Genesis 38:20-22 NIV,NKJV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 38:12-23

It is a very ill-favoured story that is here told concerning Judah; one would not have expected such folly in Israel. Judah had buried his wife; and widowers have need to stand upon their guard with the utmost caution and resolution against all fleshly lusts. He was unjust to his daughter-in-law, either through negligence or design, in not giving her his surviving son, and this exposed her to temptation. I. Tamar wickedly prostituted herself as a harlot to Judah, that, if the son might not,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 38:20

And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite ,.... Who went with him to Timnath, and was privy to all this wickedness, and kept the secret; but would have acted the more friendly and faithful part had he dissuaded him from it: him he employed to carry the kid he had promised, and not any of his servants, for the greater secrecy: and to receive his pledge from the woman's hand ; his signet, bracelets, and staff, or whatever they were: but he found her not ; she... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 38:21

Then he asked the men of that place ,.... Or "of her place" F4 אנשי מקמה "viros loci ejus, scil mulieris", Piscator, Schimdt. , of the woman's place, supposing that she dwelt somewhere thereabout: saying, where is the harlot that was openly by the wayside ? that sat there very publicly some little time ago: the word for "harlot" F5 הקדשה comes from another, which signifies to sanctify or separate to holy uses; and harlots were so called, either by an antiphrasis, by... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 38:22

And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her ,.... That is, the Adullamite returned to him, and informed him that he could not find the harlot to whom he was sent to deliver the kid and receive the pledge, after he had made the strictest inquiry for her he could: and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place ; by which it appears, that near the place where Tamar was, there was a town or city, and which was so free from such infamous persons, that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 38:21

Where is the harlot that was openly by the wayside? - Our translators often render different Hebrew words by the same term in English, and thus many important shades of meaning, which involve traits of character, are lost. In Genesis 38:15 , Tamar is called a harlot, זונה zonah , which, as we have already seen, signifies a person who prostitutes herself for money. In this verse she is called a harlot in our version; but the original is not זונה but קדשה kedeshah , a holy or... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 38:20

Verse 20 20.And Judah sent the kid. He sends by the hand of a friend, that he may not reveal his ignominy to a stranger. This is also the reason why he does not dare to complain of the lost pledges, lest he should expose himself to ridicule. For I do not approve the sense given, by some, to the words, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed, as if Judah would excuse himself, as having fulfilled the promise he had given. Another meaning is far more suitable; namely, that Judah would rather... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:1-30

The house of Judah: a family record of sin and shame. I. THE WICKEDNESS OF ER AND ONAN . 1. Early . On any hypothesis Er and Onan can have been little more than boys when they were married, and yet they appear to have arrived at a remarkable precocity in sin. Nor was it simply that they had shed the innocence and purity of youth, but they had also acquired a shameful proficiency in vice. Young scholars are mostly apt learners, especially in the devil's school. 2.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:1-30

The goodness and severity of God. These occurrences in the family of Judah would seem Judah is a wanderer from his brethren; a sensual, self-willed, degenerate man; yet it is in the line of this same wanderer that the promised seed shall appear. The whole is a lesson on the evil of separation from the people of God . Luther asks why such things were placed in Scripture, and answers, read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:12-26

Judah's sin with Tamar. I. COMMITTED . 1. Suddenly . It was occasioned by the sight of a supposed courtesan. Much evil enters by the eye (cf. 2 Samuel 11:2 ). Great need for the prayer of David ( Psalms 119:37 ). 2. Openly . Judah was in the company of Hirah, his friend, when he beheld Tamar sitting in the gate of Enajim, and, without attempting to hide it from his friend, went to seek her society. Shamelessness in sin betokens great depravity. 3. Willfully . ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:20

And Judah sent the kid —literally, the kid of the goats, which he had promised ( Genesis 38:17 )— by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand : but (literally, and) he ( i.e. Hirah) found her not. read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 38:12-23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 38:20

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 38:21

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 38:22

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 38:21

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 38:20

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:1-30

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:1-30

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:12-26

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:20

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