There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.
Parallel translations
- WEB Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her, and went in to her.
- KJV And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.
- NKJV And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went in to her.
- NASB Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her as a wife and had relations with her.
- NLT There he saw a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her. When he slept with her,
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
Judah marries a Canaanite woman, ignoring his family's concern to avoid such unions.
Overview
Abraham and Isaac had both taken care that their sons not marry Canaanites, yet Judah does so casually. The quick, undescribed union signals Judah's drift from his fathers' covenant convictions. God will nevertheless weave even this compromised marriage into His redemptive purposes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Chr 2:3The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, who put him to death.
- Gen 24:3and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling,
- Gen 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
- 2 Sam 11:2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
- Judg 14:2So he returned and told his father and mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”
- Judg 16:1One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute and went in to spend the night with her.
- Gen 6:2the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.
- 2 Cor 6:14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- Gen 6:4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.
- 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.
- Gen 34:2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.
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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 38:2 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
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