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.”
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.
- BSB 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.”
- 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.”
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 25:5–10If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies, and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her, and take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.
- Matt 22:23–27On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him,
- Ruth 4:5–11Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you must buy it also from Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance.”
- Ruth 1:11Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
- Lev 18:16“‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. It is your brother’s nakedness.
- Num 36:8–9Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each 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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