Genesis 38
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
38 At that time Juda went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Odollamite, named Hiras.
2 And he saw there the daughter of a man of Chanaan, called Sue: and taking her to wife, he went in unto her.
3 And she conceived, and bore a son, and called his name Her.
4 And conceiving again, she bore a son, and called him Onan.
5 She bore also a third: whom she called Sela. After whose birth, she ceased to bear any more.
6 And Juda took a wife for Her his firstborn, whose name was Thamar.
7 And Her, the firstborn of Juda, was wicked in the sight of the Lord: and was slain by him.
8 Juda, therefore said to Onan his son: Go in to thy brother's wife and marry her, that thou mayst raise seed to thy brother.
9 He knowing that the children should not be his, when he went in to his brother's wife, spilled his seed upon the ground, lest children should be born in his brother's name.
10 And therefore the Lord slew him, because he did a detestable thing.
11 Wherefore Juda said to Thamar his daughter in law: Remain a widow in thy father's house, till Sela my son grow up: for he was afraid lest he also might die, as his brethren did. She went her way and dwelt in her father's house.
12 And after many days were past, the daughter of Sue the wife of Juda died: and when he had taken comfort after his mourning, he went up to Thamnas, to the shearers of his sheep, he and Hiras the Odollamite the shepherd of his flock.
13 And it was told Thamar that her father in law was come up to Thamnas to shear his sheep.
14 And she put off the garments of her widowhood, and took a veil: and changing her dress, sat in the cross way, that leadeth to Thamnas: because Sela was grown up, and she had not been married to him.
15 When Juda saw her, he thought she was a harlot: for she had covered her face, lest she should be known.
16 And going to her, he said: Suffer me to lie with thee: for he knew her not to be his daughter in law. And she answered: What wilt thou give me to enjoy my company?
17 He said: I will send thee a kid out of the flock. And when she said again: I will suffer what thou wilt, if thou give a pledge, till thou send what thou promisest,
18 Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge? She answered: Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therefore at one copulation conceived.
19 And she arose and went her way: and putting off the apparel which she had taken, put on the garments of her widowhood.
20 And Juda sent a kid by his shepherd, the Odollamite, that he might receive the pledge again, which he had given to the woman: but he, not finding her,
21 Asked the men of that place: Where is the woman that sat in the cross way? And when they all made answer: There was no harlot in this place,
22 He returned to Juda, and said to him: I have not found her; moreover the men of that place said to me, that there never sat a harlot there.
23 Juda said: Let her take it to herself; surely she cannot charge us with a, lie: I sent the kid which I promised: and thou didst not find her.
24 And behold after three months they told Juda, saying: Thamar, thy daughter in law hath played the harlot, and she appeareth to have a big belly. And Juda said: Bring her out that she may be burnt.
25 But when she was led to execution, she sent to her father in law, saying: By the man, to whom these things belong, I am with child. See whose ring, and bracelet, and staff this is.
26 But he acknowledging the gifts, said: She is juster than I: because I did not give her to Sela, my son. However, he knew her no more.
27 And when she was ready to be brought to bed, there appeared twins in her womb: and in the very delivery of the infants, one put forth a hand, whereon the midwife tied a scarlet thread, saying:
28 This shall come forth the first.
29 But he drawing back his hand, the other came forth: and the woman said: Why is the partition divided for thee? and therefore called his name Phares.
30 Afterwards his brother came out, on whose hand was the scarlet thread: and she called him Zara.
Genesis 38
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Judah and Tamar
38 At that time Judah left his brothers and settled near an Adullamite(A) named Hirah. 2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua; he took her as a wife and slept with her. 3 She conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er.(B) 4 She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and named him Onan. 5 She gave birth to another son and named him Shelah. It was at Chezib that[a][b] she gave birth to him.
6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 Now Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord’s sight, and the Lord put him to death.(C) 8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law(D) and produce offspring for your brother.”(E) 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he released his semen on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so He put him to death also.
11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.”(F) For he thought, “He might die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
12 After a long time[c] Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah(G) to the sheepshearers. 13 Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she took off her widow’s clothes, veiled her face,(H) covered herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim,[d] which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
16 He went over to her and said, “Come, let me sleep with you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.(I)
She said, “What will you give me for sleeping with me?”
17 “I will send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied.
But she said, “Only if you leave something with me until you send it.”
18 “What should I give you?” he asked.
She answered, “Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she got pregnant by him. 19 She got up and left, then removed her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on.
20 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get back the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her. 21 He asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”
“There has been no cult prostitute here,” they answered.
22 So the Adullamite returned to Judah, saying, “I couldn’t find her, and furthermore, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’”
23 Judah replied, “Let her keep the items for herself; otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”
24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law, Tamar, has been acting like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.”
“Bring her out!” Judah said. “Let her be burned to death!”(J)
25 As she was being brought out, she sent her father-in-law this message: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Examine them. Whose signet ring, cord, and staff are these?”
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right[e] than I,(K) since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her intimately again.
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand, and the midwife took it and tied a scarlet thread around it, announcing, “This one came out first.” 29 But then he pulled his hand back, and his brother came out. Then she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.[f](L) 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread tied to his hand, came out, and was named Zerah.[g]
Footnotes
- Genesis 38:5 LXX reads She was at Chezib when
- Genesis 38:5 Or He was at Chezib when
- Genesis 38:12 Lit And there were many days
- Genesis 38:14 Or sat by the mouth of the springs
- Genesis 38:26 Or more righteous
- Genesis 38:29 = Breaking Out
- Genesis 38:30 = Brightness of Sunrise; perhaps related to the scarlet thread
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