Genesis 38:21
Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.
Genesis 38:21 in other translations
| BSB | He asked the men of that place, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “No shrine prostitute has been here,” they answered. |
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| WEB | Then he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road?” They said, “There has been no prostitute here.” |
| ASV | Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There hath been no prostitute here. |
| YLT | And he asketh the men of her place, saying, ‘Where is the separated one--she in Enayim, by the way?' and they say, ‘There hath not been in this place a separated one.' |
| DARBY | And he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute that was at Enaim, by the way-side? And they said, There was no prostitute here. |
| BBE | And he put questions to the men of the place, saying, Where is the loose woman who was in Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There was no such woman there. |
| Webster | Then he asked the men of that place, saying, where is the harlot that was openly by the way-side? and they said, There was no harlot in this place. |
What does Genesis 38:21 mean?
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 21 Where is the harlot that was openly by the wayside? - Our translators often render different Hebrew words by the same term in English, and thus many important shades of meaning, which involve traits of character, are lost. In Gen 38:15, Tamar is called a harlot, זונה zonah, which, as we have already seen, signifies a person who prostitutes herself for money. In this verse she is called a harlot in our version; but the original is not זונה but קדשה kedeshah, a holy or consecrated person, from קדש kadash, to make holy, or to consecrate to religious purposes. And the word here must necessarily signify a person consecrated by prostitution to the worship of some impure goddess. The public prostitutes in the temple of Venus are called ἱεροδουλοι γυναικες, holy or consecrated female servants, by Strabo; and it appears from the words zonah and kedeshah above, that impure rites and public prostitution prevailed in the worship of the Canaanites in the time of Judah. And among these people we have much reason to believe that Astarte and Asteroth occupied the same place in their theology as Venus did among the Greeks and Romans, and were worshipped with the same impure rites.
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Genesis 38:21 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
openly by the way side. or, in Enajim.
14
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Genesis 38:20
And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.
- Genesis 38:21
Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.
- Genesis 38:22
And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.
Genesis 38:21 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Y preguntó á los hombres de aquel lugar, diciendo: ¿Dónde está la ramera de las aguas junto al camino? Y ellos le dijeron: No ha estado aquí ramera. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Et il interrogea les hommes du lieu, disant: Où est cette prostituée qui était à Énaïm, sur le chemin? Et ils dirent: Il n’y a pas eu ici de prostituée. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Und er fragte die Leute ihres Ortes und sprach: Wo ist jene Buhlerin, die zu Enaim am Wege war? Und sie sprachen: Hier ist keine Buhlerin gewesen. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | interrogavit homines loci illius: Ubi est mulier quæ sedebat in bivio? Respondentibus cunctis: Non fuit in loco ista meretrix. |