Genesis 38:24

And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
three	כְּמִשְׁלֹ֣שׁ ke.mish.Losh	H7969	three · preposition + preposition + cardinal number, both genders singular construct
months	חֳדָשִׁ֗ים cho.da.Shim	H2320	the new moon · noun, common masculine plural absolute
told	וַיֻּגַּ֨ד vai.yu.Gad	H5046	properly · conjunction + verb, hophal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Judah	לִֽיהוּדָ֤ה li.hu.Dah	H3063	Jehudah (or Judah) · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
saying	לֵֽאמֹר֙ le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Tamar	תָּמָ֣ר ta.Mar	H8559	Tamar · proper noun, a woman's name
law	כַּלָּתֶ֔ךָ ka.la.Te.kha	H3618	a bride (as if perfect) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
harlot	זָֽנְתָה֙ za.ne.Tah	H2181	to commit adultery (usually of the female · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
child	הָרָ֖ה ha.Rah	H2030	pregnant · adjective, feminine singular absolute
whoredom	לִזְנוּנִ֑ים liz.nu.Nim	H2183	adultery · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Judah	יְהוּדָ֔ה ye.hu.Dah	H3063	Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
forth	הוֹצִיא֖וּהָ ho.tzi.'U.ha	H3318	to go (causatively · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
burnt	וְתִשָּׂרֵֽף ve.ti.sa.Ref	H8313	to be (causatively · conjunction + verb, niphal, 3rd person feminine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Leviticus 21:9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
Judges 19:2 And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Beth-lehem-judah, and was there four whole…
Ezekiel 23:5 And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
Ezekiel 23:19 Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
Ezekiel 23:44 Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women…
Hosea 2:5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me…
Genesis 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for sh…
Genesis 20:7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, k…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 38:24–end

Here is, I. Judah's rigour against Tamar, when he heard she was an adulteress. She was, in the eye of the law, Shelah's wife, and therefore her being with child by another was looked upon as an injury and reproach to Judah's family: Bring her forth therefore, says Judah, the master of the family, and let her be burnt; not burnt to death, but burnt in the cheek or forehead, stigmatized for a harlot. This seems probable, Gen 38:24. Note, it is a common thing for men to be severe against those very sins in others in which yet they allow themselves; and so, in judging others, they condemn themselves, Rom 2:1; Rom 14:22. If he designed that she should be burnt to death, perhaps, under pretence of…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 38:24

Bring her forth, and let her be burnt--In patriarchal times fathers seem to have possessed the power of life and death over the members of their families. The crime of adultery was anciently punished in many places by burning (Lev 21:9; Jdg 15:6; Jer 29:22). This chapter contains details, which probably would never have obtained a place in the inspired record, had it not been to exhibit the full links of the chain that connects the genealogy of the Saviour with Abraham; and in the disreputable character of the ancestry who figure in this passage, we have a remarkable proof that "He made himself of no reputation" [Phi 2:7]. Next: Genesis Chapter 39

Adam Clarke on Genesis 38:24

Bring her forth, and let her be burnt - As he had ordered Tamar to live as a widow in her own father's house till his son Shelah should be marriageable, he considers her therefore as the wife of his son; and as Shelah was not yet given to her, and she is found with child, she is reputed by him as an adulteress, and burning, it seems, was anciently the punishment of this crime. Judah, being a patriarch or head of a family, had, according to the custom of those times, the supreme magisterial authority over all the branches of his own family; therefore he only acts here in his juridical capacity. How strange that in the very place where adultery was punished by the most violent death, prostitut…

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Dictionary and topics

Pharez — Breach, the elder of the twin sons of Judah (Gen. 38:29). From him the royal line of David sprang (Ruth 4:18-22). “The chief of all the captains of the host” was of the children of Perez (1 Chr.…
Punishments — The earliest theory of punishment current among mankind is doubtless the one of simple retaliation, “blood for blood.” Viewed historically, the first case of punishment for crime mentioned in…
Tamar — Palm. (1.) A place mentioned by Ezekiel (47:19; 48:28), on the southeastern border of Palestine. Some suppose this was “Tadmor” (q.v.). (2.) The daughter-in-law of Judah, to whose eldest son, Er, she…
Adultery · PENALTIES FOR — PENALTIES FOR
Children · Power of parents over, during the patriarchal age — Power of parents over, during the patriarchal age
Judah · .His incest with his daughter-in-law — .His incest with his daughter-in-law
Patriarchal Government · Exercised in: Acting as judges — Exercised in: Acting as judges
Punishments · Capital kinds of: Burning — Capital kinds of: Burning
Rulers · . — .
Tamar · 1. Wife of the — 1. Wife of the

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 38:24

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 38:24–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 38:24

Adam Clarke on Genesis 38:24

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 38:24

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 38:24–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 38:24

Adam Clarke on Genesis 38:24

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 38:24

John Calvin on Genesis 38:24-25

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 38:12–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 38:24-26

Rashi on Genesis 38:9