Genesis 38:15

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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.

Context of Genesis 38:15

13Then Tamar was told, “Look! Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his flocks.” 14And she removed her widow’s clothes from herself, covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself, and sat by the entrance to the springs on the way to Timnah (for she saw that Shelah had grown up and she had not been given to him as a wife). When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. 16So he turned aside to her along the way and said, “Please let me sleep with you” (for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law). “What,” she asked, “will you give me to sleep with me?” 17“I will send you a young goat from the flock,” he said, “Provided you give a pledge until you send it,” she said.

Genesis 38:15 word by word

וַיִּרְאֶ֣הָ יְהוּדָ֔ה וַֽיַּחְשְׁבֶ֖הָ לְזוֹנָ֑ה כִּ֥י כִסְּתָ֖ה פָּנֶֽיהָ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• When Judahיְהוּדָהyehûdâh · JudahH3063
• saw herרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• he thoughtחָשַׁבchâshab · to devise: thinkH2803
• an harlotזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
• because she had coveredכָּסָהkâsâh · to coverH3680
• her faceפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440

Cross-references for Genesis 38:15

• Genesis 34:31But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”
• Leviticus 19:29“Do not defile your daughter, to make her a prostitute, so that the land does not fall into prostitution, and become full of wickedness.
• Leviticus 21:14A widow, or one divorced, or one who has been defiled as a prostitute, he is not to marry. He is to take a virgin from his own people as a wife,
• Numbers 25:1While Israel was staying in Shittim, the people began to have immoral sexual relations with women from Moab.
• Deuteronomy 23:18“None of the daughters of Israel is to be a cult prostitute, nor any of the sons of Israel a cult prostitute.
• Judges 11:1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was son of a prostitute, while Gilead was Jephthah’s father.
• Judges 16:1Once Samson went to Gaza and eyed a prostitute there, so he went to her.
• Judges 19:2But his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father’s house to Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for a period of four months.
• 1 Kings 3:16Later two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
• Proverbs 2:18For her house sinks down to death and her tracks to the dead.
• Amos 2:7They trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and thwart the way of the humble. A man and his father go to the same girl, to profane My holy Name.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:22keep away from every kind of evil.
• 1 Peter 3:3Don’t let your beauty be external—braiding the hair and wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes.
• Genesis 38:14And she removed her widow’s clothes from herself, covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself, and sat by the entrance to the springs on the way to Timnah (for she saw that Shelah had grown up and she had not been given to him as a wife).

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

• Adultery
• Judah
• Lasciviousness
• Sheep
• Tamar
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Judah
• Harlot
• Lay
• Remain
• Abraham
• Archaeology; Archaeology and Criticism
• Ben-Ammi
• Crime; Crimes
• Genealogy
• Genesis

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