Keraia
Genesis 38

Genesis 38:16

Judah and Tamar · Genesis 38:1–26
Read Genesis 38

Translations

Modern
Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired.
Traditional
And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
Literal
And he turned aside to her by the way and said, “Come now, please, let me come in to you.” For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give to me that you may come in to me?”
Latin
Ingrediensque ad eam, ait: Dimitte me ut coëam tecum: nesciebat enim quod nurus sua esset. Qua respondente: Quid dabis mihi ut fruaris concubitu meo?

Original

Hebrew
English
Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.” “What will you give me for sleeping with you?” she inquired.

Notes

Genesis 38:14–19

Tamar understood she needed to act to secure her family's future. Following the levirate custom (see study note on 38:8), she remained loyal to her dead husband. She had a legal right to have a child with Judah's son or Judah himself. So she tricked her father-in-law into having sexual relations with her. Again, Jacob’s family experiences deception, this time by a Canaanite daughter-in-law.

Genesis 38:1–30

The story of Judah and Tamar is a carefully placed break in the larger story. It shows what was happening in Judah’s family. Judah would later become an important leader. The story also shows the early stages of the family mixing with the people of the land. This helps explain why God sent the family to Egypt (chapters 39–47).

The Egyptians kept themselves separate from other peoples (43:32). Because of that, the Israelites were more likely to keep their own identity in Egypt than in Canaan.

Theme notes and profiles

Egypt Judah Human Sexuality Symbolic Numbers

Parallels

1 Chronicles 2:3–4

Glossary

Adullam, Adullamite Bible, Manuscripts and Text of the (New Testament) Genesis, Book of Jacob Judah (Person) Patriarchs, Period of the Tamar (Person)

Topics

Adultery: Judah Incest: Judah Judah: Son of Jacob: His Incest with his Daughter-In-Law Lasciviousness: Judah Sheep: Shearing of Tamar: Wife of the Sons of Judah Women: Tamar, in Her Adultery