What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.
Parallel translations
- WEB The thing which he did was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and he killed him also.
- KJV And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.
- NKJV And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.
- NASB But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also.
- NLT But the Lord considered it evil for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So the Lord took Onan’s life, too.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Onan's selfish wickedness displeases the LORD, who also puts him to death.
Overview
God judges Onan's persistent, deceitful refusal to honor his brother and his widow. As with Er, divine judgment underscores that the LORD weighs the heart and acts against entrenched sin. Tamar is left doubly bereaved and increasingly vulnerable.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Num 11:1Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- Gen 46:12The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
- 1 Chr 21:7This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel.
- Num 26:19The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.
- Prov 14:32The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
- Jer 44:4Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’
- Prov 24:18or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him.
- Hag 1:13Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, delivered the message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Sam 11:27And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Num 22:34“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 38:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.