Verse 9
Genesis 38:9
New Living Translation
9
But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he spilled the semen on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong to his brother.
Original Language Text
hebrew
וַ/יֵּ֣דַע אוֹנָ֔ן כִּ֛י לֹּ֥א ל֖/וֹ יִהְיֶ֣ה הַ/זָּ֑רַע וְ/הָיָ֞ה אִם בָּ֨א אֶל אֵ֤שֶׁת אָחִי/ו֙ וְ/שִׁחֵ֣ת אַ֔רְצָ/ה לְ/בִלְתִּ֥י נְתָן זֶ֖רַע לְ/אָחִֽי/ו
English Translation
And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and if he went in to his brother’s wife and wasted the earth, he would not give seed to his brother.
AI translation from hebrew via gpt-4o-mini
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Chapter 38 Context
1
About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he stayed with a man named Hirah.
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2
There he saw a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her. When he slept with her,
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3
she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er.
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4
Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan.
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5
And when she gave birth to a third son, she named him Shelah. At the time of Shelah’s birth, they we...
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6
In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar.
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7
But Er was a wicked man in the LORD’s sight, so the LORD took his life.
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8
Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a m...
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9
But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercour...
10
But the LORD considered it evil for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So the LORD took Onan’...
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11
Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Go back to your parents’ home and remain a widow unt...
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12
Some years later Judah’s wife died. After the time of mourning was over, Judah and his friend Hirah...
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13
Someone told Tamar, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
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14
Tamar was aware that Shelah had grown up, but no arrangements had been made for her to come and marr...
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15
Judah noticed her and thought she was a prostitute, since she had covered her face.
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16
So he stopped and propositioned her. “Let me have sex with you,” he said, not realizing that she was...
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17
“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah promised. “But what will you give me to guarantee...
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18
“What kind of guarantee do you want?” he replied. She answered, “Leave me your identification seal a...
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19
Afterward she went back home, took off her veil, and put on her widow’s clothing as usual.
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20
Later Judah asked his friend Hirah the Adullamite to take the young goat to the woman and to pick up...
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21
So he asked the men who lived there, “Where can I find the shrine prostitute who was sitting beside...
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22
So Hirah returned to Judah and told him, “I couldn’t find her anywhere, and the men of the village c...
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23
“Then let her keep the things I gave her,” Judah said. “I sent the young goat as we agreed, but you...
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24
About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has acted like a prostitute....
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25
But as they were taking her out to kill her, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “The man wh...
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26
Judah recognized them immediately and said, “She is more righteous than I am, because I didn’t arran...
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27
When the time came for Tamar to give birth, it was discovered that she was carrying twins.
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28
While she was in labor, one of the babies reached out his hand. The midwife grabbed it and tied a sc...
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29
But then he pulled back his hand, and out came his brother! “What!” the midwife exclaimed. “How did...
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30
Then the baby with the scarlet string on his wrist was born, and he was named Zerah.
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