mh_parser/vol_split/1 - Genesis/Chapter 38.xml

<div2 id="Gen.xxxix" n="xxxix" next="Gen.xl" prev="Gen.xxxviii" progress="25.24%" title="Chapter XXXVIII">
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<h2 id="Gen.xxxix-p0.1">G E N E S I S</h2>
<h3 id="Gen.xxxix-p0.2">CHAP. XXXVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Gen.xxxix-p1">This chapter gives us an account of Judah and his
family, and such an account it is that one would wonder that, of
all Jacob's sons, our Lord should spring out of Judah, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.7.14" parsed="|Heb|7|14|0|0" passage="Heb 7:14">Heb. vii. 14</scripRef>. If we were to form a
character of him by this story, we should not say, "Judah, thou art
he whom thy brethren shall praise," <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.8" parsed="|Gen|49|8|0|0" passage="Ge 49:8"><i>ch.</i> xlix. 8</scripRef>. But God will show that his
choice is of grace and not of merit, and that Christ came into the
world to save sinners, even the chief, and is not ashamed, upon
their repentance, to be allied to them, also that the worth and
worthiness of Jesus Christ are personal, of himself, and not
derived from his ancestors. Humbling himself to be "made in the
likeness of sinful flesh," he was pleased to descend from some that
were infamous. How little reason had the Jews, who were so called
from this Judah, to boast, as they did, that they were not born of
fornication! <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:John.8.41" parsed="|John|8|41|0|0" passage="Joh 8:41">John viii. 41</scripRef>.
We have, in this chapter, I. Judah's marriage and issue, and the
untimely death of his two eldest sons, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.1-Gen.38.11" parsed="|Gen|38|1|38|11" passage="Ge 38:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>. II. Judah's incest with his
daughter-in-law Tamar, without his knowing it, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.12-Gen.38.23" parsed="|Gen|38|12|38|23" passage="Ge 38:12-23">ver. 12-23</scripRef>. III. His confusion, when it
was discovered, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.24-Gen.38.26" parsed="|Gen|38|24|38|26" passage="Ge 38:24-26">ver.
24-26</scripRef>. IV. The birth of his twin sons, in whom his
family was built up, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.27-Gen.38.30" parsed="|Gen|38|27|38|30" passage="Ge 38:27-30">ver.
27</scripRef>, &amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Gen.xxxix-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38" parsed="|Gen|38|0|0|0" passage="Ge 38" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Gen.xxxix-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.1-Gen.38.11" parsed="|Gen|38|1|38|11" passage="Ge 38:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.38.1-Gen.38.11">
<h4 id="Gen.xxxix-p1.10">Judah's Profligacy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxix-p1.11">b. c.</span> 1717.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxxix-p2">1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah
went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite,
whose name <i>was</i> Hirah.   2 And Judah saw there a
daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name <i>was</i> Shuah; and
he took her, and went in unto her.   3 And she conceived, and
bare a son; and he called his name Er.   4 And she conceived
again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.   5 And
she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name
Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.   6 And Judah
took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name <i>was</i> Tamar.
  7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxix-p2.1">Lord</span>; and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxix-p2.2">Lord</span> slew him.   8 And Judah said unto
Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up
seed to thy brother.   9 And Onan knew that the seed should
not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's
wife, that he spilled <i>it</i> on the ground, lest that he should
give seed to his brother.   10 And the thing which he did
displeased the <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxix-p2.3">Lord</span>: wherefore he
slew him also.   11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in
law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be
grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren
<i>did.</i> And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxix-p3">Here is, 1. Judah's foolish friendship with
a Canaanite-man. He went down from his brethren, and withdrew for a
time from their society and his father's family, and got to be
intimately acquainted with one Hirah, an Adullamite, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.1" parsed="|Gen|38|1|0|0" passage="Ge 38:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. It is computed that he
was now not much above fifteen or sixteen years of age, an easy
prey to the tempter. Note, When young people that have been well
educated begin to change their company, they will soon change their
manners, and lose their good education. Those that go down from
their brethren, that despise and forsake the society of the seed of
Israel, and pick up Canaanites for their companions, are going down
the hill apace. It is of great consequence to young people to
choose proper associates; for these they will imitate, study to
recommend themselves to, and, by their opinion of them, value
themselves: an error in this choice is often fatal. 2. His foolish
marriage with a Canaanite-woman, a match made, not by his father,
who, it should seem, was not consulted, but by his new friend
Hirah, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.2" parsed="|Gen|38|2|0|0" passage="Ge 38:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Many
have been drawn into marriages scandalous and pernicious to
themselves and their families by keeping bad company, and growing
familiar with bad people: one wicked league entangles men in
another. Let young people be admonished by this to take their good
parents for their best friends, and to be advised by them, and not
by flatterers, who wheedle them, to make a prey of them. 3. His
children by this Canaanite, and his disposal of them. Three sons he
had by her, Er, Onan, and Shelah. It is probable that she embraced
the worship of the God of Israel, at least in profession, but, for
aught that appears, there was little of the fear of God in the
family. Judah married too young, and very rashly; he also married
his sons too young, when they had neither wit nor grace to govern
themselves, and the consequences were very bad. (1.) His
first-born, <i>Er,</i> was notoriously wicked; he was so <i>in the
sight of the Lord,</i> that is, in defiance of God and his law; or,
if perhaps he was not wicked in the sight of the world, he was so
in the sight of God, to whom all men's wickedness is open; and what
came of it? Why, God cut him off presently (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.7" parsed="|Gen|38|7|0|0" passage="Ge 38:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>The Lord slew him.</i> Note,
Sometimes God makes quick work with sinners, and takes them away in
his wrath, when they are but just setting out in a wicked course of
life. (2.) The next son, <i>Onan,</i> was, according to the ancient
usage, married to the

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widow, to preserve the
name of his deceased brother that died childless. Though God had
taken away his life for his wickedness, yet they were solicitous to
preserve his memory; and their disappointment therein, through
Onan's sin, was a further punishment of his wickedness. The custom
of marrying the brother's widow was afterwards made one of the laws
of Moses, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.25.5" parsed="|Deut|25|5|0|0" passage="De 25:5">Deut. xxv. 5</scripRef>.
Onan, though he consented to marry the widow, yet, to the great
abuse of his own body, of the wife that he had married, and of the
memory of his brother that was gone, he refused to raise up seed
unto his brother, as he was in duty bound. This was so much the
worse because the Messiah was to descend from Judah, and, had he
not been guilty of this wickedness, he might have had the honour of
being one of his ancestors. Note, Those sins that dishonour the
body and defile it are very displeasing to God and evidences of
vile affections. (3.) <i>Shelah,</i> the third son, was reserved
for the widow (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.11" parsed="|Gen|38|11|0|0" passage="Ge 38:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>), yet with a design that he should not marry so young
as his brothers had done, <i>lest he die also.</i> Some think that
Judah never intended to marry Shelah to Tamar, but unjustly
suspected her to have been the death of her two former husbands
(whereas it was their own wickedness that slew them), and then sent
her to her father's house, with a charge to remain a widow. If so,
it was an inexcusable piece of prevarication that he was guilty of.
However, Tamar acquiesced for the present, and waited the
issue.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxxix-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.12-Gen.38.23" parsed="|Gen|38|12|38|23" passage="Ge 38:12-23" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.38.12-Gen.38.23">
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxxix-p4">12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah
Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his
sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
  13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law
goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.   14 And she put her
widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and
wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which <i>is</i> by the
way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not
given unto him to wife.   15 When Judah saw her, he thought
her <i>to be</i> an harlot; because she had covered her face.
  16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I
pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she
<i>was</i> his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give
me, that thou mayest come in unto me?   17 And he said, I will
send <i>thee</i> a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give
<i>me</i> a pledge, till thou send <i>it?</i>   18 And he
said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and
thy bracelets, and thy staff that <i>is</i> in thine hand. And he
gave <i>it</i> her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
  19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from
her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.   20 And Judah
sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive
<i>his</i> pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.
  21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where
<i>is</i> the harlot, that <i>was</i> openly by the way side? And
they said, There was no harlot in this <i>place.</i>   22 And
he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her, and also the men
of the place said, <i>that</i> there was no harlot in this
<i>place.</i>   23 And Judah said, Let her take <i>it</i> to
her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not
found her.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxix-p5">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxix-p6">I. Tamar wickedly prostituted herself as a
harlot to Judah, that, if the son might not, the father might raise
up seed to the deceased. Some excuse this by suggesting that,
though she was a Canaanite, yet she had embraced the true religion,
and believed the promise made to Abraham and his seed, particularly
that of the Messiah, who was to descend from the loins of Judah,
and that she was therefore thus earnestly desirous to have a child
by one of that family that she might have the honour, or at least
stand fair for the honour, of being the mother of the Messiah. And,
if this was indeed her desire, it had its success; she is one of
the four women particularly named in the genealogy of Christ,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.1.3" parsed="|Matt|1|3|0|0" passage="Mt 1:3">Matt. i. 3</scripRef>. Her sinful
practice was pardoned, and her good intention was accepted, which
magnifies the grace of God, but can by no means be admitted to
justify or encourage the like. Bishop Patrick thinks it probable
that she hoped Shelah, who was by right her husband, might have
come along with his father, and that he might have been allured to
her embraces. There was a great deal of plot and contrivance in
Tamar's sin. 1. She took an opportunity for it, when Judah had a
time of

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mirth and feasting with his
sheep-shearers. Note, Time of jollity often prove times of
temptation, particularly to the sin of uncleanness; when men are
fed to the full, the reins are apt to be let loose. 2. She exposed
herself as a harlot <i>in an open place,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.14" parsed="|Gen|38|14|0|0" passage="Ge 38:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. Those that are, and would be,
chaste, must be <i>keepers at home,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Titus.2.5" parsed="|Titus|2|5|0|0" passage="Tit 2:5">Tit. ii. 5</scripRef>. It should seem, it was the custom
of harlots, in those times, to cover their faces, that, though they
were not ashamed, yet they might seem to be so. The sin of
uncleanness did not then go so barefaced as it does now.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxix-p7">II. Judah was taken in the snare, and
though it was ignorantly that he was guilty of incest with his
daughter-in-law (not knowing who she was), yet he was willfully
guilty of fornication: whoever she was, he knew she was not his
wife, and therefore not to be touched. Nor was his sin capable, in
the least, of such a charitable excuse as some make for Tamar, that
though the action was bad the intention possibly might be good.
Observe, 1. Judah's sin began in the eye (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.15" parsed="|Gen|38|15|0|0" passage="Ge 38:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>He saw her.</i> Note, Those
have eyes, and hearts too, full of adultery (as it is <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.2.14" parsed="|2Pet|2|14|0|0" passage="2Pe 2:14">2 Pet. ii. 14</scripRef>), that catch at every
bait that presents itself to them and are as tinder to every spark.
We have need to make a covenant with our eyes, and to turn them
from beholding vanity, lest the eye infect the heart. 2. It added
to the scandal that the hire of a harlot (than which nothing is
more infamous) was demanded, offered, and accepted—<i>a kid from
the flock,</i> a goodly price at which her chastity and honour were
valued! Nay, had the consideration been thousands of rams, and ten
thousand rivers of oil, it had not been a valuable consideration.
The favour of God, the purity of the soul, the peace of conscience,
and the hope of heaven, are too precious to be exposed to sale at
any such rates; the Topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal them: what are
those profited that lose their souls to gain the world? 3. It
turned to the reproach of Judah that he left his jewels in pawn for
a kid. Note, Fleshly lusts are not 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 class="indent" id="Gen.xxxix-p8">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> <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.23" parsed="|Gen|38|23|0|0" passage="Ge 38:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>. 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>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.xxxix-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.24-Gen.38.30" parsed="|Gen|38|24|38|30" passage="Ge 38:24-30" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.38.24-Gen.38.30">
<h4 id="Gen.xxxix-p8.3">Birth of Phares and Zarah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.xxxix-p8.4">b. c.</span> 1714.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.xxxix-p9">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.xxxix-p10">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, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.24" parsed="|Gen|38|24|0|0" passage="Ge 38:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>.

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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,
<scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.1 Bible:Rom.14.22" parsed="|Rom|2|1|0|0;|Rom|14|22|0|0" passage="Ro 2:1,14:22">Rom. ii. 1; xiv. 22</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Gen.xxxix-p11">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, <scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.25-Gen.38.26" parsed="|Gen|38|25|38|26" passage="Ge 38:25,26"><i>v.</i> 25,
26</scripRef>. 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> (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.37.32" parsed="|Gen|37|32|0|0" passage="Ge 37:32"><i>ch.</i> xxxvii. 32</scripRef>) 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 class="indent" id="Gen.xxxix-p12">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 (<scripRef id="Gen.xxxix-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.1.3" parsed="|Matt|1|3|0|0" passage="Mt 1:3">Matt. i.
3</scripRef>), 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>
</div></div2>