Sermon Tone Analysis

Sunday November 12, 2006

Genesis: Genesis 38:1-5-Judah Marries A Canaanite and the Birth of His Three Sons

Lesson # 237

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 38:1.

On Thursday, we began a study of Genesis 38 by noting Genesis 38:1, which records Judah leaving his brothers in Dothan and heading back home to Hebron to see his father Jacob but instead turns aside and comes into contact with a man named Hirah who lived in the city of Adullam.

This morning we will study Genesis 38:2-5, which records Judah marrying a Canaanite woman who bears him three sons named Er, Onan and Shelah.

Let’s begin by reading the entire chapter and then we will look at in detail Genesis 38:2-5.

Genesis 38:1, “And it came about at that time, that Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.”

Genesis 38:2, “Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her and went in to her.”

Genesis 38:3, “So she conceived and bore a son and he named him Er.”

Genesis 38:4, “Then she conceived again and bore a son and named him Onan.”

Genesis 38:5, “She bore still another son and named him Shelah; and it was at Chezib that she bore him.”

Genesis 38:6, “Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.”

Genesis 38:7, “But Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD took his life.”

Genesis 38:8, “Then Judah said to Onan, ‘Go in to your brother's wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.’”

Genesis 38:9, “Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother's wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother.”

Genesis 38:10, “But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD; so He took his life also.”

Genesis 38:11, “Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, ‘Remain a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up’; for he thought, ‘I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.’

So Tamar went and lived in her father's house.”

Genesis 38:12, “Now after a considerable time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.”

Genesis 38:13, “It was told to Tamar, ‘Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.’”

Genesis 38:14, “So she removed her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife.”

Genesis 38:15, “When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face.”

Genesis 38:16, “So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, ‘Here now, let me come in to you’; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

And she said, ‘What will you give me, that you may come in to me?’”

Genesis 38:17, “He said, therefore, ‘I will send you a young goat from the flock.’

She said, moreover, ‘Will you give a pledge until you send it?’”

Genesis 38:18, “He said, ‘What pledge shall I give you?’

And she said, ‘Your seal 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.”

Genesis 38:19, “Then she arose and departed, and removed her veil and put on her widow's garments.”

Genesis 38:20, “When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her.”

Genesis 38:21, “He asked the men of her place, saying, ‘Where is the temple prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?’

But they said, ‘There has been no temple prostitute here.’”

Genesis 38:22, “So he returned to Judah, and said, "I did not find her; and furthermore, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no temple prostitute here.’”

Genesis 38:23, “Then Judah said, ‘Let her keep them, otherwise we will become a laughingstock.

After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.’”

Genesis 38:24, “Now it was about three months later that Judah was informed, ‘Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot, and behold, she is also with child by harlotry.’

Then Judah said, ‘Bring her out and let her be burned!’”

Genesis 38:25, “It was while she was being brought out that she sent to her father-in-law, saying, ‘I am with child by the man to whom these things belong.’

And she said, ‘Please examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?’”

Genesis 38:26, “Judah recognized them, and said, ‘She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.’

And he did not have relations with her again.”

Genesis 38:27, “It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were twins in her womb.”

Genesis 38:28, “Moreover, it took place while she was giving birth, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, ‘This one came out first.’”

Genesis 38:29, “But it came about as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out.

Then she said, ‘What a breach you have made for yourself!’

So he was named Perez.”

Genesis 38:30, “Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named Zerah.”

Now, let’s begin to look at in detail Genesis 38:2-5, which records Judah’s marriage to a Canaanite and the birth of his three sons.

Genesis 38:1, “And it came about at that time, that Judah departed from his brothers and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.”

Genesis 38:2, “Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her and went in to her.”

“Judah” (hd*Why+) (yehudhah) (yeh-hoo-daw) was the fourth child that Leah bore to Jacob and his name means, “I will praise the Lord” according to Genesis 29:35 and the Lord Jesus Christ in His human nature descended from him.

Hebrews 7:14, “For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah.”

“Saw” is the verb ra’ah (ha*r*) (raw-aw), which refers to Judah’s physical attraction to this unidentified Canaanite woman whose father was named Shua.

“Took” is the verb laqach (jq^l*) (law-kakh), which refers to marriage and the phrase “went in” is the verb bo (aw)B), which refers to consummating the marriage through sexual intercourse.

Usually in Scripture when the verb laqach is used in the context of marriage, it does not appear with ra’ah, “to see” (See Genesis 24:4, 67; 25:1, 20; 26:34).

The fact that the verb ra’ah is employed in this passage emphasizes that Judah married this unidentified Canaanite woman based upon his physical attraction to her or sexual lust for her rather than based upon her godly character.

Together, these verbs ra’ah, “saw” laqach, “took” and bo, “went in” imply that Judah married this unidentified Canaanite woman based upon sexual lust for her physical body.

These verbs ra’ah, “saw” laqach, “took” and bo, “went in” emphasize that like his father Jacob who chose to marry Rachel based upon her physical beauty rather than her character, so Judah marries this unidentified Canaanite woman based upon his physical attraction to her or sexual lust rather than her spiritual or godly character.

The Word of God reveals that like his father Jacob who chose Rachel based solely upon looks and did not take into consideration her character as Abraham’s servant Eliezer did when selecting Rebekah for Isaac so Judah chose this unidentified Canaanite woman based upon sexual lust.

Proverbs 12:4, “A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.”

Proverbs 31:10, “A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.”

Judah’s Canaanite wife is identified as being the daughter of a Canaanite man named “Shua,” which is the proper noun shua` (u^Wv) (shoo-ah), which means, “wealth.”

1 Chronicles 2:3 identifies the name of Judah’s Canaanite wife as being “Bathshua,” which is the proper noun bath-shua (u^Wv-tB!)

(bath-shoo-ah), which means, “daughter of wealth.”

Her name is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:3 for historical purposes whereas her name is omitted in Genesis 38:2 to indicate God’s disapproval of Judah’s marriage to this Canaanite woman.

The name of Judah’s Canaanite wife is omitted indicating that she was an unbeliever and God prohibits believers like Judah from marrying an unbeliever like this Canaanite woman who are children of the devil.

2 Corinthians 6:14-15, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?”

Also, the name of Judah’s Canaanite wife is omitted because God prohibited Jacob’s sons from intermarrying with the Canaanites (See Genesis 9:24-27; 24:3; 26:34-35; 28:1).

Genesis 9:25, “So he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.’”

Furthermore, the name of Judah’s Canaanite wife is omitted because God totally disapproved of her godless character, which is manifested in that all three of the sons that she bore Judah were rejected by God from carrying on Judah’s patriarchal line.

In fact, two of the three boys that this woman bore to Judah were notoriously wicked in the eyes of God and were killed by God!

By marrying an unbeliever, Judah is solving his problem of being unmarried by going to the cosmic system of Satan, the devil’s world and is therefore operating in unbelief since he is not trusting God to provide a wife for him.

Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the LORD.”

Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.”

Genesis 38:3, “So she conceived and bore a son and he named him Er.”

A comparison of the verbs in Genesis 38:2 with 38:3 indicates that Judah and this Canaanite woman named Bath-shua only related to each other sexually and in no other way since the text does not say anything about their relationship.

Judah’s relationship to this Canaanite woman is described in Genesis 38:2 with the verbs, he saw her, he marries her, he has sexual intercourse with her whereas the relationship of Judah’s wife to him is described in Genesis 38:3 with the verbs, she conceives, bears a son and names the child.

The name of Judah’s first son is “Er” (ru@) (ayr), which means, “one who watches.”

Genesis 38:4, “Then she conceived again and bore a son and named him Onan.”

The name of Judah’s second son is “Onan” (/n*w)a) (o-nawn), which means, “vigorous.”

Genesis 38:5, “She bore still another son and named him Shelah; and it was at Chezib that she bore him.”

The name of Judah’s third son is “Shelah” (hl*v@) (shay-law), which may mean, “drawn out (of the womb).”

The birthplace of Shelah is identified as being at “Chezib” (byw!K+) (kez-eeb), which means, “false” and was located southwest of Adullam.

The birthplace of Judah’s first two sons are not given, however the birthplace of his third son Shelah “is mentioned for the definite information of the descendants of Shelah of the tribe of Judah (Numbers 26:20), that they might know their birthplace or ancestral city” (H.C.

Leupold, Exposition of Genesis, volume 2, pages 978-79; Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI).

Since Er and Onan died without offspring, no further notice is taken of them, however, Shelah lived to have a family, and therefore his birthplace is recorded as at Chezib, or Achzib, in the southern lowlands of Judah (Joshua 15:44; Micah 1:14).