English Standard Version
Genesis 38:15
15When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
Genesis 38:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.
- New International Version (NIV)When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
- New King James Version (NKJV)When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Judah noticed her and thought she was a prostitute, since she had covered her face.
Context of Genesis 38:15
13And when Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep," 14she took off her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16He turned to her at the roadside and said, "Come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?" 17He answered, "I will send you a young goat from the flock." And she said, "If you give me a pledge, until you send it—"
Read all of Genesis 38Genesis 38:15 word by word
וַיִּרְאֶ֣הָ יְהוּדָ֔ה וַֽיַּחְשְׁבֶ֖הָ לְזוֹנָ֑ה כִּ֥י כִסְּתָ֖ה פָּנֶֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 38:15
- Genesis 34:31But they said, "Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?"
- Leviticus 19:29"Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.
- Leviticus 21:14A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people,
- Numbers 25:1While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab.
- Deuteronomy 23:18You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.
- Judges 11:1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
- Judges 16:1Samson went to Gaza, and there he saw a prostitute, and he went in to her.
- Judges 19:2And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.
- 1 Kings 3:16Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
- Proverbs 2:18for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed;
- Amos 2:7those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned;
- 1 Thessalonians 5:22Abstain from every form of evil.
- 1 Peter 3:3Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—
- Genesis 38:14she took off her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage.
Commentaries on Genesis 38:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Thought her to be a harlot - See the original of this term, Genesis 34:31; (note). The Hebrew is זונה zonah, and signifies generally a person who prostitutes herself to the public for hire, or one who lives by the public; and hence very likely applied to a publican, a tavern-keeper, or hostess, Joshua 2:1; translated by the Septuagint, and in the New Testament, , from , to sell, which certainly may as well apply to her goods as to her person. It appears…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-30Verses 1-30 - The Family of Judah 1. עדלם ‛ǎdûllâm Adullam, “righteousness.” חירה chı̂yrâh Chirah, “nobility?” 2. שׁוּע shûa‛ Shua, “luck, riches, cry.” 3. ער ‛êr Er, “watching.” 4. אונן 'ônân Onan, “strong.” 5. שׁלה shēlâh Shelah, “request? rest.” כזיב kezı̂yb Kezib, “falsehood.” 6. תמר tāmār Tamar, “palm.” 12. תמנה tı̂mnâh Timnah, “counted or assigned.” 14. עינים 'êynayı̂m Enaim, “two fountains.” 29. פרץ perets Perets, “breach.” This…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-19Tamar understood she needed to act to secure her family's future. Following the levirate custom (see study note on 38:8), she remained loyal to her dead husband. She had a legal right to have a child with Judah's son or Judah himself. So she tricked her father-in-law into having sexual relations with her. Again, Jacob’s family experiences deception, this time by a Canaanite daughter-in-law.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-301. at that time--a formula frequently used by the sacred writers, not to describe any precise period, but an interval near about it.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 38:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 38
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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