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Genesis 38:1
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Judah and Tamar

1 It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and avisited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.  
2 And Judah asaw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was bShua, and he married her and went in to her.  
3 So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name aEr.  
4 She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name aOnan.  
5 And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name aShelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.  
6 Then Judah atook a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was bTamar.  
7 But aEr, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, band the Lord killed him.  
8 And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ayour brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.”  
9 But Onan knew that the heir would not be ahis; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.  
10 And the thing which he did1 displeased the Lord; therefore He killed ahim also.  
11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, a“Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.” And Tamar went and dwelt bin her father’s house.  
12 Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died; and Judah awas comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.  
13 And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up ato Timnah to shear his sheep.”  
14 So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and asat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw bthat Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.  
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.
16 Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”
17 And he said, a“I will send a young goat from the flock.” So she said, b“Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”  
18 Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” So she said, a“Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.  
19 So she arose and went away, and alaid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.  
20 And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.
21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was1 openly by the roadside?” And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.”  
22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.”
23 Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”
24 And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has aplayed the harlot; furthermore she is1 with child by harlotry.” So Judah said, “Bring her out band let her be burned!”  
25 When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, a“Please determine whose these are—the signet and cord, and staff.”  
26 So Judah aacknowledged them and said, b“She has been more righteous than I, because cI did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he dnever knew her again.  
27 Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb.
28 And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”
Book Notes:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Book Notes

Genesis

GENESIS, the book of the origin or production of all things, consists of two parts: the first, comprehended in the first through eleventh chapters, gives a general history; the second, contained in the subsequent chapters, gives a special history. The two parts are essentially connected; the one, which sets out with an account of the descent of the human race from a single pair, the introduction of sin into the world, and the announcement of the scheme of divine mercy for repairing the ruins of the fall, was necessary to pave the way for relating the other, namely, the call of Abraham, and the selection of his posterity for carrying out the gracious purpose of God. An evident unity of method, therefore, pervades this book, and the information contained in it was of the greatest importance to the Hebrew people, as without it they could not have understood the frequent references made in their law to the purposes and promises of God regarding themselves. The arguments that have been already adduced as establishing the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch prove of course that Moses was the author of Genesis. The few passages on which the rationalists grounded their assertions that it was the composition of a later age have been successfully shown to warrant no such conclusion; the use of Egyptian words and the minute acquaintance with Egyptian life and manners, displayed in the history of Joseph, harmonize with the education of Moses, and whether he received his information by immediate revelation, from tradition, or from written documents, it comes to us as the authentic work of an author who wrote as he was inspired by the Holy Ghost (II Peter 1:21).

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