Genesis 38:22

Translations

Modern

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.’”

Traditional

And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.

Literal

And he returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her, and the men of the place said, ‘There has been no temple prostitute in this place.’”

Latin

Reversus est ad Judam, et dixit ei: Non inveni eam: sed et homines loci illius dixerunt mihi, numquam sedisse ibi scortum.

Original

Hebrew

English

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.’”

Notes

Genesis 38:20–23

Judah had gone to Tamar as a regular prostitute (Hebrew zonah, 38:15), whereas Hirah was mistakenly looking for a shrine prostitute (Hebrew qedeshah), of which there were none.

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