Genesis 38
Complete Jewish Bible
38 (iv) It was at this time that Y’hudah went off from his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah who was an ‘Adulami. 2 There Y’hudah saw one of the daughters of a certain Kena‘ani whose name was Shua, and he took her and slept with her. 3 She conceived and had a son, whom he named ‘Er. 4 She conceived again and had a son, and she called him Onan. 5 Then she conceived yet again and had a son whom she called Shelah; he was in K’ziv when she gave birth to him.
6 Y’hudah took a wife for ‘Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But ‘Er, Y’hudah’s firstborn, was evil from Adonai’s perspective, so Adonai killed him. 8 Y’hudah said to Onan, “Go and sleep with your brother’s wife — perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and preserve your brother’s line of descent.” 9 However, Onan knew that the child would not count as his; so whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he spilled the semen on the ground, so as not to give his brother offspring. 10 What he did was evil from Adonai’s perspective, so he killed him too.
11 Then Y’hudah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Stay a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he thought, “I don’t want him to die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived at home with her father. 12 In due time, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Y’hudah, died. After Y’hudah had been comforted, he went up to be with his sheep-shearers in Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the ‘Adulami. 13 Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law has gone up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she took off her widow’s clothes, completely covered her face with her veil, and sat at the entrance to ‘Einayim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she still was not being given to him as his wife. 15 When Y’hudah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face. 16 So he went over to her where she was sitting and said, not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, “Come, let me sleep with you.” She answered, “What will you pay to sleep with me?” 17 He said, “I will send you a kid from the flock of goats.” She said, “Will you also give me something as a guarantee until you send it” 18 He answered, “What should I give you as a guarantee?” She said, “Your seal, with its cord, and the staff you’re carrying in your hand.” So he gave them to her, then went and slept with her; and she conceived by him. 19 She got up and went away, took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes.
20 Y’hudah sent the kid with his friend the ‘Adulami to receive the guarantee items back from the woman, but he couldn’t find her. 21 He asked the people near where she had been, “Where is the prostitute who was on the road at ‘Einayim?” But they answered, “There hasn’t been any prostitute here.” 22 So he returned to Y’hudah and said, “I couldn’t find her; also the people there said, ‘There hasn’t been any prostitute here.’” 23 Y’hudah said, “All right, let her keep the things, so that we won’t be publicly shamed. I sent the kid, but you didn’t find her.”
24 About three months later Y’hudah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been acting like a whore; moreover, she is pregnant as a result of her prostitution.” Y’hudah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned alive!” 25 When she was brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong. Determine, I beg you, whose these are — the signet, the cords and the staff.” 26 Then Y’hudah acknowledged owning them. He said, “She is more righteous than I, because I didn’t let her become the wife of my son Shelah.” And he never slept with her again.
27 When she went into labor, it became evident that she was going to have twins. 28 As she was in labor, one of them put out his hand; and the midwife took his hand and tied a scarlet thread on it, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 But then he withdrew his hand, and his brother came out; so she said, “How did you manage to break out first?” Therefore he was named Peretz [breaking out]. 30 Then out came his brother, with the scarlet thread on his hand, and he was given the name Zerach [scarlet].
Genesis 38
EasyEnglish Bible
Judah's family[a]
38 At that time, Judah left his brothers. He went to stay with a man from the town of Adullam. His name was Hirah. 2 While he was there, Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man called Shua. Judah married her and he had sex with her. 3 She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. Judah gave him the name ‘Er’. 4 His wife became pregnant again, and she gave birth to another son. She gave him the name ‘Onan’. 5 Later, she gave birth to another son. She gave him the name ‘Shelah’. She gave birth to Shelah in Kezib.
6 Judah found a wife for his oldest son, Er. Her name was Tamar. 7 But the Lord saw that Er, Judah's firstborn son, was very bad. So the Lord caused him to die. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, ‘You should marry your dead brother's wife and have sex with her. You are her dead husband's brother. You must have a son who will become your dead brother's descendant.’[b]
9 But Onan did not want Tamar to give birth to his child. He knew that the child would not belong to him. So when he had sex with his brother's wife Tamar, he made his semen go onto the ground. Onan did this so that Tamar would not give birth to a child for his dead brother.
10 What Onan did was bad, and the Lord was not pleased with him. So the Lord caused Onan to die too. 11 Then Judah said to his son's widow, Tamar, ‘Go back to your father's house and live there as a widow. Stay there until my son Shelah grows older.’ Judah thought, ‘I do not want Shelah to die in the way that his brothers died.’ So Tamar went to live in her father's house.
12 After a long time, Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had stopped being sad because of her death, he left his home to travel. He went with his friend, Hirah the Adullamite, to a place called Timnah. He went to see the men who were cutting the wool from his sheep. 13 Someone told Tamar, ‘Your husband's father is going to Timnah to get the wool from his sheep.’
14 Tamar knew that Judah's son Shelah had now become a man. But Judah had not yet let Shelah marry her. So Tamar took off her widow's clothes and she put on other clothes. She covered her head with a veil. She did not want anyone to recognize her. Then she sat at the gate of Enaim. Enaim is a town on the road that goes to Timnah.
15 Judah saw her as she sat there. He thought that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face. 16 He did not know that she was his son's widow. He went to her at the side of the road. He said, ‘Let me have sex with you.’ Tamar asked him, ‘If I have sex with you, what will you give me?’ 17 Judah replied, ‘I will take a young goat from my animals and I will give it to you.’ Tamar said, ‘Please give me something now to show me that you will really send the goat to me.’ 18 Judah asked her, ‘What should I give you?’ Tamar replied, ‘Give me your special ring and the string that holds it. And give me the stick that is in your hand.’[c] So Judah gave them to her. He had sex with her. As a result, she became pregnant.
19 After this, Tamar left there and she took off her veil. She put her widow's clothes on again.
20 Judah sent his friend Hirah, the Adullamite, to take a young goat back to where the woman had been. Judah wanted to get his special things back from the woman. But Hirah could not find the woman. 21 He asked some men who lived there, ‘Where is the temple prostitute who sat by the road at Enaim?’[d] But the men said, ‘There has not been any prostitute here.’
22 So Hirah went back to Judah, with the goat. He told him, ‘I did not find her. The men who lived there said, “There has not been any temple prostitute here.” ’ 23 So Judah said, ‘Let her keep the things that I gave to her. People will laugh at me if you go back there again. I sent this young goat for her, as I promised, but you could not find her.’
24 Three months later, someone told Judah, ‘Your dead son's wife, Tamar, has become a prostitute and now she is pregnant.’ Judah said, ‘Take her out of the town and burn her to death!’ 25 So they took Tamar away to kill her. But she sent a message to her dead husband's father. She said, ‘The man that these things belong to had sex with me. That is why I am pregnant. Look at these things carefully. Do you know who the ring, its string, and the stick belong to?’
26 Judah saw that the things belonged to him. He said, ‘She is more honest than I am. She has done this because I would not give her to my son, Shelah, as his wife.’ Judah did not have sex with Tamar again.
27 The time came for Tamar to give birth, and there were twins! 28 While she was giving birth, one baby put out his hand. The woman who was helping Tamar tied a red string to that baby's arm. She said, ‘This baby came out first.’ 29 But then the baby moved his hand back inside and his brother came out first. The woman said, ‘You have opened a way for yourself to come out!’ So they gave him the name ‘Perez’.[e] 30 Then his brother came out, with the red string on his arm. They gave him the name ‘Zerah’.
Footnotes
- 38:1 Judah lived among the Canaanites. He married a Canaanite woman. But God wanted the Israelites to keep themselves separate from foreign people.
- 38:8 In those days, there was a custom. If a man died before his wife had had children, his brother had to marry the dead man's wife. The family would think of a new son born to those parents as the child of the dead brother. So this son would receive any land belonging to the dead man.
- 38:18 The special ring and the stick would have Judah's mark on them. So other people would know who they belonged to.
- 38:21 A temple prostitute sat at a place where people worshipped foreign gods.
- 38:29 ‘Perez’ means ‘pushing out’.
1 Mosebog 38
Dette er Biblen på dansk
38 Ved den Tid forlod Juda sine Brødre og sluttede sig til en Mand fra Adullam ved Navn Hira. 2 Der så Juda en Datter af Kana'anæeren Sjua, og han tog hende til Ægte og gik ind til hende. 3 Hun blev frugtsommelig og fødte en Søn, som hun gav Navnet Er; 4 siden blev hun frugtsommelig igen og fødte en Søn, som hun gav Navnet Onan; 5 og hun fødte endnu en Søn, som hun gav Navnet Sjela; da hun fødte ham, var hun i, Kezib. 6 Juda tog Er, sin førstefødte, en Hustru, der hed Tamar. 7 Men Er, Judas førstefødte, vakte Herrens Mishag, derfor lod Herren ham dø. 8 Da sagde Juda til Onan: "Gå ind til din Svigerinde og indgå Svogerægteskab med hende for at skaffe din Broder Afkom!" 9 Men Onan, som vidste, at Afkommet ikke vilde blive hans, lod, hver Gang han gik ind til sin Svigerinde, sin Sæd spildes på Jorden for ikke at skaffe sin Broder Afkom. 10 Denne hans Adfærd vakte Herrens Mishag, derfor lod han også ham dø. 11 Da sagde Juda til sin Sønnekone Tamar: "Bliv som Enke i din Faders Hus, til min Søn Sjela bliver voksen!" Thi han var bange for, at han også skulde dø ligesom sine Brødre. Så gik Tamar hen og blev i sin Faders Hus.
12 Lang Tid efter døde Judas Hustru, Sjuas Datter; og da Juda var hørt op at sørge over hende, rejste han med sin Ven, Hira fra Adullam, up til dem, der klippede hans Får i Timna. 13 Og da Tamar fik at vide, at hendes Svigerfader var på Vej op til Fåreklipningen i Timna, 14 aflagde hun sine Enkeklæder, hyllede sig i et Slør, så det skjulte hende, og satte sig ved indgangen til Enajim ved Vejen til Timna; thi hun så, at hun ikke blev givet Sjela til Ægte, skønt han nu var voksen. 15 Da nu Juda så hende, troede han, det var en Skøge; hun havde jo tilhyllet sit Ansigt; 16 og han bøjede af fra Vejen og kom hen til hende og sagde: "Lad mig gå ind til dig!" Thi han vidste ikke, at det var hans Sønnekone. Men hun sagde: "Hvad giver du mig derfor!" 17 Han svarede: "Jeg vil sende dig et Gedekid fra Hjorden!" Da sagde hun: "Ja, men du skal give mig et Pant, indtil du sender det!" 18 Han spurgte: "Hvad skal jeg give dig i Pant?" Hun svarede: "Din Seglring, din Snor og din Stav, som du har i Hånden!" Så gav han hende de tre Ting og gik ind til hende, og hun blev frugtsommelig ved ham.
19 Derpå gik hun bort, tog Sløret af og iførte sig sine Enkeklæder. 20 Imidlertid sendte Juda sin Ven fra Adullam med Gedekiddet for at få Pantet tilbage fra Kvinden; men han fandt hende ikke. 21 Han spurgte da Folkene på Stedet: "Hvor er den Skøge, som sad på Vejen ved Enajim?" Og de svarede: "Her har ikke været nogen Skøge!" 22 Så vendte han tilbage til Juda og sagde: "Jeg fandt hende ikke, og Folkene på Stedet siger, at der har ikke været nogen Skøge." 23 Da sagde Juda: "Så lad hende beholde det, hellere end at vi skal blive til Spot; jeg har nu sendt det Kid, men du fandt hende ikke."
24 En tre Måneders Tid efter meldte man Juda: "Din Sønnekone Tamar har øvet Utugt og er blevet frugtsommelig!" Da sagde Juda: "Før hende ud, for at hun kan blive brændt!" 25 Men da hun førtes ud, sendte hun Bud til sin Svigerfader og lod sige: "Jeg er blevet frugtsommelig ved den Mand, som ejer disse Ting." Og hun lod sige: "Se dog efter, hvem der ejer denne Ring, denne Snor og denne Stav!" 26 Da Juda havde set efter, sagde han: "Retten er på hendes Side og ikke på min, fordi jeg ikke gav hende til min Søn Sjela!" Men siden havde han ikke Omgang med hende.
27 Da Tiden kom, at hun skulde føde, se, da var der Tvillinger i hendes Liv. 28 Under Fødselen stak der en Hånd frem, og Jordemoderen tog og bandt en rød Snor om den, idet hun sagde: "Det var ham, der først kom frem." 29 Men han trak Hånden tilbage. og Broderen kom frem; så sagde hun: "Hvorfor bryder du frem? For din Skyld er der sket et Brud. Derfor gav man ham Navnet Perez. 30 Derefter kom Broderen med den røde snor om Hånden frem, og ham kaldte man Zera.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.