Genesis 38:11 - Exposition

Then said Judah to Tamer his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow — almanah , from alam , to be solitary, forsaken, signifies one bereft of a husband, hence a widow (cf. Exodus 22:21 )— at thy father's house (cf. Le Genesis 22:13 ), till Shelah my son be grown . It is implied that this was merely a pretext on the part of Judah, and that he did not really intend to give his third son to Tamar, considering her an unlucky woman (Delitzsch, Keil, Kalisch), or, at least, not at present, under the impression that the deaths of Er and Onan had been occasioned by their too early marriages (Lange). The reason of his failure to release Tamar from her widowhood is added in the ensuing clause. For he said ( sc . in his heart), Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamer went and dwelt in her father's house.