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Judah and Tamar
It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
Judah and Tamar
About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he stayed with a man named Hirah.
About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he stayed with a man named Hirah.
There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her,
There he saw a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her. When he slept with her,
and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.
she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er.
She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.
Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan.
And when she gave birth to a third son, she named him Shelah. At the time of Shelah’s birth, they were living at Kezib.
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar.
But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.
But Er was a wicked man in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD took his life.
Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”
Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You must produce an heir for your brother.”
But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother.
But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he spilled the semen on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong to his brother.
And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.
But the LORD considered it evil for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So the LORD took Onan’s life, too.
Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up” — for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.
Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Go back to your parents’ home and remain a widow until my son Shelah is old enough to marry you.” (But Judah didn’t really intend to do this because he was afraid Shelah would also die, like his two brothers.) So Tamar went back to live in her father’s home.
In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
Some years later Judah’s wife died. After the time of mourning was over, Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to supervise the shearing of his sheep.
And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
Someone told Tamar, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage.
Tamar was aware that Shelah had grown up, but no arrangements had been made for her to come and marry him. So she changed out of her widow’s clothing and covered herself with a veil to disguise herself. Then she sat beside the road at the entrance to the village of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah.
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
Judah noticed her and thought she was a prostitute, since she had covered her face.
He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”
So he stopped and propositioned her. “Let me have sex with you,” he said, not realizing that she was his own daughter-in-law.
“How much will you pay to have sex with me?” Tamar asked.
“How much will you pay to have sex with me?” Tamar asked.
He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it — ”
“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah promised.
“But what will you give me to guarantee that you will send the goat?” she asked.
“But what will you give me to guarantee that you will send the goat?” she asked.
He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.
“What kind of guarantee do you want?” he replied.
She answered, “Leave me your identification seal and its cord and the walking stick you are carrying.” So Judah gave them to her. Then he had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant.
She answered, “Leave me your identification seal and its cord and the walking stick you are carrying.” So Judah gave them to her. Then he had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant.
Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.
Afterward she went back home, took off her veil, and put on her widow’s clothing as usual.
When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her.
Later Judah asked his friend Hirah the Adullamite to take the young goat to the woman and to pick up the things he had given her as his guarantee. But Hirah couldn’t find her.
So he asked the men who lived there, “Where can I find the shrine prostitute who was sitting beside the road at the entrance to Enaim?”
“We’ve never had a shrine prostitute here,” they replied.
“We’ve never had a shrine prostitute here,” they replied.
So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’”
So Hirah returned to Judah and told him, “I couldn’t find her anywhere, and the men of the village claim they’ve never had a shrine prostitute there.”
And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”
“Then let her keep the things I gave her,” Judah said. “I sent the young goat as we agreed, but you couldn’t find her. We’d be the laughingstock of the village if we went back again to look for her.”
About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has acted like a prostitute. And now, because of this, she’s pregnant.”
“Bring her out, and let her be burned!” Judah demanded.
“Bring her out, and let her be burned!” Judah demanded.
As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.”
But as they were taking her out to kill her, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “The man who owns these things made me pregnant. Look closely. Whose seal and cord and walking stick are these?”
Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.
Judah recognized them immediately and said, “She is more righteous than I am, because I didn’t arrange for her to marry my son Shelah.” And Judah never slept with Tamar again.
When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb.
When the time came for Tamar to give birth, it was discovered that she was carrying twins.
And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”
While she was in labor, one of the babies reached out his hand. The midwife grabbed it and tied a scarlet string around the child’s wrist, announcing, “This one came out first.”