Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”
- KJV And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
- NKJV And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.”
- NASB Then Judah said to Onan, “Have relations with your brother’s wife and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a child for your brother.”
- NLT Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You must produce an heir for your brother.”
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 tells Onan to fulfill the brother-in-law's duty and raise up offspring for the dead Er.
Overview
This levirate custom, later codified in the Law (Deuteronomy 25:5-6), preserved a deceased man's name and inheritance through a child borne by his widow. Judah rightly invokes the duty, reflecting concern for family continuity. The custom safeguards the line through which Messiah would come.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Deut 25:5–10When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
- Matt 22:23–27That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him.
- Ruth 4:5–11Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi and also from Ruth the Moabitess, you must also acquire the widow of the deceased in order to raise up the name of the deceased on his inheritance.”
- Ruth 1:11But Naomi replied, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb to become your husbands?
- Lev 18:16You must not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would shame your brother.
- Num 36:8–9Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any Israelite tribe must marry within a clan of the tribe of her father, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers.
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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 38:8 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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