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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter XXXVIII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<A NAME="Page217"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G E N E S I S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXVIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter gives us an account of Judah and his family, and such
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an account it is that one would wonder that, of all Jacob's sons,
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our Lord should spring out of Judah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+7:14">Heb. vii. 14</A>.
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If we
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were to form a character of him by this story, we should not say,
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"Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:8"><I>ch.</I> xlix. 8</A>.
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But God will show that his choice is of grace and not of
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merit, and that Christ came into the world to save sinners, even
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the chief, and is not ashamed, upon their repentance, to be allied
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to them, also that the worth and worthiness of Jesus Christ
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are personal, of himself, and not derived from his ancestors.
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Humbling himself to be "made in the likeness of sinful flesh,"
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he was pleased to descend from some that were infamous. How
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little reason had the Jews, who were so called from this Judah,
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to boast, as they did, that they were not born of fornication!
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+8:41">John viii. 41</A>.
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We have, in this chapter,
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I. Judah's marriage
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and issue, and the untimely death of his two eldest sons,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:1-11">ver. 1-11</A>.
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II. Judah's incest with his daughter-in-law Tamar,
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without his knowing it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:12-23">ver. 12-23</A>.
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III. His confusion, when it
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was discovered,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:24-26">ver. 24-26</A>.
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IV. The birth of his twin sons, in
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whom his family was built up,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:27-30">ver. 27</A>,
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&c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge38_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Judah's Profligacy.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1717.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass at that time,
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that Judah went down from his
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brethren, and turned in to a certain
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Adullamite, whose name <I>was</I> Hirah.
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2 And Judah saw there a daughter of
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a certain Canaanite, whose name <I>was</I>
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Shuah; and he took her, and went in
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unto her.
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3 And she conceived, and
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bare a son; and he called his name
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Er.
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4 And she conceived again, and
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bare a son; and she called his name
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Onan.
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5 And she yet again conceived,
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and bare a son; and called his name
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Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when
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she bare him.
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6 And Judah took a
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wife for Er his firstborn, whose name
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<I>was</I> Tamar.
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7 And Er, Judah's firstborn,
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was wicked in the sight of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> slew him.
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8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in
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unto thy brother's wife, and marry
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her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
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9 And Onan knew that the seed should
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not be his; and it came to pass, when
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he went in unto his brother's wife,
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that he spilled <I>it</I> on the ground, lest
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that he should give seed to his brother.
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10 And the thing which he did
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displeased the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: wherefore he
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slew him also.
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11 Then said Judah
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to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain
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a widow at thy father's house, till
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Shelah my son be grown: for he said,
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Lest peradventure he die also, as his
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brethren <I>did.</I> And Tamar went and
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dwelt in her father's house.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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1. Judah's foolish friendship with
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a Canaanite-man. He went down from his
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brethren, and withdrew for a time from their
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society and his father's family, and got to be
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intimately acquainted with one Hirah, an
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Adullamite,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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It is computed that he
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was now not much above fifteen or sixteen
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years of age, an easy prey to the tempter.
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Note, When young people that have been
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well educated begin to change their company,
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they will soon change their manners, and
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lose their good education. Those that go
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down from their brethren, that despise and
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forsake the society of the seed of Israel, and
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pick up Canaanites for their companions, are
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going down the hill apace. It is of great
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consequence to young people to choose proper
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associates; for these they will imitate,
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study to recommend themselves to, and, by
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their opinion of them, value themselves: an
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error in this choice is often fatal.
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2. His
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foolish marriage with a Canaanite-woman, a
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match made, not by his father, who, it
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should seem, was not consulted, but by his
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new friend Hirah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Many have been
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drawn into marriages scandalous and pernicious
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to themselves and their families by
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keeping bad company, and growing familiar
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with bad people: one wicked league entangles
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men in another. Let young people be
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admonished by this to take their good parents
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for their best friends, and to be advised by
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them, and not by flatterers, who wheedle
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them, to make a prey of them.
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3. His children
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by this Canaanite, and his disposal of
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them. Three sons he had by her, Er, Onan,
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and Shelah. It is probable that she embraced
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the worship of the God of Israel, at least in
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profession, but, for aught that appears, there
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was little of the fear of God in the family.
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Judah married too young, and very rashly;
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he also married his sons too young, when
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they had neither wit nor grace to govern
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themselves, and the consequences were very
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bad.
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(1.) His first-born, <I>Er,</I> was notoriously
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wicked; he was so <I>in the sight of the Lord,</I>
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that is, in defiance of God and his law; or,
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if perhaps he was not wicked in the sight of
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the world, he was so in the sight of God, to
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whom all men's wickedness is open; and
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what came of it? Why, God cut him off
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presently
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>The Lord slew him.</I> Note,
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Sometimes God makes quick work with sinners,
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and takes them away in his wrath,
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when they are but just setting out in a wicked
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course of life.
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(2.) The next son, <I>Onan,</I> was,
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according to the ancient usage, married to the
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<A NAME="Page218"> </A>
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widow, to preserve the name of his deceased
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brother that died childless. Though God
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had taken away his life for his wickedness,
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yet they were solicitous to preserve his memory;
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and their disappointment therein,
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through Onan's sin, was a further punishment
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of his wickedness. The custom of
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marrying the brother's widow was afterwards
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made one of the laws of Moses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+25:5">Deut. xxv. 5</A>.
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Onan, though he consented to marry the
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widow, yet, to the great abuse of his own
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body, of the wife that he had married, and of
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the memory of his brother that was gone, he
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refused to raise up seed unto his brother, as
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he was in duty bound. This was so much the
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worse because the Messiah was to descend
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from Judah, and, had he not been guilty of
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this wickedness, he might have had the
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honour of being one of his ancestors. Note,
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Those sins that dishonour the body and defile
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it are very displeasing to God and evidences
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of vile affections.
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(3.) <I>Shelah,</I> the third son,
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was reserved for the widow
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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yet with
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a design that he should not marry so young
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as his brothers had done, <I>lest he die also.</I>
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Some think that Judah never intended to
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marry Shelah to Tamar, but unjustly suspected
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her to have been the death of her two
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former husbands (whereas it was their own
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wickedness that slew them), and then sent her
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to her father's house, with a charge to remain
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a widow. If so, it was an inexcusable piece
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of prevarication that he was guilty of. However,
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Tamar acquiesced for the present,
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and waited the issue.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge38_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge38_23"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 And in process of time the daughter
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of Shuah Judah's wife died; and
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Judah was comforted, and went up
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unto his sheepshearers to Timnath,
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he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
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13 And it was told Tamar,
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saying, Behold thy father in law goeth
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up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
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14 And she put her widow's garments off
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from her, and covered her with a veil,
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and wrapped herself, and sat in an
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open place, which <I>is</I> by the way to
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Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was
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grown, and she was not given unto
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him to wife.
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15 When Judah saw
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her, he thought her <I>to be</I> an harlot;
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because she had covered her face.
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16 And he turned unto her by the way,
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and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me
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come in unto thee; (for he knew not
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that she <I>was</I> his daughter in law.)
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And she said, What wilt thou give
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me, that thou mayest come in unto
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me?
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17 And he said, I will send <I>thee</I>
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a kid from the flock. And she said,
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Wilt thou give <I>me</I> a pledge, till thou
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send <I>it?</I>
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18 And he said, What pledge
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shall I give thee? And she said, Thy
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signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff
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that <I>is</I> in thine hand. And he gave
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<I>it</I> her, and came in unto her, and she
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conceived by him.
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19 And she arose,
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and went away, and laid by her veil
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from her, and put on the garments of
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her widowhood.
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20 And Judah sent
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the kid by the hand of his friend the
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Adullamite, to receive <I>his</I> pledge from
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the woman's hand: but he found her
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not.
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21 Then he asked the men of
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that place, saying, Where <I>is</I> the harlot,
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that <I>was</I> openly by the way side?
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And they said, There was no harlot
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in this <I>place.</I>
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22 And he returned to
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Judah, and said, I cannot find her,
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and also the men of the place said,
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<I>that</I> there was no harlot in this <I>place.</I>
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23 And Judah said, Let her take <I>it</I> to
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her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent
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this kid, and thou hast not found her.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It is a very ill-favoured story that is here
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told concerning Judah; one would not have
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expected such folly in Israel. Judah had
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buried his wife; and widowers have need to
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stand upon their guard with the utmost caution
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and resolution against all fleshly lusts.
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He was unjust to his daughter-in-law, either
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through negligence or design, in not giving
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her his surviving son, and this exposed her
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to temptation.</P>
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<P>
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I. Tamar wickedly prostituted herself as
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a harlot to Judah, that, if the son might not,
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the father might raise up seed to the deceased.
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Some excuse this by suggesting
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that, though she was a Canaanite, yet she
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had embraced the true religion, and believed
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the promise made to Abraham and his seed,
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particularly that of the Messiah, who was to
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descend from the loins of Judah, and that
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she was therefore thus earnestly desirous to
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have a child by one of that family that she
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might have the honour, or at least stand fair
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for the honour, of being the mother of the
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Messiah. And, if this was indeed her desire,
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it had its success; she is one of the
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four women particularly named in the genealogy
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of Christ,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:3">Matt. i. 3</A>.
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Her sinful practice
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was pardoned, and her good intention
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was accepted, which magnifies the grace of
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God, but can by no means be admitted to
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justify or encourage the like. Bishop Patrick
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thinks it probable that she hoped Shelah,
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who was by right her husband, might
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have come along with his father, and that he
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might have been allured to her embraces.
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There was a great deal of plot and contrivance
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in Tamar's sin.
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1. She took an
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opportunity for it, when Judah had a time of
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<A NAME="Page219"> </A>
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mirth and feasting with his sheep-shearers.
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Note, Time of jollity often prove times of
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temptation, particularly to the sin of uncleanness;
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when men are fed to the full, the
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reins are apt to be let loose.
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2. She exposed
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herself as a harlot <I>in an open place,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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Those that are, and would be, chaste, must
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be <I>keepers at home,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Tit+2:5">Tit. ii. 5</A>.
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It should
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seem, it was the custom of harlots, in those
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times, to cover their faces, that, though they
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were not ashamed, yet they might seem to
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be so. The sin of uncleanness did not then
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go so barefaced as it does now.</P>
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<P>
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II. Judah was taken in the snare, and
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though it was ignorantly that he was guilty
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of incest with his daughter-in-law (not knowing
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who she was), yet he was willfully guilty
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of fornication: whoever she was, he knew
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she was not his wife, and therefore not to be
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touched. Nor was his sin capable, in the
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|
least, of such a charitable excuse as some
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make for Tamar, that though the action was
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bad the intention possibly might be good. Observe,
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1. Judah's sin began in the eye
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
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<I>He saw her.</I> Note, Those have eyes, and
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hearts too, full of adultery (as it is
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+2:14">2 Pet. ii. 14</A>),
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that catch at every bait that presents
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itself to them and are as tinder to every
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spark. We have need to make a covenant
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with our eyes, and to turn them from beholding
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vanity, lest the eye infect the heart.
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2. It added to the scandal that the hire of a
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harlot (than which nothing is more infamous)
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was demanded, offered, and accepted--<I>a kid
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from the flock,</I> a goodly price at which her
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chastity and honour were valued! Nay, had
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the consideration been thousands of rams,
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and ten thousand rivers of oil, it had not
|
|
been a valuable consideration. The favour
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|
of God, the purity of the soul, the peace of
|
|
conscience, and the hope of heaven, are too
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|
precious to be exposed to sale at any such
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rates; the Topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal
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|
them: what are those profited that lose their
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souls to gain the world?
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3. It turned to the
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reproach of Judah that he left his jewels in
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pawn for a kid. Note, Fleshly lusts are not
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|
only brutish, but sottish, and ruining to
|
|
men's secular interests. It is plain that
|
|
whoredom, as well as wine, and new wine,
|
|
takes away the heart first, else it would never
|
|
take away the signet and the bracelets.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He lost his jewels by the bargain; he
|
|
sent the kid, according to this promise, to
|
|
redeem his pawn, but the supposed harlot
|
|
could not be found. He sent it by his friend
|
|
(who was indeed his <I>back-friend,</I> because he
|
|
was aiding and abetting in his evil deeds) the
|
|
Adullamite, who came back without the
|
|
pledge. It is a good account (if it be but
|
|
true) of any place which they here gave,
|
|
<I>there is no harlot in this place;</I> for such sinners
|
|
are the scandals and plagues of any
|
|
place. Judah sits down content to lose his
|
|
signet and his bracelets, and forbids his
|
|
friend to make any further enquiry after
|
|
them, giving this reason, <I>lest we be shamed,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
Either,
|
|
|
|
1. Lest his sin should come
|
|
to be known publicly, and be talked of. Fornication
|
|
and uncleanness have ever been
|
|
looked upon as scandalous things and the
|
|
reproach and shame of those that are convicted
|
|
of them. Nothing will make those
|
|
blush that are not ashamed of these.
|
|
|
|
2. Lest he should be laughed at as a fool for
|
|
trusting a strumpet with his signet and his
|
|
bracelets. He expresses no concern about
|
|
the sin, to get that pardoned, only about the
|
|
shame, to prevent that. Note, There are
|
|
many who are more solicitous to preserve
|
|
their reputation with men than to secure the
|
|
favour of God and a good conscience; <I>lest
|
|
we be shamed</I> goes further with them than
|
|
<I>lest we be damned.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge38_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge38_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge38_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge38_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge38_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge38_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge38_30"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Birth of Phares and Zarah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1714.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>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 <I>is</I> with child by whoredom.
|
|
And Judah said, Bring her forth, and
|
|
let her be burnt.
|
|
25 When she <I>was</I>
|
|
brought forth, she sent to her father
|
|
in law, saying, By the man, whose
|
|
these <I>are, am</I> I with child: and she
|
|
said, Discern, I pray thee, whose <I>are</I>
|
|
these, the signet, and bracelets, and
|
|
staff.
|
|
26 And Judah acknowledged
|
|
<I>them,</I> and said, She hath been more
|
|
righteous than I; because that I gave
|
|
her not to Shelah my son. And he
|
|
knew her again no more.
|
|
27 And it
|
|
came to pass in the time of her travail,
|
|
that, behold, twins <I>were</I> in her womb.
|
|
28 And it came to pass, when she travailed,
|
|
that <I>the one</I> put out <I>his</I> hand:
|
|
and the midwife took and bound upon
|
|
his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This
|
|
came out first.
|
|
29 And it came to pass,
|
|
as he drew back his hand, that, behold,
|
|
his brother came out: and she said,
|
|
How hast thou broken forth? <I>this</I>
|
|
breach <I>be</I> upon thee: therefore his
|
|
name was called Pharez.
|
|
30 And
|
|
afterward came out his brother, that
|
|
had the scarlet thread upon his hand:
|
|
and his name was called Zarah.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
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: <I>Bring her forth therefore,</I>
|
|
says Judah, the master of the family, and
|
|
<I>let her be burnt;</I> not burnt to death, but
|
|
burnt in the cheek or forehead, stigmatized
|
|
for a harlot. This seems probable,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page220"> </A>
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:1,14:22">Rom. ii. 1; xiv. 22</A>.
|
|
If he designed that she
|
|
should be burnt to death, perhaps, under
|
|
pretence of zeal against the sin, he was contriving
|
|
how to get rid of his daughter-in-law,
|
|
being loath to marry Shelah to her.
|
|
Note, It is a common thing, but a very bad
|
|
thing, to cover malice against men's persons
|
|
with a show of zeal against their vices.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Judah's shame, when it was made to
|
|
appear that he was the adulterer. She produced
|
|
<I>the ring and the bracelets</I> in court,
|
|
which justified the fathering of the child
|
|
upon Judah,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+38:25,26"><I>v.</I> 25, 26</A>.
|
|
Note, The wickedness
|
|
that has been most secretly committed,
|
|
and most industriously concealed, yet sometimes
|
|
is strangely brought to light, to the
|
|
shame and confusion of those who have said,
|
|
<I>No eye sees.</I> A bird of the air may carry the
|
|
voice; however, there is a destroying day
|
|
coming, when all will be laid open. Some
|
|
of the Jewish writers observe that as Judah
|
|
had said to his father, <I>See, is this thy son's
|
|
coat?</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+37:32"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 32</A>)
|
|
so it was now said to
|
|
him, "See, are these thy signet and bracelets?"
|
|
Judah, being convicted by his own
|
|
conscience,
|
|
|
|
1. Confesses his sin: <I>She has
|
|
been more righteous than I.</I> He owns that a
|
|
perpetual mark of infamy should be fastened
|
|
rather upon him, who had been so much accessory
|
|
to it. Note, Those offenders ought
|
|
to be treated with the greatest tenderness
|
|
to whom we have any way given occasion of
|
|
offending. If servants purloin, and their
|
|
masters, by withholding from them what is
|
|
due, tempt them to it, they ought to forgive
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
2. He never returned to it again:
|
|
<I>He knew her again no more.</I> Note, Those do
|
|
not truly repent of their sins that do not forsake
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The building up of Judah's family
|
|
hereby, notwithstanding, in the birth of
|
|
Pharez and Zarah, from whom descended
|
|
the most considerable families of the illustrious
|
|
tribe of Judah. It should seem, the
|
|
birth was hard to the mother, by which she
|
|
was corrected for her sin. The children
|
|
also, like Jacob and Esau, struggled for the
|
|
birthright, and Pharez obtained it, who is
|
|
ever named first, and from him Christ descended.
|
|
He had his name from his breaking
|
|
forth before his brother: <I>This breach be
|
|
upon thee,</I> which is applicable to those that
|
|
sow discord, and create distance, between
|
|
brethren. The Jews, as Zarah, bade fair for
|
|
the birthright, and were marked with a scarlet
|
|
thread, as those that came out first; but
|
|
the Gentiles, like Pharez, as a son of violence,
|
|
got the start of them, by that violence
|
|
which the kingdom of heaven suffers, and
|
|
attained to the righteousness of which the
|
|
Jews came short. Yet, when the fulness of
|
|
time is come, all Israel shall be saved. Both
|
|
these sons are named in the genealogy of
|
|
our Saviour
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:3">Matt. i. 3</A>),
|
|
to perpetuate the
|
|
story, as an instance of the humiliation of
|
|
our Lord Jesus. Some observe that the
|
|
four eldest sons of Jacob fell under very foul
|
|
guilt, Reuben and Judah under the guilt of
|
|
incest, Simeon and Levi under that of murder;
|
|
yet they were patriarchs, and from Levi
|
|
descended the priests, from Judah the kings
|
|
and Messiah. Thus they became examples
|
|
of repentance, and monuments of pardoning
|
|
mercy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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