diciendo: He aquí tu suegro sube a Timnat a trasquilar sus ovejas.
14 Entonces quitó ella de sobre sí los vestidos de su viudez, y se cubrió con un velo, y se arrebozó, y se puso a la puerta de las aguas que están junto al camino de Timnat; porque veía que había crecido Sela, y ella no era dada a él por mujer.
15 Y la vio Judá, y la tuvo por ramera, porque ella había cubierto su rostro.
16 Y se apartó del camino hacia ella, y le dijo: Ea, pues, ahora entraré a ti; porque no sabía que era su nuera; y ella dijo: ¿Qué me has de dar, si entrares a mí?
17 El respondió: Yo te enviaré de las ovejas un cabrito de las cabras. Y ella dijo: Hazme de dar prenda hasta que lo envíes.
18 Entonces él dijo: ¿Qué prenda te daré? Ella respondió: Tu anillo, y tu manto, y tu bordón que tienes en tu mano. Y él se los dio, y entró a ella, la cual concibió de él.
19 Y se levantó, y se fue; y se quitó el velo de sobre sí, y se vistió las ropas de su viudez.
20 Y Judá envió el cabrito de las cabras por mano de su amigo el adulamita, para que tomara la prenda de mano de la mujer; mas no la halló.
21 Y preguntó a los hombres de aquel lugar, diciendo: ¿Dónde está la ramera de las aguas junto al camino? Y ellos le dijeron: No ha estado aquí prostituta del culto pagano.
22 Entonces él se volvió a Judá, y dijo: No la he hallado; y también los hombres del lugar dijeron: Aquí no ha estado la prostituta del culto pagano.
23 Y Judá dijo: Tómeselo para sí, para que no seamos menospreciados; he aquí yo he enviado este cabrito, y tú no la hallaste.
24 ¶ Y acaeció que al cabo de unos tres meses fue dado aviso a Judá, diciendo: Tamar tu nuera ha fornicado, y aun cierto está encinta de las fornicaciones. Y Judá dijo: Sacadla, y sea quemada.
25 Y ella cuando la sacaban, envió a decir a su suegro: Del varón cuyas son estas cosas, estoy encinta; y dijo más: Conoce ahora cuyas son estas cosas, el anillo, y el manto, y el bordón.
26 Entonces Judá lo conoció, y dijo: Más justa es que yo, por cuanto no le he dado a Sela mi hijo. Y nunca más la conoció.
27 Y aconteció que al tiempo de dar a luz, he aquí había dos en su vientre.
28 Y sucedió, cuando dio a luz, que sacó la mano el uno, y la partera tomó y ató a su mano un hilo de grana, diciendo: Este salió primero.
29 Y aconteció que tornando él a meter la mano, he aquí su hermano salió; y ella dijo: ¿Por qué has hecho sobre ti rotura? Y llamó su nombre Fares.
30 Y después salió su hermano, el que tenía en su mano el hilo de grana, y llamó su nombre Zara.
Genesis 38
New King James Version
Judah and Tamar
38 It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and (A)visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah (B)saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was (C)Shua, and he married her and went in to her. 3 So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name (D)Er. 4 She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name (E)Onan. 5 And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name (F)Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.
6 Then Judah (G)took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was (H)Tamar. 7 But (I)Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, (J)and the Lord killed him. 8 And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to (K)your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the heir would not be (L)his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did [a]displeased the Lord; therefore He killed (M)him also.
11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, (N)“Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt (O)in her father’s house.
12 Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah (P)was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up (Q)to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and (R)sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw (S)that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face. 16 Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.
So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”
17 And he said, (T)“I will send a young goat from the flock.”
So she said, (U)“Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”
18 Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?”
So she said, (V)“Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19 So she arose and went away, and (W)laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20 And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her. 21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was [b]openly by the roadside?”
And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.”
22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.”
23 Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”
24 And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has (X)played the harlot; furthermore she is [c]with child by harlotry.”
So Judah said, “Bring her out (Y)and let her be burned!”
25 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, (Z)“Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.”
26 So Judah (AA)acknowledged them and said, (AB)“She has been more righteous than I, because (AC)I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he (AD)never knew her again.
27 Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb. 28 And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” Therefore his name was called (AE)Perez.[d] 30 Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called (AF)Zerah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 38:10 Lit. was evil in the eyes of
- Genesis 38:21 in full view
- Genesis 38:24 pregnant
- Genesis 38:29 Lit. Breach or Breakthrough
Genesis 38
Easy-to-Read Version
Judah and Tamar
38 About that time, Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah from the town of Adullam. 2 Judah met a Canaanite girl there and married her. The girl’s father was named Shua. 3 The Canaanite girl gave birth to a son and named him Er. 4 Later, she gave birth to another son and named him Onan. 5 Then she had another son named Shelah. Judah lived in Kezib when his third son was born.
6 Judah chose a woman named Tamar to be the wife of his first son Er. 7 But Er did many bad things. The Lord was not happy with him, so the Lord killed him. 8 Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and sleep with your dead brother’s wife.[a] Become like a husband to her. If children are born, they will belong to your brother Er.”
9 Onan knew that the children from this union would not belong to him. He had sexual relations with Tamar, but he did not allow himself to stay inside her. 10 This made the Lord angry. So he killed Onan also. 11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Go back to your father’s house. Stay there and don’t marry until my young son Shelah grows up.” Judah was afraid that Shelah would also be killed like his brothers. So Tamar went back to her father’s home.
12 Later, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah’s time of sadness, he went to Timnah with his friend Hirah from Adullam. Judah went to Timnah to have the wool cut from his sheep. 13 Tamar learned that Judah, her father-in-law, was going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep. 14 Tamar always wore clothes that showed that she was a widow. So she put on some different clothes and covered her face with a veil. Then she sat down near the road going to Enaim, a town near Timnah. Tamar knew that Judah’s younger son Shelah was now grown up, but Judah would not make plans for her to marry him.
15 Judah traveled on that road and saw her, but he thought that she was a prostitute. (Her face was covered with a veil like a prostitute.) 16 So he went to her and said, “Let me have sex with you.” (Judah did not know that she was Tamar, his daughter-in-law.)
She said, “How much will you give me?”
17 Judah answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.”
She answered, “I agree to that. But first you must give me something to keep until you send me the goat.”
18 Judah asked, “What do you want me to give you as proof that I will send you the goat?”
Tamar answered, “Give me your seal and its string[b] and your walking stick.” Judah gave these things to her. Then Judah and Tamar had sexual relations, and she became pregnant. 19 Then Tamar went home, took off her veil that covered her face, and again put on the special clothes that showed she was a widow.
20 Later, Judah sent his friend Hirah to Enaim to give the prostitute the goat he promised. Judah also told Hirah to get the special seal and the walking stick from her, but Hirah could not find her. 21 He asked some of the men at the town of Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?”
The men answered, “There has never been a prostitute here.”
22 So Judah’s friend went back to Judah and said, “I could not find the woman. The men who live in that place said that there was never a prostitute there.”
23 So Judah said, “Let her keep the things. I don’t want people to laugh at us. I tried to give her the goat, but we could not find her. That is enough.”
Tamar Is Pregnant
24 About three months later, someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar sinned like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.”
Then Judah said, “Take her out and burn her.”
25 The men went to Tamar to kill her, but she sent a message to her father-in-law that said, “The man who made me pregnant is the man who owns these things. Look at them. Whose are they? Whose special seal and string is this? Whose walking stick is this?”
26 Judah recognized these things and said, “She is right. I was wrong. I did not give her my son Shelah like I promised.” And Judah did not sleep with her again.
27 The time came for Tamar to give birth. She was going to have twins. 28 While she was giving birth, one baby put his hand out. The nurse tied a red string on the hand and said, “This baby was born first.” 29 But that baby pulled his hand back in, so the other baby was born first. So the nurse said, “You were able to break out first!” So they named him Perez.[c] 30 After this, the other baby was born. This was the baby with the red string on his hand. They named him Zerah.[d]
Footnotes
- Genesis 38:8 Go and sleep … wife In Israel if a man died without children, one of his brothers would take the widow. If a child was born, it would be considered the dead man’s child.
- Genesis 38:18 seal … string People wrote a contract, folded it, tied it with string, put wax or clay on the string, and pressed the seal onto it to seal it. This was like signing the agreement. Also in verse 25.
- Genesis 38:29 Perez This name is like the word meaning “to break out.”
- Genesis 38:30 Zerah This name is like the word meaning “bright.”
Biblia del Jubileo 2000 (JUS) © 2000, 2001, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2020 by Ransom Press International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International