Genesis 38:20-39:10 NIV

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 38:19-23

"And she arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not. Then he asked the men of the place, saying, Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There hath been no prostitute here. And he returned to Judah, and said, I have not found her; and also the men of the place said,... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 38:12-30

When Judah deceived Jacob (Genesis 37:31-32), a goat and an item of clothing featured in the trick, and here a goat and an item of clothing again figure in Tamar’s deception of Judah. Tamar’s strategy for obtaining her right was not commendable. She played the role of a common whore (Heb. zona). Judah’s Canaanite friend described her as a shrine prostitute later (Genesis 38:21, Heb. qedesa), but he probably said this to elevate her social status in the eyes of the other men he was addressing.... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 38:1-30

The History of JudahThe sins recorded in this chapter testify eloquently to the great need the world had of the Greatest of the descendants of Judah, who came to teach the virtue of purity and the sanctity of family life. The honesty and truthfulness of the historian are shown in his not concealing the dark spots in the history of Judah, whose descendants attained to such greatness. The direct purpose of the narrative is to show the ancestry of David, who was descended from Pharez the son of... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Genesis 38:1-30

CHAPTER 38 Judah and Tamar 1. Judah’s marriage to the Canaanitish woman (Genesis 38:1-2 ) 2. His sons: Er, Onan and Shelah (Genesis 38:3-5 ) 3. Tamar married to Er and Onan (Genesis 38:6-10 ) 4. Tamar waiting for Shelah (Genesis 38:11 ) 5. Her deception and Judah’s sin (Genesis 38:12-16 ) 6. The birth of Pharez and Zarah (Genesis 38:27-30 ) Historically this chapter comes before the thirty-seventh. The higher critics are one against the other in their unbelieving speculations over... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Genesis 38:20

38:20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his {f} friend the Adullamite, to receive [his] pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.(f) That his wickedness might not be known to others. read more

L.M. Grant

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 38:1-30

The story of Joseph is interrupted in this chapter to expose the shamefulness of an important part of Judah's history. We have seen that Judah took the lead in selling Joseph as a slave. In fact, in every relationship of Judah his shame and dishonor is evident. He sold his brother, he deceived his father, he married a Canaanite wife, he had both his sons killed by the Lord for wickedness, he deceived his daughter-in-law when promising his son Shelah to her, then had two sons by the same... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Genesis 38:1-30

JOSEPH ’S HISTORY DISPENSATIONAL ASPECT OF JACOB’S HISTORY Following F.W. Grant in the Numerical Bible, the life of Jacob gives as its lesson the story of that discipline by which the Spirit of God brings us from weakness to power, from nature’s strength to that wholesome weakness in which alone is strength. But for this, natural strength must be crippled, which is provided for in two ways: in allowing us to realize the power of another nature (Esau) and in the direct dealing of God with our... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Genesis 38:17-21

I wish the same answer could be made of many a place now. read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Genesis 38:12-23

Judah Becomes Guilty of Incest v. 12. And in process of time, after many days had elapsed, after some years, the daughter of Shuah, Judah's wife, died; and Judah was comforted, after the usual period of mourning, and went up unto his sheep-shearers to Timnath, not the town in the Philistine plain, but that in the mountains of Judah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite. The occasion of the shearing of the sheep was always a great festival for the shepherds, and Judah, after the days of... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - Genesis 38:1-30

SECOND SECTIONJudah’s temporary separation (probably in sadness on account of the deed). His sons. Thamar. Genesis 38:1-301And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down, from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah [noble, free]. 2And Judah saw there the daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah [cry for help]; and he took her, and went in unto her. 3And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er [עֶר, watcher]. 4And she... read more