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". read more
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 immature death caused sorrow. read more
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:" and she was at Chezib when she bare him ; Chezib is the name of a place, by some taken to be the same with Achzib or Ecdippe, now Zib,... read more
And he was at Chezib when she bare him - This town is supposed to be the same with Achzib, which fell to the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:44 . "The name," says Ainsworth, "has in Hebrew the signification of lying; and to it the prophet alludes, saying the houses of Achzib shall be (Achzab) a lie to the kings of Israel, Micah 1:14 ." read more
The house of Judah: a family record of sin and shame. I. THE WICKEDNESS OF ER AND ONAN . 1. Early . On any hypothesis Er and Onan can have been little more than boys when they were married, and yet they appear to have arrived at a remarkable precocity in sin. Nor was it simply that they had shed the innocence and purity of youth, but they had also acquired a shameful proficiency in vice. Young scholars are mostly apt learners, especially in the devil's school. 2.... read more
The goodness and severity of God. These occurrences in the family of Judah would seem Judah is a wanderer from his brethren; a sensual, self-willed, degenerate man; yet it is in the line of this same wanderer that the promised seed shall appear. The whole is a lesson on the evil of separation from the people of God . Luther asks why such things were placed in Scripture, and answers, read more
And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er —"Watcher" (Gesanius). What is commonly regarded as an idiosyncrasy of the Elohist, viz; the naming of a child by its father, here occurs in a so-called Jehovistic section. read more
And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan —"Strength" (Gesenius). The naming of a child by its mother a peculiarity of the so-called Jehovist; but vide Genesis 16:15 . read more
And she yet again conceived (lit; and she added again ) , and bare a son; and called his name Shelah :—"Prayer" (Gesenius), "Peace" (Furst)— and he ( i.e. Judah) was — sc; absent (Gerlach); or, translating impersonally, it was, i.e. the event happened (Murphy)— at Chezib ,—probably the same as Achzib ( Joshua 15:44 ; Micah 1:14 , Micah 1:15 ) and Chezeba ( 1 Chronicles 4:22 ), which in the partitioning of the land fell to the sons of Shelah, and was here mentioned... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 38:1-11
Here is, 1. Judah's foolish friendship with a Canaanite-man. He went down from his brethren, and withdrew for a time from their society and his father's family, and got to be intimately acquainted with one Hirah, an Adullamite, Gen. 38:1. It is computed that he was now not much above fifteen or sixteen years of age, an easy prey to the tempter. Note, When young people that have been well educated begin to change their company, they will soon change their manners, and lose their good education.... read more