The Book of
Genesis 38
30 verses≈ 6 min4 peopleBSB
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In this chapter
Where we are
- 1–11BeginningsCreation, fall, flood, Babel
- 12–24AbrahamThe call and the promise
- 25–36Isaac and JacobThe promise passed on
- 37–50JosephGod meant it for goodChapter 38
Judah and Tamar
About that time, Judah left his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah, an Adullamite. There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.
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So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er. Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Onan. Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.
Stylised map · locations approximate
On the map
Judah’s country
Judah goes down from his brothers to the low hills west of Hebron, near Adullam. Shelah is born at Chezib, and the sheepshearing is at Timnah. Enaim, “on the way to Timnah,” is not known today, and Chezib and Timnah are placed only approximately.
Now Judah acquired a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death.
Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.
Judah
Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.”
So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
Pray
For those left waiting
Judah sent Tamar home with a promise he did not mean to keep: “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” Pray for people who have been wronged and left waiting by those who should have cared for them. Ask God, the defender of widows, to bring them justice. And ask Him to show you any promise you have made and quietly let go.
After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah. When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.
Judah
Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”
Tamar
“What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired.
Judah
“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered.
Tamar
But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.”
Judah
“What pledge should I give you?” he asked.
Tamar
She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.”
So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.
Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.
Hirah
He asked the men of that place, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”
The men of Enaim
“No shrine prostitute has been here,” they answered.
Hirah
So Hirah returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’”
Judah
“Let her keep the items,” Judah replied. “Otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you could not find her.”
Reflect
Let it stay hidden
Judah wanted the whole thing to go quiet. “Let her keep the items,” he said. “Otherwise we will become a laughingstock.” He was more worried about his name than about what he had done. Is there something in your life you are hoping simply stays hidden? Write it down honestly before God, who already sees it.
She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.
Genesis 38:26
And he did not have relations with her again.
The Birth of Perez and Zerah
When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her womb. And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced. But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez. Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.
0:28
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
So he was named Perez.
Genesis 38:29
Question
Quick question
Judah left something behind at Enaim, and it came back to him.
What did Tamar ask Judah to leave with her as a pledge?
From Perez to David
Whiteboard
It looks like the darkest chapter in Judah’s family. Yet Perez heads the line that runs through Boaz to King David, and Matthew names Tamar in the family of Jesus. God’s grace works through broken families, without ever calling their sin good.
You’ve experienced
Genesis 38
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A verse to carry with you
She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.
Genesis 38:26
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