Genesis Chapter 38 Verse-by-Verse Commentary
Genesis 38:1–6
It was at this time that Y'hudah went off from his brothers and settled near a man named Hirah who was an 'Adulami. There Y'hudah saw one of the daughters of a certain Kena'ani whose name was Shua, and he took her and slept with her. She conceived and had a son, whom he named 'Er. She conceived again and had a son, and she called him Onan. Then she conceived yet again and had a son whom she called Shelah; he was in K'ziv when she gave birth to him. Y'hudah took a wife for 'Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
After the sinful events of the last chapter, Y'hudah moved away from his family to live among a Canaanite tribe. This shows that he was in a downward spiral as he left the people of God and went to live among the pagans and even taken a pagan for a wife. The wife gave him sons with his firstborn being named 'Er. We see that Shua gave birth to the third son in a place called K'ziv which, in Hebrew, the name speaks of lies and deceit. This gives us a heads up that there is going to be some unrighteous behavior coming up. Then, he found a wife for his firstborn and she was named Tamar. All of this passage was to get to the introduction of this woman and we are reminded that, usually in scripture, when a woman is brought center stage it is for the purpose of revealing something about redemption.
Genesis 38:7–10
But 'Er, Y'hudah's firstborn, was evil from ADONAI's perspective, so ADONAI killed him. Y'hudah said to Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's wife - perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and preserve your brother's line of descent." However, Onan knew that the child would not count as his; so whenever he had intercourse with his brother's wife, he spilled the semen on the ground, so as not to give his brother offspring. What he did was evil from ADONAI's perspective, so he killed him too.
We do not know what 'Er did but it was evil in God's eyes and he was immediately judged and pout to death. Then, we see Y'hudah tell the brother to lay with the wife of 'Er so that the heritage would not die with him. We note that, even though the Torah had not yet been given, this command is found there (see Deuteronomy 25). We see that Onan appeared to follow the command but did not provide the seed for Tamar to conceive and this was also evil in God's eyes and he was judged.
Genesis 38:11
Then Y'hudah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Stay a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up"; for he thought, "I don't want him to die too, like his brothers." So Tamar went and lived at home with her father.
We see that the downward spiral of Y'hudah continues as he sends Tamar away to live as a widow instead of sending his third son to fulfill the command and do what he knew was right in the eyes of God. We also see that he thought that Tamar was the problem and not the actions of his recently departed sons even though it is clear to see that she is being obedient.
Genesis 38:12 & 13
In due time, Shua's daughter, the wife of Y'hudah, died. After Y'hudah had been comforted, he went up to be with his sheep-shearers in Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the 'Adulami. Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law has gone up to Timnah to shear his sheep."
In this passage, we see another death which speaks of disobedience and, because of the disobedience of Y'hudah, his wife died. After his mourning period, he went to shear sheep and it was business as usual. But, Tamar was informed about this and she knew that she had been done wrong.
Genesis 38:14–19
So she took off her widow's clothes, completely covered her face with her veil, and sat at the entrance to 'Einayim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she still was not being given to him as his wife. When Y'hudah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face. So he went over to her where she was sitting and said, not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, "Come, let me sleep with you." She answered, "What will you pay to sleep with me?" He said, "I will send you a kid from the flock of goats." She said, "Will you also give me something as a guarantee until you send it" He answered, "What should I give you as a guarantee?" She said, "Your seal, with its cord, and the staff you're carrying in your hand." So he gave them to her, then went and slept with her; and she conceived by him. She got up and went away, took off her veil and put on her widow's clothes.
We see that Tamar set a plan in motion to fulfill the command to produce an heir. She posed as a prostitute and when Y'hudah saw her he asked for her services. In this we see his continued spiritual descent while we see that Tamar is getting him to do what he should have done before which is to produce an heir. Because he did not have the payment with him, She asked for his signet ring, his prayer shawl, and his staff until he sent the payment. These three things would have been the essence of who he was as a man and yet he gave them up willingly. We see that she immediately conceived and that outcome speaks of the blessing of God and His approval of her actions.
Genesis 38:20–23
Y'hudah sent the kid with his friend the 'Adulami to receive the guarantee items back from the woman, but he couldn't find her. He asked the people near where she had been, "Where is the prostitute who was on the road at 'Einayim?" But they answered, "There hasn't been any prostitute here." So he returned to Y'hudah and said, "I couldn't find her; also the people there said, 'There hasn't been any prostitute here.'" Y'hudah said, "All right, let her keep the things, so that we won't be publicly shamed. I sent the kid, but you didn't find her."
Y'hudah sent the payment so that he could get his guarantee items back but they did not find her and the people in the area said that there had not been any prostitutes in the area. So, to avoid public shame for himself, he decided to let her keep his guarantee items. In this, we see that he knew that what he had done was wrong in the eyes of God so he hoped to keep it hidden.
Genesis 38:24–26
About three months later Y'hudah was told, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has been acting like a whore; moreover, she is pregnant as a result of her prostitution."Y'hudah said, "Bring her out, and let her be burned alive!" When she was brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong. Determine, I beg you, whose these are - the signet, the cords and the staff." Then Y'hudah acknowledged owning them. He said, "She is more righteous than I, because I didn't let her become the wife of my son Shelah." And he never slept with her again.
We see the number three given and are reminded that it involves the earthly display of God's will. At this time, Y'hudah found out that Tamar was pregnant and, as a leader, he decided that she should be put to death for adultery. In this judgement you see his self-righteous attitude as he says that she should die for what he actually did. The items that he had given her were used to bring about the conviction of his sin and he acknowledged that she was right in her actions.
Genesis 38:27–30
When she went into labor, it became evident that she was going to have twins. As she was in labor, one of them put out his hand; and the midwife took his hand and tied a scarlet thread on it, saying, "This one came out first." But then he withdrew his hand, and his brother came out; so she said, "How did you manage to break out first?" Therefore he was named Peretz. Then out came his brother, with the scarlet thread on his hand, and he was given the name Zerach.
In the fact that Tamar was having twins, we see that she received a double portion of God's blessing because she had acted in accordance with the will of God. In the birth of the twins, we see that one stuck out his hand and was marked as the firstborn but the other was born first. We also see that Y'hudah gave them names with the one that was born first was named Peretz which means "burst forth" while the one that had been marked was named Zerach which means "scarlet".