32 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Genesis 38 This chapter is wholly taken up with matters relating to Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, from whom the Jews have their name, and from whom Christ sprung: it treats of his marriage with a Canaanitess, his children by her, their character and end, Genesis 38:1; of his incest with his daughter-in-law, though unknown by him,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass at that time,.... This some refer to the time of Jacob's coming from Padanaram into Canaan, soon after he came to Shechem, and before the affair of Dinah; but to this may be objected the marriage of Judah at an age that may seem too early for him, his separation from his brethren, and having a flock of his own to keep, which...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
This chapter gives us an account of Judah and his family, and such an account it is that one would wonder that, of all Jacob's sons, our Lord should spring out of Judah, Heb. vii. 14. If we were to form a character of him by this story, we should not say, "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise," ch. xlix. 8. But God will show that his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite,.... Onkelos and Jonathan, and so Jarchi and Ben Gersom, interpret it a "merchant", to take off the disgrace of his falling in love with, and marrying a Canaanitish woman, which was forbidden by his ancestors Abraham and Isaac, and which his father avoided: whose name [was] Shuah; not the name...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she conceived, and bare a son, and he called his name Er. Which signifies a "watchman": but the reason of the name given by the Targum of Jonathan is, "because he should die without children;'' as if it was the same with Ariri, "childless".
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she conceived again, and bare a son,.... As soon as she well could: and she called his name Onan; the first son Judah gave the name to, but his wife named this, so called from grief or sorrow; the reason of it, according to the above Targum, was, "because his father would mourn for him;'' he was a Benoni, see Genesis 35:18, whose sin and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she conceived, and bare a son,.... A third son: and called his name Shelah; which signifies tranquil, quiet, peaceable and prosperous, and is a word that comes from the same root as Shiloh, that famous son of Judah that should spring from him, Genesis 49:10 the reason of the name, as given by the Targum, is, "because her husband forgot her:''...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn,.... Chose one for him, and presented her to him for his liking, whom he approving of married: whose name [was] Tamar; which signifies a "palm tree": the Targum of Jonathan says, she was the daughter of Shem; but it is altogether improbable that a daughter of his should be living at this time, and young...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord,.... That is, exceedingly wicked, as this phrase signifies, Genesis 13:13, was guilty of some very heinous sin, but what is not mentioned; according to the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi, it was the same with his brother Onan's, Genesis 38:9, which it is suggested he committed, lest his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Judah said unto Onan,.... Some time after his brother's death: go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her; Moses here uses a word not common for marriage, but which was peculiar to the marrying of a brother's wife according to a law given in his time: it appears to have been a custom before, and which the patriarch might be directed to by...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Onan knew that the seed should not be his,.... Should not be called a son of his, but a son of his brother Er; this is to be understood only of the firstborn; all the rest of the children born afterwards were reckoned the children of the real parent of them; this shows this was a custom in use in those times, and well known, and was not a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the thing which he did displeased the Lord,.... Being done out of envy to his brother, and through want of affection to the memory of his name; and it may be out of covetousness to get his estate into his own hands, and especially as it frustrated the end of such an usage of marrying a brother's wife; which appears to be according to the will...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law,.... After the death of his two sons, who had successively married her: remain a widow at thy father's house till Shelah my son be grown: who was his third and youngest son, though perhaps not more than a year younger than Onan; but he might not choose he should marry so soon as his brethren had done,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And in process of time the daughter of Shuah, Judah's wife, died,.... Shuah was his wife's father, who was a Canaanite, Genesis 38:2; what her name was is not certain, nor the exact time of her death; it was some time after Tamar was sent home to her father's house; and some take the death of Judah's wife to be a correction and reproof to him for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it was told Tamar,.... By some of her neighbours, or by some of Judah's family; saying, behold, thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep; which might be told her as an indifferent thing, without any design in it; but she took notice of it, and it gave her an opportunity she wanted.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she put her widow's garments off from her,.... By which it appears that in those times and countries it was usual for widows to have a different apparel from others, especially in the time of their mourning, as it has been since in other nations, and with us at this day, and which is commonly called "the widow's weed": and covered herself with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When Judah saw her, he thought her [to be] an harlot,.... By her posture and the place she was in: because she had covered her face; with her veil, that he did not know her; for this is not given as a reason why he took her to be an harlot; the reason of this was, because she sat in the public road; but having covered her face he could not discern...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he turned unto her by the way,.... Which led to her; he turned out of the way in which he was to that where she sat; and very probably it was at some little distance from the way, and therefore he turned aside to it, his lust towards her being excited at the sight of her; perhaps he left his friend Hirah the Adullamite, and sent him on his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, I will send [thee] a kid from the flock,.... Either from Timnath, where his flock was shearing, or rather from Adullam, where he lived; since it is probable he was now returning from Timnath, where he had been feasting and making merry with his shearers, and so in a disposition to commit such an action: and she said, wilt thou give...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, what pledge shall I give thee?.... Being willing to part with anything for the gratification of his lust: and she said, thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that [is] in thine hand; she asks all these, that if one should be lost, or fail of being sufficient proof, the other might: the first of these the Septuagint version...