Genesis 38 · Verse 24

Genesis 38:24

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 is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
Genesis 38:24, King James Version

Genesis 38:24 in other translations

BSBAbout three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out!” Judah replied. “Let her be burned to death!”
WEBAbout three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute. Moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution.” Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”
ASVAnd it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and moreover, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
YLTAnd it cometh to pass about three months after, that it is declared to Judah, saying, ‘Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath committed fornication; and also, lo, she hath conceived by fornication:' and Judah saith, ‘Bring her out--and she is burnt.'
DARBYAnd it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law has committed fornication, and behold, she is also with child by fornication. And Judah said, Bring her forth, that she may be burned.
BBENow about three months after this, word came to Judah that Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been acting like a loose woman and was with child. And Judah said, Take her out and let her be burned.
WebsterAnd it came to pass about three months after, that it was told to Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and also, behold she is with child by lewdness: and Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

What does Genesis 38:24 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
24. Bring her forth, and let her be burnt--In patriarchal times fathers seem to have possessed the power of life and death over the members of their families. The crime of adultery was anciently punished in many places by burning (Le 21:9; Jud 15:6; Jr 29:22). This chapter contains details, which probably would never have obtained a place in the inspired record, had it not been to exhibit the full links of the chain that connects the genealogy of the Saviour with Abraham; and in the disreputable character of the ancestry who figure in this passage, we have a remarkable proof that "He made himself of no reputation" [Php 2:7].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 24 Bring her forth, and let her be burnt - As he had ordered Tamar to live as a widow in her own father's house till his son Shelah should be marriageable, he considers her therefore as the wife of his son; and as Shelah was not yet given to her, and she is found with child, she is reputed by him as an adulteress, and burning, it seems, was anciently the punishment of this crime. Judah, being a patriarch or head of a family, had, according to the custom of those times, the supreme magisterial authority over all the branches of his own family; therefore he only acts here in his juridical capacity. How strange that in the very place where adultery was punished by the most violent death, prostitution for money and for religious purposes should be considered as no crime!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Genesis 38:24 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.

וַיְהִ֣י\׀vay.Hiand it wasH1961
כְּמִשְׁלֹ֣שׁke.mish.Loshwhen from threeH7969
חֳדָשִׁ֗יםcho.da.ShimmonthsH2320
וַיֻּגַּ֨דvai.yu.Gadand it was toldH5046
לִֽיהוּדָ֤הli.hu.Dahto JudahH3063
לֵֽאמֹר֙le.Mor<to> sayingH559
זָֽנְתָה֙za.ne.Tahshe has acted as a prostituteH2181
תָּמָ֣רta.MarTamarH8559
כַּלָּתֶ֔ךָka.la.Te.khadaughter-in-law yourH3618
וְגַ֛םve.Gamand alsoH1571
הִנֵּ֥הhi.Nehhere!H2009
הָרָ֖הha.Rah[she is] pregnantH2030
לִזְנוּנִ֑יםliz.nu.Nimto prostitution<s>H2183
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
יְהוּדָ֔הye.hu.DahJudahH3063
הוֹצִיא֖וּהָho.tzi.'U.habring out herH3318
וְתִשָּׂרֵֽף\׃ve.ti.sa.Refso she may be burnedH8313

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 38:24

  • Leviticus 21:9

    And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

  • Judges 19:2

    And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Beth–lehem–judah, and was there four whole months.

  • Ezekiel 23:44

    Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.

  • Hosea 2:5

    For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

  • Ezekiel 23:19

    Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

  • Ezekiel 23:5

    And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,

  • Ezekiel 16:28

    Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.

  • Jeremiah 3:6

    The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

  • Genesis 20:9

    Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

  • Ezekiel 16:15

    But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

  • Leviticus 20:10

    And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

  • Deuteronomy 24:16

    The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
played the harlot.
34:31; Jud 19:2; Ec 7:26; Jer 2:20; 3:1,6,8; Eze 16:15,28,41
Eze 23:5,19,44; Ho 2:5; 3:3; 4:15
let her.
20:3,7,9; Le 20:10; 21:9; De 22:21-27; 24:16; 2Sa 12:5,7
Jer 29:22,23; Mt 7:1-5; Ro 2:1,2; 14:22

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 38:23

    And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

  • Genesis 38:24

    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 is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

  • Genesis 38:25

    When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

Read all of Genesis 38

Genesis 38:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y acaeció que al cabo de unos tres meses fué dado aviso á Judá, diciendo: Thamar tu nuera ha fornicado, y aun cierto está preñada de las fornicaciones. Y Judá dijo: Sacadla, y sea quemada.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et il arriva, environ trois mois après, qu’on informa Juda, en disant: Tamar, ta belle-fille, s’est prostituée, et voici, elle est même enceinte par la prostitution. Et Juda dit: Faites-la sortir, et qu’elle soit brûlée.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und es geschah nach etwa drei Monaten, da wurde dem Juda berichtet und gesagt: Tamar, deine Schwiegertochter, hat gehurt, und siehe, sie ist auch schwanger von Hurerei. Da sprach Juda: Führet sie hinaus, daß sie verbrannt werde!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Ecce autem post tres menses nuntiaverunt Judæ, dicentes: Fornicata est Thamar nurus tua, et videtur uterus illius intumescere. Dixitque Judas: Producite eam ut comburatur.