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Selected Verse: Genesis 38:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ge 38:1	Strong Concordance	And it came to pass at that time [06256], that Judah [03063] went down [03381] from his brethren [0251], and turned [05186] in to a certain [0376] Adullamite [05726], whose name [08034] was Hirah [02437].
	King James	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.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
JUDAH AND FAMILY. (Gen. 38:1-30) at that time--a formula frequently used by the sacred writers, not to describe any precise period, but an interval near about it.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

JUDAH AND FAMILY. (Gen. 38:1-30)

at that time--a formula frequently used by the sacred writers, not to describe any precise period, but an interval near about it.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
About this time, i.e., after the sale of Joseph, while still feeding the flocks of Jacob along with his brethren (Gen 37:26), (Note: As the expression "at that time" does not compel us to place Judah's marriage after the sale of Joseph, many have followed Augustine (qusaet. 123), and placed it some years earlier. But this assumption is rendered extremely improbable, if not impossible, by the fact that Judah was not merely accidentally present when Joseph was sold, but was evidently living with his brethren, and had not yet set up an establishment of his own; whereas he had settled at Adullam previous to his marriage, and seems to have lived there up to the time of the birth of the twins by Thamar. Moreover, the 23 years which intervened between the taking of Joseph into Egypt and the migration of Jacob thither, furnish space enough for all the events recorded in this chapter. If we suppose that Judah, who was 20 years old when Joseph was sold, went to Adullam soon afterwards and married there, is three sons might have been born four or five years after Joseph's captivity. And if his eldest son was born about a year and a half after the sale of Joseph, and he married him to Thamar when he was 15 years old, and gave her to his second son a year after that, Onan's death would occur at least five years before Jacob's removal to Egypt; time enough, therefore, both for the generation and birth of the twin-sons of Judah by Thamar, and for Judah's two journeys into Egypt with his brethren to buy corn. (See Gen 46:8.)) Judah separated from them, and went down (from Hebron, Gen 37:14, or the mountains) to Adullam, in the lowland (Jos 15:35), into the neighbourhood of a man named Hirah. "He pitched (his tent, Gen 26:25) up to a man of Adullam," i.e., in his neighbourhood, so as to enter into friendly intercourse with him. Gen 38:2-5 There Judah married the daughter of Shuah, a Canaanite, and had three sons by her: Ger (ער), Onan, and Shelah. The name of the place is mentioned when the last is born, viz., Chezib or Achzib (Jos 15:44; Mic 1:14), in the southern portion of the lowland of Judah, that the descendants of Shelah might know the birth-place of their ancestor. This was unnecessary in the case of the others, who died childless. Gen 38:6-10 When Ger was grown up, according to ancient custom (cf. Gen 21:21; Gen 34:4) his father gave him a wife, named Thamar, probably a Canaanite, of unknown parentage. But Ger was soon put to death by Jehovah on account of his wickedness. Judah then wished Onan, as the brother-in-law, to marry the childless widow of his deceased brother, and raise up seed, i.e., a family, for him. But as he knew that the first-born son would not be the founder of his own family, but would perpetuate the family of the deceased and receive his inheritance, he prevented conception when consummating the marriage by spilling the semen. ארצה שׁחת, "destroyed to the ground (i.e., let it fall upon the ground), so as not to give seed to his brother" (נתן for תּת only here and Num 20:21). This act not only betrayed a want of affection to his brother, combined with a despicable covetousness for his possession and inheritance, but was also a sin against the divine institution of marriage and its object, and was therefore punished by Jehovah with sudden death. The custom of levirate marriage, which is first mentioned here, and is found in different forms among Indians, Persians, and other nations of Asia and Africa, was not founded upon a divine command, but upon an ancient tradition, originating probably in Chaldea. It was not abolished, however, by the Mosaic law (Deu 25:5.), but only so far restricted as not to allow it to interfere with the sanctity of marriage; and with this limitation it was enjoined as a duty of affection to build up the brother's house, and to preserve his family and name (see my Bibl. Archologie, 108). Gen 38:11 The sudden death of his two sons so soon after their marriage with Thamar made Judah hesitate to give her the third as a husband also, thinking, very likely, according to a superstition which we find in Tobit 3:7ff., that either she herself, or marriage with her, had been the cause of her husbands' deaths. He therefore sent her away to her father's house, with the promise that he would give her his youngest son as soon as he had grown up; though he never intended it seriously, "for he thought lest (פּן אמר, i.e., he was afraid that) he also might die like his brethren."

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

About this time, i.e., after the sale of Joseph, while still feeding the flocks of Jacob along with his brethren (Gen 37:26),

(Note: As the expression "at that time" does not compel us to place Judah's marriage after the sale of Joseph, many have followed Augustine (qusaet. 123), and placed it some years earlier. But this assumption is rendered extremely improbable, if not impossible, by the fact that Judah was not merely accidentally present when Joseph was sold, but was evidently living with his brethren, and had not yet set up an establishment of his own; whereas he had settled at Adullam previous to his marriage, and seems to have lived there up to the time of the birth of the twins by Thamar. Moreover, the 23 years which intervened between the taking of Joseph into Egypt and the migration of Jacob thither, furnish space enough for all the events recorded in this chapter. If we suppose that Judah, who was 20 years old when Joseph was sold, went to Adullam soon afterwards and married there, is three sons might have been born four or five years after Joseph's captivity. And if his eldest son was born about a year and a half after the sale of Joseph, and he married him to Thamar when he was 15 years old, and gave her to his second son a year after that, Onan's death would occur at least five years before Jacob's removal to Egypt; time enough, therefore, both for the generation and birth of the twin-sons of Judah by Thamar, and for Judah's two journeys into Egypt with his brethren to buy corn. (See Gen 46:8.))

Judah separated from them, and went down (from Hebron, Gen 37:14, or the mountains) to Adullam, in the lowland (Jos 15:35), into the neighbourhood of a man named Hirah. "He pitched (his tent, Gen 26:25) up to a man of Adullam," i.e., in his neighbourhood, so as to enter into friendly intercourse with him.

Gen 38:2-5

There Judah married the daughter of Shuah, a Canaanite, and had three sons by her: Ger (ער), Onan, and Shelah. The name of the place is mentioned when the last is born, viz., Chezib or Achzib (Jos 15:44; Mic 1:14), in the southern portion of the lowland of Judah, that the descendants of Shelah might know the birth-place of their ancestor. This was unnecessary in the case of the others, who died childless.

Gen 38:6-10

When Ger was grown up, according to ancient custom (cf. Gen 21:21; Gen 34:4) his father gave him a wife, named Thamar, probably a Canaanite, of unknown parentage. But Ger was soon put to death by Jehovah on account of his wickedness. Judah then wished Onan, as the brother-in-law, to marry the childless widow of his deceased brother, and raise up seed, i.e., a family, for him. But as he knew that the first-born son would not be the founder of his own family, but would perpetuate the family of the deceased and receive his inheritance, he prevented conception when consummating the marriage by spilling the semen. ארצה שׁחת, "destroyed to the ground (i.e., let it fall upon the ground), so as not to give seed to his brother" (נתן for תּת only here and Num 20:21). This act not only betrayed a want of affection to his brother, combined with a despicable covetousness for his possession and inheritance, but was also a sin against the divine institution of marriage and its object, and was therefore punished by Jehovah with sudden death. The custom of levirate marriage, which is first mentioned here, and is found in different forms among Indians, Persians, and other nations of Asia and Africa, was not founded upon a divine command, but upon an ancient tradition, originating probably in Chaldea. It was not abolished, however, by the Mosaic law (Deu 25:5.), but only so far restricted as not to allow it to interfere with the sanctity of marriage; and with this limitation it was enjoined as a duty of affection to build up the brother's house, and to preserve his family and name (see my Bibl. Archologie, 108).

Gen 38:11

The sudden death of his two sons so soon after their marriage with Thamar made Judah hesitate to give her the third as a husband also, thinking, very likely, according to a superstition which we find in Tobit 3:7ff., that either she herself, or marriage with her, had been the cause of her husbands' deaths. He therefore sent her away to her father's house, with the promise that he would give her his youngest son as soon as he had grown up; though he never intended it seriously, "for he thought lest (פּן אמר, i.e., he was afraid that) he also might die like his brethren."

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Judah went down from his brethren - Withdrew for a time from his father's family, and got intimately acquainted with one Hirah an Adullamite. When young people that have been well educated begin to change their company, they will soon change their manners, and lose their good education. They that go down from their brethren, that forsake the society of the seed of Israel, and pick up Canaanites for their companions, are going down the hill apace.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
And it came to pass at that time - The facts mentioned here could not have happened at the times mentioned in the preceding chapter, as those times are all unquestionably too recent, for the very earliest of the transactions here recorded must have occurred long before the selling of Joseph. Mr. Ainsworth remarks "that Judah and his sons must have married when very young, else the chronology will not agree. For Joseph was born six years before Jacob left Laban and came into Canaan; Gen 30:25, and Gen 31:41. Joseph was seventeen years old when he was sold into Egypt, Gen 37:2, Gen 37:25; he was thirty years old when he interpreted Pharaoh's dream, Gen 41:46. And nine years after, when there had been seven years of plenty and two years of famine, did Jacob with his family go down into Egypt, Gen 41:53, Gen 41:54, and Gen 45:6, Gen 45:11. And at their going down thither, Pharez, the son of Judah, whose birth is set down at the end of this chapter, had two sons, Hezron and Hamul, Gen 46:8, Gen 46:12. Seeing then from the selling of Joseph unto Israel's going down into Egypt there cannot be above twenty-three years, how is it possible that Judah should take a wife, and have by her three sons successively, and Shelah the youngest of the three be marriageable when Judah begat Pharez of Tamar, Gen 38:14, Gen 38:24, and Pharez be grown up, married, and have two sons, all within so short a space? The time therefore here spoken of seems to have been soon after Jacob's coming to Shechem, Gen 33:18, before the history of Dinah, Genesis 34, though Moses for special cause relates it in this place." I should rather suppose that this chapter originally stood after Genesis 33, and that it got by accident into this place. Dr. Hales, observing that some of Jacob's son must have married remarkably young, says that "Judah was about forty-seven years old when Jacob's family settled in Egypt. He could not therefore have been above fifteen at the birth of his eldest son Er; nor Er more than fifteen at his marriage with Tamar; nor could it have been more than two years after Er's death till the birth of Judah's twin sons by his daughter-in-law Tamar; nor could Pharez, one of them, be more than fifteen at the birth of his twin sons Herron and Hamul, supposing they were twins, just born before the departure from Canaan. For the aggregate of these numbers, 15, 15, 2, 15, or 47 years, gives the age of Judah; compare Genesis 38 with Gen 46:12." See the remarks of Dr. Kennicott, at Gen 31:55 (note). Adullamite - An inhabitant of Adullam, a city of Canaan, afterwards given for a possession to the sons of Judah, Jos 15:1, Jos 15:35. It appears as if this Adullamite had kept a kind of lodging house, for Shuah the Canaanite and his family lodged with him; and there Judah lodged also. As the woman was a Canaanitess, Judah had the example of his fathers to prove at least the impropriety of such a connection.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

And it came to pass at that time - The facts mentioned here could not have happened at the times mentioned in the preceding chapter, as those times are all unquestionably too recent, for the very earliest of the transactions here recorded must have occurred long before the selling of Joseph. Mr. Ainsworth remarks "that Judah and his sons must have married when very young, else the chronology will not agree. For Joseph was born six years before Jacob left Laban and came into Canaan; Gen 30:25, and Gen 31:41. Joseph was seventeen years old when he was sold into Egypt, Gen 37:2, Gen 37:25; he was thirty years old when he interpreted Pharaoh's dream, Gen 41:46. And nine years after, when there had been seven years of plenty and two years of famine, did Jacob with his family go down into Egypt, Gen 41:53, Gen 41:54, and Gen 45:6, Gen 45:11. And at their going down thither, Pharez, the son of Judah, whose birth is set down at the end of this chapter, had two sons, Hezron and Hamul, Gen 46:8, Gen 46:12. Seeing then from the selling of Joseph unto Israel's going down into Egypt there cannot be above twenty-three years, how is it possible that Judah should take a wife, and have by her three sons successively, and Shelah the youngest of the three be marriageable when Judah begat Pharez of Tamar, Gen 38:14, Gen 38:24, and Pharez be grown up, married, and have two sons, all within so short a space? The time therefore here spoken of seems to have been soon after Jacob's coming to Shechem, Gen 33:18, before the history of Dinah, Genesis 34, though Moses for special cause relates it in this place." I should rather suppose that this chapter originally stood after Genesis 33, and that it got by accident into this place. Dr. Hales, observing that some of Jacob's son must have married remarkably young, says that "Judah was about forty-seven years old when Jacob's family settled in Egypt. He could not therefore have been above fifteen at the birth of his eldest son Er; nor Er more than fifteen at his marriage with Tamar; nor could it have been more than two years after Er's death till the birth of Judah's twin sons by his daughter-in-law Tamar; nor could Pharez, one of them, be more than fifteen at the birth of his twin sons Herron and Hamul, supposing they were twins, just born before the departure from Canaan. For the aggregate of these numbers, 15, 15, 2, 15, or 47 years, gives the age of Judah; compare Genesis 38 with Gen 46:12." See the remarks of Dr. Kennicott, at Gen 31:55 (note). Adullamite - An inhabitant of Adullam, a city of Canaan, afterwards given for a possession to the sons of Judah, Jos 15:1, Jos 15:35. It appears as if this Adullamite had kept a kind of lodging house, for Shuah the Canaanite and his family lodged with him; and there Judah lodged also. As the woman was a Canaanitess, Judah had the example of his fathers to prove at least the impropriety of such a connection.

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¹¹ Then said [0559] Judah [03063] to Tamar [08559] his daughter in law [03618], Remain [03427] a widow [0490] at thy father's [01] house [01004], till Shelah [07956] my son [01121] be grown [01431]: for he said [0559], Lest peradventure he die [04191] also, as his brethren [0251] did. And Tamar [08559] went [03212] and dwelt [03427] in her father's [01] house [01004].

⁵ If brethren [0251] dwell [03427] together [03162], and one [0259] of them die [04191], and have no child [01121], the wife [0802] of the dead [04191] shall not marry without [02351] unto a stranger [0376] [02114]: her husband's brother [02993] shall go in [0935] unto her, and take [03947] her to him to wife [0802], and perform the duty of an husband's brother [02992] unto her.

²¹ Thus Edom [0123] refused [03985] to give [05414] Israel [03478] passage [05674] through his border [01366]: wherefore Israel [03478] turned away [05186] from him.

⁴ And Shechem [07927] spake [0559] unto his father [01] Hamor [02544], saying [0559], Get [03947] me this damsel [03207] to wife [0802].

²¹ And he dwelt [03427] in the wilderness [04057] of Paran [06290]: and his mother [0517] took [03947] him a wife [0802] out of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714].

⁶ And Judah [03063] took [03947] a wife [0802] for Er [06147] his firstborn [01060], whose name [08034] was Tamar [08559].
⁷ And Er [06147], Judah's [03063] firstborn [01060], was wicked [07451] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068]; and the LORD [03068] slew [04191] him.
⁸ And Judah [03063] said [0559] unto Onan [0209], Go in [0935] unto thy brother's [0251] wife [0802], and marry [02992] her, and raise up [06965] seed [02233] to thy brother [0251].
⁹ And Onan [0209] knew [03045] that the seed [02233] should not be his; and it came to pass, when [0518] he went in [0935] unto his brother's [0251] wife [0802], that he spilled [07843] it on the ground [0776], lest [01115] that he should give [05414] seed [02233] to his brother [0251].
¹⁰ And the thing which [0834] he did [06213] displeased [03415] [05869] the LORD [03068]: wherefore he slew [04191] him also.

¹⁴ Therefore shalt thou give [05414] presents [07964] to Moreshethgath [04182]: the houses [01004] of Achzib [0392] shall be a lie [0391] to the kings [04428] of Israel [03478].

⁴⁴ And Keilah [07084], and Achzib [0392], and Mareshah [04762]; nine [08672] cities [05892] with their villages [02691]:

² And Judah [03063] saw [07200] there a daughter [01323] of a certain [0376] Canaanite [03669], whose name [08034] was Shuah [07770]; and he took her [03947], and went in [0935] unto her.
³ And she conceived [02029], and bare [03205] a son [01121]; and he called [07121] his name [08034] Er [06147].
⁴ And she conceived [02029] again, and bare [03205] a son [01121]; and she called [07121] his name [08034] Onan [0209].
⁵ And she yet again conceived [03254], and bare [03205] a son [01121]; and called [07121] his name [08034] Shelah [07956]: and he was at Chezib [03580], when she bare [03205] him.

²⁵ And he builded [01129] an altar [04196] there, and called [07121] upon the name [08034] of the LORD [03068], and pitched [05186] his tent [0168] there: and there Isaac's [03327] servants [05650] digged [03738] a well [0875].

³⁵ Jarmuth [03412], and Adullam [05725], Socoh [07755], and Azekah [05825],

¹⁴ And he said [0559] to him, Go [03212], I pray thee, see [07200] whether it be well [07965] with thy brethren [0251], and well [07965] with the flocks [06629]; and bring [07725] me word [01697] again [07725]. So he sent [07971] him out of the vale [06010] of Hebron [02275], and he came [0935] to Shechem [07927].

⁸ And these are the names [08034] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478], which came [0935] into Egypt [04714], Jacob [03290] and his sons [01121]: Reuben [07205], Jacob's [03290] firstborn [01060].

²⁶ And Judah [03063] said [0559] unto his brethren [0251], What profit [01215] is it if we slay [02026] our brother [0251], and conceal [03680] his blood [01818]?

³⁵ Jarmuth [03412], and Adullam [05725], Socoh [07755], and Azekah [05825],

¹ This then was the lot [01486] of the tribe [04294] of the children [01121] of Judah [03063] by their families [04940]; even to the border [01366] of Edom [0123] the wilderness [04057] of Zin [06790] southward [05045] was the uttermost part [07097] of the south coast [08486].

⁵⁵ And early [07925] in the morning [01242] Laban [03837] rose up [07925], and kissed [05401] his sons [01121] and his daughters [01323], and blessed [01288] them: and Laban [03837] departed [03212], and returned [07725] unto his place [04725].

¹² And the sons [01121] of Judah [03063]; Er [06147], and Onan [0209], and Shelah [07956], and Pharez [06557], and Zerah [02226]: but Er [06147] and Onan [0209] died [04191] in the land [0776] of Canaan [03667]. And the sons [01121] of Pharez [06557] were Hezron [02696] and Hamul [02538].

¹⁸ And Jacob [03290] came [0935] to Shalem [08004], a city [05892] of Shechem [07927], which is in the land [0776] of Canaan [03667], when he came [0935] from Padanaram [06307]; and pitched his tent [02583] before [06440] the city [05892].

²⁴ And it came to pass about three [07969] months [02320] after, that it was told [05046] Judah [03063], saying [0559], Tamar [08559] thy daughter in law [03618] hath played the harlot [02181]; and also, behold, she is with child [02030] by whoredom [02183]. And Judah [03063] said [0559], Bring her forth [03318], and let her be burnt [08313].

¹⁴ And she put [05493] her widow's [0491] garments [0899] off [05493] from her, and covered her [03680] with a vail [06809], and wrapped herself [05968], and sat in [03427] an open [05869] place [06607], which is by the way [01870] to Timnath [08553]; for she saw [07200] that Shelah [07956] was grown [01431], and she was not given [05414] unto him to wife [0802].

¹¹ And there will I nourish [03557] thee; for yet there are five [02568] years [08141] of famine [07458]; lest thou, and thy household [01004], and all that thou hast, come to poverty [03423].

⁶ For these two years [08141] hath the famine [07458] been in [07130] the land [0776]: and yet there are five [02568] years [08141], in the which there shall neither [0369] be earing [02758] nor harvest [07105].

⁵⁴ And the seven [07651] years [08141] of dearth [07458] began [02490] to come [0935], according as Joseph [03130] had said [0559]: and the dearth [07458] was in all lands [0776]; but in all the land [0776] of Egypt [04714] there was bread [03899].

⁵³ And the seven [07651] years [08141] of plenteousness [07647], that was in the land [0776] of Egypt [04714], were ended [03615].

⁴⁶ And Joseph [03130] was thirty [07970] years [08141] old [01121] when he stood [05975] before [06440] Pharaoh [06547] king [04428] of Egypt [04714]. And Joseph [03130] went out [03318] from the presence [06440] of Pharaoh [06547], and went throughout [05674] all the land [0776] of Egypt [04714].

²⁵ And they sat down [03427] to eat [0398] bread [03899]: and they lifted up [05375] their eyes [05869] and looked [07200], and, behold, a company [0736] of Ishmeelites [03459] came [0935] from Gilead [01568] with their camels [01581] bearing [05375] spicery [05219] and balm [06875] and myrrh [03910], going [01980] to carry it down [03381] to Egypt [04714].

² These are the generations [08435] of Jacob [03290]. Joseph [03130], being seventeen [06240] [07651] years [08141] old [01121], was feeding [07462] the flock [06629] with his brethren [0251]; and the lad [05288] was with the sons [01121] of Bilhah [01090], and with the sons [01121] of Zilpah [02153], his father's [01] wives [0802]: and Joseph [03130] brought [0935] unto his father [01] their evil [07451] report [01681].

⁴¹ Thus have I been twenty [06242] years [08141] in thy house [01004]; I served thee [05647] fourteen [0702] [06240] years [08141] for thy two [08147] daughters [01323], and six [08337] years [08141] for thy cattle [06629]: and thou hast changed [02498] my wages [04909] ten [06235] times [04489].

²⁵ And it came to pass, when Rachel [07354] had born [03205] Joseph [03130], that Jacob [03290] said [0559] unto Laban [03837], Send me away [07971], that I may go [03212] unto mine own place [04725], and to my country [0776].