The sons of Juda: the death of Her and Onan: the birth of Phares and Zara.
Iudas hauing three sonnes by a Chananite. 6. marieth the first, and after his death, the second to Thamar. 10. who also dying, he delayeth to match the third with her. 15. But him selfe begetteth of her (taking her for a harlote) two sonnes twinnes, Phares and Zara.
1At that time Juda went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Odollamite, named Hiras.Nello stesso tempo Giuda separato da' suoi fratelli andò a posare in casa di un uomo di Odollam, per nome Hiram.THE same time Iudas going downe from his brethren, turned in to a man an Odollamite, named Hiras.Eodem tempore, descendens Judas a fratribus suis, divertit ad virum Odollamitem, nomine Hiram. 2And he saw there the daughter of a man of Chanaan, called Sue: and taking her to wife, he went in unto her.E ivi vide la figlia di un Chananeo, chiamato Sue: e, presala per moglie, convivea con lei.And he sawe there the daughter of a man of Chanaan, called Sue: and taking her to wife, he did companie with her.Viditque ibi filiam hominis Chananæi, vocabulo Sue: et accepta uxore, ingressus est ad eam. 3And she conceived, and bore a son, and called his name Her.Ed ella concepì e partorì un figliuolo, e gli pose nome Her.Who conceaued, and bare a sonne, and called his name Her.Quæ concepit, et peperit filium, et vocavit nomen ejus Her. 4And conceiving again, she bore a son, and called him Onan.La quale concepito un'altra volta, pose al figliuolo, che le nacque, il nome di Onan.And conceauing a childe againe, she called her sonne after he was borne, Onan.Rursumque concepto fœtu, natum filium vocavit Onan. 5She bore also a third: whom she called Sela. After whose birth, she ceased to bear any more.Partorì anche il terzo, cui ella chiamò Sela: e nato questo, non ebbe più figliuoli.She bare also the third: whom she called Sela after whose birth, she ceased to beare any more.Tertium quoque peperit: quem appellavit Sela; quo nato, parere ultra cessavit. 6And Juda took a wife for Her, his first born, whose name was Thamar.E Giuda diede in moglie ad Her, suo primogenito, una chiamata Thamar.And Iudas gaue a wife to Her his first begotten, named Thamar.Dedit autem Judas uxorem primogenito suo Her, nomine Thamar. 7And Her, the first born of Juda, was wicked in the sight of the Lord: and was slain by him.Ma Her, primogenito di Giuda, fu uomo perverso nel cospetto del Signore: il quale lo fece morire.Also Her the first begotten of Iudas, was wicked in the fight of our Lord: and was slaine of him.Fuit quoque Her primogenitus Judæ nequam in conspectu Domini: et ab eo occisus est. 8Juda, therefore, said to Onan his son: Go in to thy brother’s wife and marry her, that thou mayst raise seed to thy brother.Disse pertanto Giuda ad Onan suo figlio: Prendi la moglie di tuo fratello, e convivi con lei affin di dare figliuoli al tuo fratello.Iudas therfore said to Onan his sonne: companie with thy brothers wife, and be ioyned to her, that thou mayest rayse seede to thy brother.Dixit ergo Judas ad Onan filium suum: Ingredere uxorem fratris tui, et sociare illi, ut suscites semen fratri tuo.
9He knowing that the children should not be his, when he went in to his brother’s wife, he spilled his seed upon the ground, lest children should be born in his brother’s name.Sapendo quegli, che i figliuoli, che nascessero, non sarebbero suoi, accostandosi alla moglie del fratello, impediva il concepimento, affinché non nascessero figliuoli col nome del fratello.He knowing that the children should not be borne to himselfe, companying with his brothers wife, shed his seede vpon the ground, left children might be borne in his brothers name.Ille sciens non sibi nasci filios, introiens ad uxorem fratris sui, semen fundebat in terram, ne liberi fratris nomine nascerentur. 10And therefore the Lord slew him, because he did a detestable thing:Quindi il Signore lo fece morire, perché faceva cosa detestabile.And therfore our Lord stroke him, because he did a detestable thing.Et idcirco percussit eum Dominus, quod rem detestabilem faceret. 11Wherefore Juda said to Thamar his daughter-in-law: Remain a widow in thy father’s house, till Sela my son grow up: for he was afraid lest he also might die, as his brethren did. She went her way, and dwelt in her father’s house.Per la qual cosa disse Giuda a Thamar sua nuora: Rimanti vedova nella casa del padre tuo, fino a tanto che Sela mio figlio cresca: or ei temeva, che non morisse anche questo, come i suoi fratelli. Ella se n'andò, e abitò in casa del padre suo.For the which cause Iudas said to Thamar his daughter in lawe: Be a widowe in thy fathers house, til Sela my sonne growe vp: for he feared lest he also might dye, as his brethren. Who went her way and dwelt in her fathers house.Quam ob rem dixit Judas Thamar nurui suæ: Esto vidua in domo patris tui, donec crescat Sela filius meus: timebat enim ne et ipse moreretur, sicut fratres ejus. Quæ abiit, et habitavit in domo patris sui. 12And after many days were past: the daughter of Sue the wife of Juda died: and when he had taken comfort after his mourning, he went up to Thamnas, to the shearers of his sheep, he and Hiras the Odollamite, the shepherd of his flock.Passati poi molti giorni morì la figliuola di Sue, consorte di Giuda: il quale dopo gli uffici funebri, passato il duolo, se n'andò a trovare quelli che tosavano le sue pecore in Thamnas, egli, e Hiras di Odollam, pastore di pecore.And after many dayes were come and gone: the daughter of Sue the wife of Iudas died: who after his mourning hauing receiued consolation, went vp to the shearers of his sheepe, himselfe and Hiras his shepheard of his flocke, the Odolamite, into Thamnas.Evolutis autem multis diebus, mortua est filia Sue uxor Judæ: qui, post luctum consolatione suscepta, ascendebat ad tonsores ovium suarum, ipse et Hiras opilio gregis Odollamites, in Thamnas.
13And it was told Thamar that her father-in-law was come up to Thamnas to shear his sheep.E fu riferito a Thamar, come suo suocero andava a Thamnas a tosare le pecore.And it was told Thamar that her father in law came vp into Thamnas to sheare his sheepe.Nuntiatumque est Thamar quod socer illius ascenderet in Thamnas ad tondendas oves. 14And she put off the garments of her widowhood, and took a veil: and changing her dress, sat in the cross way, that leadeth to Thamnas: because Sela was grown up, and she had not been married to him.Ed ella, posati i vestimenti da vedova, prese un velo: e travestita si pose a sedere in un bivio della strada, che mena a Thamnas; perocché Sela era cresciuto, e non le era stato dato in isposo.Who putting of the garments of her widowhood, tooke a veile: and changing her habite, sate in the crosse way, that leadeth to Thamnas: because Sela was growne, and she had not taken him to her husband.Quæ, depositis viduitatis vestibus, assumpsit theristrum: et mutato habitu, sedit in bivio itineris, quod ducit Thamnam: eo quod crevisset Sela, et non eum accepisset maritum. 15When Juda saw her, he thought she was a harlot: for she had covered her face, lest she should be known.E avendola veduta Giuda, sospicò, ch'ella fosse donna di mala vita: conciossiaché ella avea coperta la sua faccia per non essere riconosciuta.Whom when Iudas had seene, he supposed her to be an harlot: for she had couered her face, lest she should be knowen.Quam cum vidisset Judas, suspicatus est esse meretricem: operuerat enim vultum suum, ne agnosceretur. 16And going to her, he said: Suffer me to lie with thee: for he knew her not to be his daughter-in-law. And she answered: What wilt thou give me to enjoy my company?E appressatosi a lei la richiese di mal fare: perocché non sapeva, ch'ella fosse sua nuora. E avendo ella risposto: Che mi darai per fare il tuo volere?And going vnto her, he said: Suffer me to lye with thee: for he knew her not to be his daughter in law. Who answering: What wilt thou geue me that thou maiest enioy my companie?Ingrediensque ad eam, ait: Dimitte me ut coëam tecum: nesciebat enim quod nurus sua esset. Qua respondente: Quid dabis mihi ut fruaris concubitu meo ? 17He said: I will send thee a kid out of the flock. And when she said again: I will suffer what thou wilt, if thou give me a pledge, till thou send what thou promisest.Disse egli: Ti manderò un capretto del mio gregge. E replicando quella: Acconsentirò a tutto, purché tu mi dia un pegno, perfino a tanto che tu mandi quel che prometti.He said: I wil send thee a kid out of the flockes. And when she said againe: I wil suffer that thou wilt, if thou geue me a pledge, til thou send that which thou doest promise;dixit: Mittam tibi hædam de gregibus. Rursumque illa dicente: Patiar quod vis, si dederis mihi arrhabonem, donec mittas quod polliceris.
18Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge? She answered: Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therefore at one copulation conceived.Giuda disse: Che vuoi tu, che ti sia dato per pegno? Rispose: L'anello, e il braccialetto, e il bastone, che hai in mano. Concepì adunque la donna ad un sol atto:Iudas said: What wilt thou to be geuen thee for a pledge? She answered: Thy ring, and bracelet, and staffe which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therfore by once companying conceaued,Ait Judas: Quid tibi vis pro arrhabone dari ? Respondit: Annulum tuum, et armillam, et baculum quem manu tenes. Ad unum igitur coitum mulier concepit, 19And she arose and went her way: and putting off the apparel which she had taken, put on the garments of her widowhood.E si alzò, e se ne andò: e deposto l'abito, che avea preso, si vestì di vestimenti da vedova.and rising she went her way: and putting of the apparel which me had taken, put on the garments of her widowhood.et surgens abiit: depositoque habitu quem sumpserat, induta est viduitatis vestibus. 20And Juda sent a kid by his shepherd, the Odollamite, that he might receive the pledge again, which he had given to the woman: but he, not finding her,Ma Giuda mandò per mezzo del suo pastore Odollamite il capretto, affine di riavere il pegno dato alla donna: ma questi non avendola trovata,And Iudas sent a kid by his shephard the Odolamite, that he might receiue the pledge againe, which he had geuen to the woman: who when he had not found her,Misit autem Judas hædum per pastorem suum Odollamitem, ut reciperet pignus quod dederat mulieri: qui cum non invenisset eam, 21Asked the men of that place: Where is the woman that sat in the cross way? And when they all made answer: There was no harlot in this place,Domandò alla gente di quel luogo: Dov'è quella donna, che stava a sedere nel bivio? E tutti rispondendogli: Non è stata in questo luogo donna di mala vita:he asked the men of that place: Where is the woman that sate in the crosse way? Al making answere: There was no harlot in this place.interrogavit homines loci illius: Ubi est mulier quæ sedebat in bivio ? Respondentibus cunctis: Non fuit in loco ista meretrix. 22He returned to Juda, and said to him: I have not found her; moreover, the men of that place said to me, that there never sat a harlot there.Se ne tornò a Giuda, e gli disse: Non l'ha trovata: e di più tutta la gente di quel luogo mi hanno detto, non essere ivi stata giammai donna di mala vita.He returned to Iudas, and said to him: I haue not found her: yea the men also of that place said vnto me, that there neuer sate harlot there.Reversus est ad Judam, et dixit ei: Non inveni eam: sed et homines loci illius dixerunt mihi, numquam sedisse ibi scortum.
23Juda said: Let her take it to herself, surely she cannot charge us with a lie, I sent the kid which I promised: and thou didst not find her.Disse Giuda: Se lo tenga per sé: almeno non può ella rinfacciarmi bugia: io ho mandato il capretto promessole, e tu non l'hai ritrovata.Iudas said: Let her take it to her, surely she can not charge vs with a lye, I sent the kid which I promised: and thou didest not find herAit Judas: Habeat sibi, certe mendacii arguere nos non potest, ego misi hædum quem promiseram: et tu non invenisti eam. 24And behold, after three months, they told Juda, saying: Thamar, thy daughter-in-law, hath played the harlot, and she appeareth to have a big belly. And Juda said: Bring her out that she may be burnt.Ma di lì a tre mesi, ecco che venne chi disse a Giuda: Thamar tua nuora ha peccato, e si vede, ch'ella è gravida. Disse Giuda: Conducetela fuori ad esser bruciata.And behold after three moneths they told Iudas, saying: Thamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot, and her bellie semeth to swel. And Iudas said: Bring her forth that she may be burnt.Ecce autem post tres menses nuntiaverunt Judæ, dicentes: Fornicata est Thamar nurus tua, et videtur uterus illius intumescere. Dixitque Judas: Producite eam ut comburatur. 25But when she was led to execution, she sent to her father in law, saying: By the man, to whom these things belong, I am with child. See whose ring, and bracelet, and staff this is.E mentre ella era condotta al supplizio, mandò a dire al suo suocero: Io sono gravida di colui, di cui sono queste cose: guarda di chi sia l'anello, e il braccialetto, e il bastone.Who when she was led to execution, she sent to her father in law, saying: By that man, whose these things are, haue I conceaued: looke whose the ring is, and the bracelet, and the staffe.Quæ cum duceretur ad pœnam, misit ad socerum suum, dicens: De viro, cujus hæc sunt, concepi: cognosce cujus sit annulus, et armilla, et baculus. 26But he acknowledging the gifts, said: She is juster than I: because I did not give her to Sela, my son. However he knew her no more.Ed egli, riconosciuti i pegni, disse: Ella è più giusta di me: perocché io non l'ho data in moglie a Sela mio figlio. Ma però egli non ebbe più che fare con lei.Who acknowledging the giftes, said: She is iuster then I: because I did not geue her to Sela my sonne. But he knew her no more.Qui, agnitis muneribus, ait: Justior me est: quia non tradidi eam Sela filio meo. Attamen ultra non cognovit eam.
27And when she was ready to be brought to bed, there appeared twins in her womb: and in the very delivery of the infants, one put forth a hand, whereon the midwife tied a scarlet thread, saying:Ma appressandosi il parto, si conobbe, che avea in seno due gemelli: e nell'uscire de' bambini uno mise fuori la mano, alla quale la levatrice legò un filo di scarlatto, dicendo:And when she was readie to be brought to bed, there appeared twinnes in her bellie: and in the verie deliuerie of the infants, one put forth the hand, wherin the midwife tyed a skarlet string, saying:Instante autem partu, apparuerunt gemini in utero: atque in ipsa effusione infantium unus protulit manum, in qua obstetrix ligavit coccinum, dicens: 28This shall come forth the first.Questi uscirà il primo.This shal come forth the former.Iste egredietur prior. 29But he drawing back his hand, the other came forth: and the woman said: Why is the partition divided for thee? and therefore called his name Phares.Ma avendo egli ritirata la mano, uscì l'altro, e la donna disse: Per qual motivo si è rotta per causa tua la muraglia? e per tal motivo gli pose nome Phares.But he drawing backe his hand, the other came forth: and the woman said: Why is the partition diuided for thee? and for this cause called his name Phares.Illo vero retrahente manum, egressus est alter: dixitque mulier: Quare divisa est propter te maceria ? et ob hanc causam, vocavit nomen ejus Phares. 30Afterwards his brother came out, on whose hand was the scarlet thread: and she called his name Zara.Uscì dipoi il suo fratello, che aveva alla mano il filo di scarlatto: e lo nominò Zara.Afterward his brother came forth, in whose hand was the skarelet string: whom she called Zara.Postea egressus est frater ejus, in cujus manu erat coccinum: quem appellavit Zara.
38:1
Calmet
At that time Juda, twenty years old, marries the daughter of Sue, and has three sons by her during the three following years. The first takes Thamar to wife, when he was seventeen. Onan marries her the next year; after which, she remains a widow about three years, when she bears twins to Juda. Phares goes down with him into Egypt, and has children there during Jacob's life. On this account, they are numbered among those who went down with Jacob, (chap. 46:12,) as the children of Benjamin seem to be likewise. Thus all these events might happen during the twenty-three years that Jacob dwelt in Chanaan, and the seventeen that he sojourned in Egypt. Some have thought the time too short, and have concluded that Juda had been married long before Joseph's slavery. He was, however, only four years older. (Calmet)
38:5
Sela. Juda gave the name of Her to his first-born, as the Hebrew shews. His wife gave names to the two latter.
Ceased; Hebrew casbi: "she died in bearing him," as Aquila has it. Most commentators take the word for the name of a place mentioned, Josue 15:44. "He (Juda) was at Casbi when she bare him."
38:7
Menochius
Wicked; without shame or remorse, sinning against nature, in order, if we may believe the Jews, that the beauty of his wife might not be impaired by having children. Onan was actuated by envy. (Menochius)
38:8
Haydock
Wife. This was then customary among the Chanaanites, as Philo insinuates. It also continued to be practised in Egypt, till the year of Christ 491 at least, when the marriage had not been consummated. Moses established it as a law, when no issue had sprung from the deceased brother. (Calmet) (Deuteronomy 25:5.) The eldest son bore his name; the rest were called after their own father. This law is now abrogated; and the prohibition, which has been issued by the Church, can be dispensed with only by herself, (Worthington) as was the case in the marriage of Henry VIII, with Catherine, the virgin relict of his brother Arthur. (Haydock)
38:10
38:11
Calmet
Till. Juda had no design to give her to Sela, as the custom of that age required. (Calmet)
Haydock
She waited patiently for a time; when, perceiving that she was neglected, she devised a wicked scheme to punish Juda, even at the hazard of her own life. (Haydock)
38:14
Veil; (theristrum) a long robe, covering the whole body, except the eyes. Thus she was disguised; or, as it were, masked, as Aquila translates. Harlots herein imitated modest women, Genesis 24:65.
Cross way. Hebrew Henayim, which the Septuagint and Syriac take for a proper name. Others translate "at the gate of the eyes," which means two roads, where a person must open his eyes to judge which is the right one---or "at the gate of the two fountains leading to Thamnas," Judges 14:1. Prostitutes formerly infested the high roads. (Jeremias 3:2; Ezechiel 16:25.) Chrysippus says, "at first harlots remained out of the city, and covered their faces; but afterwards growing more hardened, they laid aside the mask," etc.
38:18
Calmet
Staff. These were all marks of dignity. "Kings made use of spears, or sceptres, before they wore a diadem." (Trogus. 43.) (Calmet)
Haydock
Juda might blame himself for exposing these valuable things, and divesting himself of all his dignity, to gratify his unjustifiable passion. If some have excused both the parties concerned, the Scripture at least sufficiently shews in what light we ought to consider their conduct. Juda himself thought her worthy of death; though in some sense, she was juster than himself, ver. 24, 26. (Haydock)
Calmet
She was guilty of a sort of adultery, being engaged to Sela; and also of incest, etc.; whereas the fault of Juda, through ignorance of her person, was simply fornication; which is, however, always contrary to the law of nature, as the pagans themselves confessed. (Grotius in Matthew v.) (Calmet)
Haydock
From Christ's choosing to be born of such progenitors, we may learn to adore his humility and tender regard for sinners. (Haydock)
38:21
Calmet
Harlot. Hebrew Kedesha a person consecrated to good or evil. Many nations esteemed prostitution, in honour of Venus, as a laudable action, 2 Kings[4 Kings?] 17:30. (Calmet)
38:23
Menochius
A lie. Hebrew, "lest we be exposed to shame," by making any farther search. (Menochius)
38:25
Haydock
Execution. The Rabbin say she was to be marked with a hot iron. If she was to die, before she was delivered, God prevented the cruel sentence from taking effect. (Haydock)
Capitolin
Many nations have punished adultery with fire. Macrinus, the Roman emperor, ordered the culprits to be tied together and thrown into the flames. (Capitolin.)
Calmet
Moses commanded the daughters of priests, who should be detected in this crime, to be given to the flames, (Leviticus 21:9,) and others to be stoned; (Leviticus 20:10,) whence the Rabbin have concluded, that Thamar was a priest's daughter. (Calmet)
38:26
Haydock
Juster. For Juda had been guilty of injustice; and had thus exposed her to the danger of following a life of lewdness. (Haydock)
Calmet
She remained a widow afterwards, as she was now rendered unfit to be married either to Juda or Sela. The latter married another woman, Numbers 26:19. (Calmet)
Haydock
While Juda was engaged in this unlawful commerce, and yielded to the temptation, Joseph was triumphing over a much greater temptation, in rejecting the solicitations of his master's wife. (Haydock)
38:29
Menochius
Partition; the secundinae. The midwife was apprehensive of danger. (Menochius)
Challoner
Phares. That is, a breach or division. (Challoner)
38:30
Calmet
Zara. "Orient, or rising;" in whose hand the red ribband denoted, that the blood of Christ is the source of all our merits and happiness. These two brothers were a type of the vocation of the Gentiles, and of the reprobation of the Jews, who lost the privileges to which they thought themselves entitled. (St. Irenaeus 4:42; St. Chrysostom; etc.) (Calmet)
Phares was the ancestor of Jesus Christ, St. Matthew 1:3.
38:29
Phares.... That is, a breach or division.
38:1
Moyses in serteth here this historie, because Christ should be borne of the genealogie of Iudas & Phares. Mat. 1.
38:8
8. Raise sede to thy brother] By this it appeareth, that in the law of nature, How a man might marie his brothers wife in the law of nature. The Churches decree is now our rule. when a maried man died without issue, his brother might lawfully marie the widow; whose first sonne should be counted and called the sonne and heyre of his vncle dead before. The same was established by the law of Moyses (Deut. 25) VVhich being now abrogated, it remaineth in the Churches powre to constitute a law in this behalf, and consequently to dispence in the same, so farre as is agreable with the law of nature. VVherof see more. Leuit. 18.
38:13
Thamar sinned desiring to be a mother without lawful mariage: and Iudas sinned lying with a supposed harlot S. Aug. li. 22. c 61. 62. & 63 cont. Faust.
38:24
Adultrie punisable by death, in the law of nature.
38:4
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.24
… One of the sons of Levi, the first, is called Geson in most copies, instead of Gerson. His name is the same as that of the first-born of Moses; it was given appropriately in each case, both children being born, because of the sojourn in Egypt, in a strange land. The second son of Juda,
38:12
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Apparel of Women ii.12
… She sits, to be sure, “in purple, and scarlet, and gold, and precious stone.” How accursed are the things without (the aid of) which an accursed prostitute could not have been described! It was the fact that Thamar “had painted out and adorned herself” that led Judah to regard her as a harlot,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 123.13
13. It is true that the patriarchs had each of them more wives than one and that they had numerous concubines besides. And as if their example was not enough, David had many wives and Solomon a countless number. Judah went in to Tamar thinking her to be a harlot;
38:14
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.37
… “Let there be in a woman not the outward adorning of ornament, or of gold, or of apparel, but the adorning of the heart.” Also in Genesis: “Thamar covered herself with a cloak, and adorned herself; and when Judah beheld her, she appeared to him to be a harlot.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Against Lying 30
30. But why do these persons think they may imitate Tamar telling a lie, and not think they may imitate Judah committing fornication?
38:26
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 43
… as even at present we see them in subjection to kings and princes, and paying tribute to these, without having any power left to them either of judgment or of punishment, such as Judah certainly had, for after he had condemned Thamar, he was able also to justify her.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.8
… the children of Judah in the day of their destruction, and speak not proudly in the day of their trouble.” Grant that so often as the sin of any one who has fallen is made known to me I may suffer with him, and not chide him proudly, but mourn and weep, so that weeping over another I may mourn for myself, saying, “Tamar hath been more righteous than I.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary 9
9. Helvidius will answer, “What you say, is in my opinion mere trifling. Your arguments are so much waste of time, and the discussion shows more subtlety than truth. Why could not Scripture say, as it said of Thamar and Judah,
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.17
… The publican in the Gospel who smote upon his breast as though it were a magazine of the worst thoughts, and, conscious of his offences, dared not lift up his eyes, is justified rather than the proud Pharisee. And Thamar in the guise of a harlot deceived Judah, and in the estimation of this man himself who was deceived, was worthy of the words,
38:27
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 3
… (For indeed it was irrelevant, and superfluous, when he had mentioned Phares, from whom he was to trace Christ’s genealogy, to mention Zara also.) Wherefore then did he mention him? When Thamar was on the point of giving birth to them, the pangs having come upon her, Zara put forth his hand first.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 123.13
… In Isaac and Rebekah we see an early example of monogamy: it was only to Rebekah that the Lord revealed Himself in the hour of childbirth and she alone went of herself to enquire of the Lord. What shall I say of Tamar who bore twin sons, Pharez and Zarah?
38:28
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.25.2
2. This fact is indeed set forth by many other [occurrences], but typically by [the history of] Thamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 52.3
… For though the color may point to the mystery of the Lord’s blood, it also sets forth the warm glow of wisdom. Hence it is a scarlet thread that in Genesis the midwife binds upon the hand of Pharez—Pharez “the divider,” so called because he divided the partition which had before separated two peoples.
38:29
St Ephrem the Syrian † AD 373 Ephraim Syrus: Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh 7
May Tamar rejoice that her Lord hath come and hath made her name known for the son of her adultery! Surely the name she gave him
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Answer to Eunomius' Second Book 1
In like manner before him Jacob, having taken hold of his brother’s heel, was called a supplanter , from the attitude in which he came to the birth. For those who are learned in such matters tell us that such is the interpretation of the word “Jacob,” as translated into Greek. So, too, Pharez was so named by his nurse from the incident at his birth
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 3
… Then the midwife, when she saw this, in order that the first should be known, bound his hand with scarlet; but the child, when he was bound, drew in his hand, and when he had drawn it in, Phares came forth first, and then Zara. The midwife when she saw this said, “Why was the hedge broken up for thee?”
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Here Moses describes the genealogy of Judah, rather than that of the other brothers, because from Judah through Thamar Christ was to be born. Secondly, lest the Jews despise the Gentiles, since the tribe of Judah, which was most noble, descended from the Canaanites through the mother Thamar. Thus Gennadius. Verse 1. AT THE SAME TIME. Namely in the sixteenth year of Joseph, shortly after his sale, Judah took a wife. Judah was therefore then nineteen years old; for he was three years older than Joseph: for he was born in the eighty-eighth year, but Joseph in the ninety-first year of his father Jacob, as I said in chapter xxx. Hence it follows that Hesron and Hamul, grandsons of Judah, from Thamar and Phares, could not have been born in Canaan before the descent of Jacob into Egypt, which occurred twenty-three years after Joseph was sold, namely in Joseph's thirty-ninth year; but they were born after Jacob's descent, while he dwelt and lived in Egypt. Thus Abulensis, although St. Augustine, Questions cxxviii, holds the contrary opinion, from the fact that he thinks Judah took a wife not in the same year in which Joseph was sold, but two or three years before. But the former is more true. For even if we grant to St. Augustine that Her was born to Judah three years before Joseph was sold, nevertheless Her could not have taken Thamar before the sixteenth year of his age, after which Thamar married Onan; then she waited some years for the puberty of Shelah; and finally, prostituting herself to Judah, she bore Phares: but Phares was at least sixteen years old when he begot Hesron and Hamul; all which things require not twenty-three or twenty-six, but at least thirty-four years, before which were completed Jacob had long since, namely nine years before, descended from Canaan into Egypt. For what the Jews assert, that Phares begot Esron in the ninth year of his age, is incredible and impossible.
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2. AND HE SAW, he desired. SUE. Sue is not the name of the daughter, but of her father, the father-in-law of Judah, as is evident from the Hebrew.
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3. HE CALLED HIS NAME HER. In Hebrew it is masculine vaiicra, that is, and he called, namely the father Judah; but in the other two instances it is feminine vatticra, that is, and she called, namely the mother, that is the wife of Judah. Whence it is evident that the father gave the name Her to his firstborn son, but the mother gave names to the other two born later. Thus Rachel called her younger son Benoni, which name, however, the father changed, calling him Benjamin.
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5. SHE CEASED TO BEAR. In Hebrew it is vehaia biczib, which the Septuagint, the Chaldean paraphrase, and Vatablus translate as "she was in Kesib," as if Kesib were the proper name of a city of Palestine. But more correctly, according to St. Jerome in his Questions on Genesis, our Interpreter took Kesib not as a proper noun, but as a common noun, in which way it signifies a defect or failure, as if to say: She was in a state of defect in bearing, conception and childbirth failed her, she ceased to bear. Whence also Aquila translated it, her childbearing ceased. This sense is required by what follows, which clearly indicates that this was her last son.
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7. HER ALSO WAS WICKED. Both Hebrews and Christians agree that Her, as well as Onan, sinned with the sin of softness and withdrawal, which is against the nature of generation and matrimony: for he destroys the fetus and conception in his seed. Whence among the Hebrews this sin is compared to homicide, and by Scripture, verse 10, is called abominable. Her therefore did not sin through cruelty, as St. Augustine wishes, in book xxii Against Faustus, chapter xlviii, but through lust, namely by withdrawing himself in the matrimonial act, so that he might pour out his seed outside the natural vessel of his wife, and he did this from intemperance of lust; namely lest childbirth and the rearing of children might diminish something of the beauty of his wife, and consequently of his venereal pleasure. Onan, the brother of Her, sinned with the same sin, but from another motive, and a graver and more wicked one, namely from envy, lest if he should consummate the matrimonial act, he would beget sons not for himself, but for his brother. Beautifully Her in Hebrew by metathesis is ra, that is, evil, perverse: for he who was called by his father Her, that is, watchful, was converted by sin into ra, that is, perverse. Onan in Hebrew is the same as iniquity and sorrow; for this sin as it were follows and pursues her like a son his mother inseparably. And he was slain by him. — Both Her and Onan on account of the sin of softness were slain by God, through an evil angel, as it appears, namely through Asmodeus. For he slew the lustful husbands of Sarah, Tobias iii, 7. Again God, says Abulensis, slew them, sending upon them a terrible plague, so that it was clear that they were not taken away naturally, but by God, in punishment of their iniquities. Let Confessors note this vengeance of God upon the soft and upon spouses who withdraw themselves in the conjugal act, and let them impress it upon their penitents. For if in this rude, uncultivated and rejected age God thus punished Her and Onan, how will He punish in this light and under the law of the Gospel Christians who pollute themselves? St. Christina the Admirable saw in spirit this world full and overwhelmed with this sin of pollution, and therefore God threatening the whole world with the gravest plagues, which in order to avert, she herself tormented herself in wondrous and horrible ways and penances. John Benedict in his Summa of Cases, on the sixth precept of the Decalogue, from Conrad Cling relates something wonderful about this sin (let the credibility rest with them), whether received by revelation or experience: namely that those who for as many years as Christ lived, that is thirty-three, persevere in this sin of pollution, are incurable, and as it were of desperate salvation, unless rare and extraordinary grace of God comes to their aid and converts them. Let him therefore who has fallen into this sin see to it that he immediately rise from it through penance, lest he contract a habit to which nature is of itself most prone, which he cannot afterwards put off, and thus he binds and entangles himself in the cords of inextricable lust, which drag him into the abyss and bind him insolubly in the fire of hell.
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9. Not to bear sons for himself. — Note that before the law of Deuteronomy XXV, 5, it was customary among the fathers that the brother of a man who died without children would take the widow as wife and raise up seed, that is, offspring, for him, so that his name and family would not perish; thus indeed, so that the firstborn whom he would beget from the brother's wife would be reckoned by the name, not of his own, but of the brother: but the rest born thereafter would be reckoned as his own, and would be called by his own name. The firstborn therefore, to be generated by Onan, was to be called the son of Her: but the rest were to be called sons of Onan. But the envious and impious Onan, lest it should profit his brother, extinguished the lamp for himself, while he spilled his seed upon the ground and lost it. Note secondly, an enallage: "sons," that is, a son, namely the firstborn, as I said, and, if he should die, the second-born, who would succeed in place of the firstborn. Note thirdly, that certain legal observances were in use before Moses: for such is this adoption and arrogation of sons; such also were the observance of the Sabbath, the distinction of clean animals from unclean, circumcision, and certain other things, which the fathers kept before Moses and the law by the instinct or precept of God.
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11. Be a widow. — Hence and from verse 8 it is gathered that at that age a woman who had married into some family was thereafter as it were bound to it, so that, if her husband should die, she would take another of the same family, who would raise up seed to the dead brother; but if there were no such one, or he did not offer himself, then she could take a husband from another family. From this custom therefore, Thamar adhered to the family of Judah, and did not pass from it to another. For he feared. — In Hebrew it is, he said namely (understand, I will not give my third son Shelah to Thamar as a husband), lest he himself die, as did his two elder brothers, who were the husbands of Thamar, and died in marriage with her. Hence it is clear that Judah by this pretext and deceit wished to send away Thamar from himself and his family, to whom she had already been incorporated by a twofold marriage, saying that his son Shelah was still younger, and thus by spinning out delays he was eluding Thamar; for he feared lest Thamar, either on account of her sins, or on account of her misfortune, was the cause, or certainly the occasion of the death of her husbands: for this was reproached to Sarah the wife of Tobias from a similar suspicion, Tobias III, 9. Thamar perceived this deceit of Judah, she who sought offspring from no other source than from the stock of Judah and Abraham, blessed by God; and when she saw that Shelah, promised to her as a husband, now of age and mature, was being denied to her, by a wonderful stratagem she eluded the deceit of Judah, and turned it back upon Judah's own head.
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14. She took a mantle, — she wrapped herself in a cloak; lest she be recognized. The mantle was a summer veil, as Suidas says, so called from θέρος, that is from summer and the heat which it kept off. Hebrew women formerly (as Italian women do now) covered their head and whole body with a cloak or silk veil, as I said on Ezekiel XVI, 40; and this partly for the sake of modesty, partly for ornament (for the mantle is here opposed to the garments of widowhood and mourning), partly for the sake of keeping off the heat. She sat at the Crossroads of the Way. — In Hebrew it is, she sat bepetach enahim, which the Septuagint translates, she sat at the gates of Enan. But note: the Hebrews call a crossroads petach enahim, that is, an opening and, as the Chaldean translates it, a division of two eyes, because at a crossroads we are accustomed to turn our eyes in two directions, namely into two paths. Thus harlots sit at crossroads, so that they may hunt and catch those passing by on either side: hence Thamar sat at the crossroads catching Judah.
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16. And going in to her. — Judah sinned here with simple fornication, for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law: and Judah's wife was already dead, as is evident from verse 12, and therefore Judah was already a widower and free; but Thamar sinned both with fornication, and as it were with adultery (for she was betrothed to Shelah the son of Judah, as is evident from verse 11), and with incest, because she knew Judah her father-in-law. Therefore Francis George errs, in section IV, problem 265, where he asserts that Thamar did not sin, because she did this for the sake of this mystery. He errs more gravely in problem 267, as also Rabbi Moses, book III More, chapter L, while they excuse the fornication of Judah with Thamar on this ground, that before the law of Moses fornication was not prohibited, and therefore was lawful. For it is certain that simple fornication is a sin against the law of nature, and therefore it was forbidden and unlawful at all times, even before the law of Moses, as St. Jerome, St. Augustine, book XXII Against Faustus, St. Thomas, Lyra, Abulensis and others teach everywhere. You will say: St. Chrysostom and Theodoret here excuse Thamar and Judah. I answer: They do not excuse the deed, but the intention of the deed in Thamar, because Thamar intended not lust, as Judah did, but offspring. Second, they excuse this deed in a certain way, while they refer it to God's disposition, that is, permission and ordination. For God permitted this sin, and this fornication of Judah, so that from it Phares would be born, and from Phares Christ would be born: therefore He ordained it unto Christ. Thus St. Ambrose elevates the sale of Joseph as it were made in a type of the sale of Christ, although it is certain that it was in itself a grave sin: for God knows how to ordain and direct all the sins and evils of men unto a good end: whence He always draws forth some good from evils. Therefore it is frivolous what Rabbi Simeon Jochai says, that Thamar fornicated by God's instinct, so that she might conceive the Messiah from Judah: just as Hosea by God's instinct and command took a fornicatress, and begot from her sons, who are therefore called sons of fornications. But Scripture expresses this concerning Hosea, yet expresses nothing of the sort concerning Thamar. Again, this fornicatress was made the wife of Hosea by God's command: but it is certain that Thamar was not made the wife of Judah, indeed Judah afterward abstained from her, as is evident from verse 26.
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18. And his staff, — a walking staff, such as Jacob used on the way, chapter XXXII, verse 10.
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23. Let her keep it, certainly she cannot accuse us of falsehood. — In Hebrew it is, let her keep (my ring, bracelet and staff) for herself, lest perhaps we be brought to confusion: for if we seek her out, and demand these things of her, she, taking it ill, will publish my fornication, and thus will afflict me with great shame and ignominy; especially if she herself show my ring. For men will laugh at my levity, wantonness and baseness, that I gave my signet ring to a harlot, and that she, possessing this ring and keeping it for herself, thus deceived me, so that she could forge letters in my name as she wished, and seal them with my seal. Again, if I demand the ring back, she, in order to keep it, will boast that I did not pay her the promised fee. And so she will publicly accuse me of fraud and falsehood, and confound me, although falsely: for I did send her a kid, which I promised. For all these things are understood and to be supplied in this concise speech of Judah, after the Hebrew manner. Whence Our Author, regarding more the mind and sense of Judah than the words, clearly translates: "Certainly she cannot accuse us of falsehood: I sent her a kid, which I had promised."
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24. BRING HER FORTH, THAT SHE MAY BE BURNT. — Judas says this, according to St. Thomas, as if about to accuse Thamar in public judgment, and to urge that the judge condemn her to fire. Secondly and more probably, Judas here pronounces the sentence of burning upon Thamar as a judge: hence she was immediately led to execution; for it follows: "And when she was led to punishment." For Judas was a father of a family, who in the manner of that ancient age was judge of his own household: or rather Judas, as the most spirited of the brothers, had been appointed by Jacob his father as it were praetor of the whole family, which was numerous, namely of all the Hebrews: for they from the time of Abraham had their own commonwealth distinct from the commonwealth of the Canaanites, in which Jacob was patriarch and prince. For they were themselves pilgrims selected by God and separated from other peoples, and were as it were a commonwealth walking, until under Joshua they fixed their seat in Chanaan. Judas therefore, as praetor, demanded his daughter-in-law Thamar for the pyre, on account of a certain and public crime of adultery: for she was betrothed to Sela the son of Judah, and she violated these espousals by intercourse with Judah; and therefore she was an adulteress. Hence it is clear that in that ancient age the punishment of adultery was death, and that by fire: just as shortly after God through Moses commanded adulterers to be put to death by stoning, Leviticus XX, 10. Likewise to adulteresses He decreed the waters of malediction, which would burst their womb, Numbers V, 27. The Egyptians beat adulterers with rods to a thousand stripes; they cut off the noses of adulteresses, to perpetual disgrace. Witness is Diodorus, book I, chapter VI. Among the Arabs, Parthians and other nations, capital punishment was always the penalty for adulterers: which most Philosophers have recorded, who deemed adultery a crime graver than perjury. Witness is Alexander ab Alexandro, book IV, chapter I. The Cumans exposed an adulteress in the forum for all to mock: then they carried her around the whole city on an ass, so that she would be infamous her whole life, and from this she was called asellaris, because she had ridden an ass, witness Plutarch in Problems. King Tenedius enacted a law against adulterers, that the body of each be cut in pieces with an axe, and he made an example of this law in his own son. Plato, book IX On Laws, condemns a fornicator to the punishment of death; he asserts that an adulterer can be killed with impunity by a husband. Solon permitted one who caught an adulterer to kill him, witness Plutarch in Solon. Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Domitian, Severus and Aurelian enacted grave penalties against adulterers, and Aurelian devised this for an adulterer, that with the heads of two trees bent down and tied to his feet, and then released, he would be torn apart hanging on both sides. Witness is Coelius, book X, chapter VI. Opilius Macrinus burned adulterers in fire, witness Alexander ab Alexandro above. The Saxons, still Pagan, forced an adulteress to hang herself, and over the pyre of her burned and cremated body, they hanged the adulterer; witness St. Boniface in William of Malmesbury, book I, chapter LXIV On the English. Indeed, Mahomet decreed that an adulterer be publicly scourged to a hundred strokes. The Brazilians either kill adulteresses, or sell them as slaves: witness Osorius, book II On the Deeds of Emmanuel. Note: Judas here precipitates his sentence in anger: for he condemns Thamar unheard; again he condemns not only Thamar, but also her innocent offspring. For he ordered Thamar, pregnant with a fetus already animated for three months, to be burned; and thus he ordered the fetus to be killed both in body and soul, which is against all natural and gentile law. Thus Cajetan. For what some thus explain: "Bring her forth," namely, they say, not directly to the pyre, but to prison, so that she be kept there until she gives birth, and afterwards be burned, does not sufficiently cohere with the text, which thus reads: "Bring her forth," not that she be imprisoned, but "that she may be burnt." Hence Thamar was immediately dragged to the fire. For Moses immediately adds, saying: "And when she was led to punishment." For after this Thamar gives birth in verse 27.
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26. MORE JUST THAN I. — He does not say, holier than I am, or more chaste, but more just; because Thamar sinned more gravely than Judah: for he sinned by fornication alone, while she sinned by fornication, adultery and incest. Yet Thamar was more just, that is, she acted more fairly and justly toward Judah than Judah acted toward Thamar: for Judah did not keep his promises and covenants with her, denying her the marriage to Shelah that he had promised; and thus he provoked and compelled her to devise this stratagem against Judah, by which she might obtain from Judah himself the offspring which she had hoped for from Shelah, since Judah was unjustly preventing her from having it. For since Thamar, already bound to the family of Judah and Abraham, greatly desired offspring from it, and her Shelah was denied to her, she had no other way to obtain what she justly desired except to seek offspring from Judah himself by cunning, though by a crime: therefore Thamar was more wicked before God, but more just before Judah. BECAUSE I DID NOT GIVE HER SHELAH. — Understand, for this reason she did this, that she might bring this reproach upon me. HOWBEIT HE KNEW HER NO MORE. — Therefore Thamar remained thereafter unmarried, content with the offspring she had received from Judah, as Theodoret says; for Shelah could not, and would not, take her as a wife, polluted as she was by this paternal incest, but took another, as is evident from Numbers XXVI, 19; by whom he begat various sons, and among them one who made the sun stand still, as is said in 1 Paralipomenon IV, 22, concerning whom there.
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27. THERE APPEARED. — The midwife, having placed her hand to the womb, perceived two moving within, and as it were struggling, which one would come forth first.
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28. THIS ONE SHALL COME FORTH FIRST. — In Hebrew, this one came forth first, that is to say, this one is the firstborn, because he put forth his hand first; wherefore I will bind him with a scarlet thread, or cord, and mark him, so that, if any doubt or uncertainty should arise, it may be known from the thread that this one put forth his hand first, and that he is the firstborn.
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29. HIS HAND BEING DRAWN BACK. — St. Chrysostom teaches that all these things were done with God directing and disposing; namely, God willed that not Zara, but Phares should be born first, and should be the firstborn, because God willed that Christ the Lord should be born from Phares. AND THE WOMAN SAID, — the midwife, bearing it ill that she was deceived; fearing also lest this violent struggle and eruption should harm the mother or the twins, said: WHY IS THE PARTITION DIVIDED FOR THEE? — In Hebrew it is, "why hast thou broken upon thee a breaking," or "a partition," that is, why didst thou break the membrane by which thou wast covered, so as to come forth before thy brother? that is, why didst thou break through the afterbirth first and go out, and anticipate thy brother? For twins have the same afterbirth. Hear Fernelius, book VII of Physiology, chapter XII: "Twins of the same sex, wrapped in the same afterbirth, are separated by a single membrane only (which they call amnion, that is, the lamb-like one); yet each has his own umbilical cord, and his own veins and arteries; but those of different sex have received different afterbirths, and these completely separated." The same is taught by Rodericus a Castro, book III On the Nature of Women, chapter XIII, and the same our physicians profess to have learned by experience. Note: These are the words of the midwife bearing it ill, as I said, that the exit from the womb and the birthright had been snatched from Zara by Phares. Note: For partition, in Hebrew it is Phares, that is, a breaking, also a wall, or a hedge (as the Septuagint translates it) which is broken; this wall is the membrane by which, as it were by a wall, the infant in the mother's womb is enclosed and wrapped, and by breaking through which he comes forth. This membrane is called the afterbirth, because it follows the infant being born, and is sent forth from the womb. Hence the infant was called Phares, that is, a division or divider, or a breaker, because he first broke and divided the afterbirth, as a wall standing in his way, so as to be born first. From Phares, says St. Jerome, from the fact that he divided the little membrane of the afterbirth, the name of division was received: whence also the Pharisees, who had separated themselves as it were righteous from the people, were called Pharisees, that is, divided. Hence also that which was written to Belshazzar, Daniel V, 28: "Mane, Tekel, Phares," that is, "numbered, weighed, and divided is thy kingdom," and given to the Persians and Medes. Thus St. Jerome. Note secondly, Phares was held to be the firstborn of Judah, and had the rights of the firstborn; whence the line of Judah is traced through Phares: and David and all the kings, and Christ himself promised to Judah, Genesis XLIX, 10, were born from him through Phares. You will say: Sela, the legitimate son of Judah, was older than Phares, for he was born immediately after Her and Onan; therefore, when they died, the right of the firstborn devolved upon him, especially since Sela left sons, who are named in I Paralipomenon IV, 21. I answer: Her was the firstborn of Judah; and when he died, Onan ought to have, and then Sela, taken his widow Thamar, and from her raise up seed for his brother Her, and in his name reckon the firstborn, namely by calling him the son of Her, as I said in verse 9. But because Sela did not do this, but Judah begetting Phares from Thamar, hence Phares is reckoned the firstborn, as being the son of Thamar, the wife of Her the firstborn, and consequently succeeding in the place of Her the firstborn, by the custom and law of that age. For this reason the generation and birth of Phares is here narrated at length, before Zara, because if Zara had been born before Phares, he would have been the firstborn of Judah: hence in the womb he contended with Phares, so as to be born first. Here again we see the reason why Thamar so ardently sought offspring from Sela, and when he was denied, from Judah; namely, because she desired that from her should be born the firstborn heir and prince of the most noble family of Judah. For although the law concerning raising up seed for a brother who had died only named and obliged brothers, not fathers, because the union of a daughter-in-law with a father, namely with a father-in-law, was forbidden: yet if a father should deny to his daughter-in-law, childless and a widow, what was due to her by law, and she therefore should claim her right, though by a crime, from the father, namely from the father-in-law, as Thamar did here, then the offspring first born from her was reckoned firstborn, because by a legal fiction and interpretation, the father was deemed to have done it, and the right of the daughter-in-law, equally as to the firstborn son who had died, was deemed to have been rendered by him, which he ought to have done and rendered through his surviving son. For since the rule of law holds: "What anyone does through another, he is seen to do through himself;" much more, what he is bound to do through another, if he does it through himself, he is to be reckoned to have done it in fact. Some add that the line of Sela appears to have failed in posterity, for no mention is made of it elsewhere: but the line of Phares endured even to Christ. Therefore, the line of Sela having died out, the entire right of the firstborn devolved upon the line of Phares, as the nearest. But this is uncertain, and does not satisfy. For from the very beginning, when the line of Sela still stood, Aminadab, who was second from Phares (for Phares begat Esron, he begat Aram, he begat Aminadab, and his son Naasson), were princes in the tribe of Judah, as it were its firstborn, as appears in Numbers I, 7.
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30. ZARA. — "Zara" in Hebrew is the same as "rising," because when this son had extended his hand first, he ought also to have risen and been born first by nature. He was called, says St. Jerome, "Zara," that is, rising, either because he appeared first, or because many just men were born from him, as is evident from 1 Paralipomenons chapter II and following. Allegorically, Zara who extended his hand first is the Jew, who received the law first, but withdrew his hand bound with the scarlet thread, because he turned away from God and salvation a conscience polluted by the blood of Christ: hence Phares was preferred to him, that is, the Gentile people, who came first to the light of faith, and was born of God, and broke through the wall of enmities between God and men, through the blood of Christ. Thus Rupertus and Cyrillus. On the contrary, however, St. Chrysostom, Irenaeus and Theodoret understand by Zara the Christian Gentiles, by Phares the Jews.
Moral Reflection: On the Origin of Nobility Morally, observe here what is the origin of the most noble families, and what nobility is. For behold, from this incest of Judah with Thamar were born David, Solomon and all the kings of Judah, and Christ the Lord himself: for he descended from Judah through Phares and Thamar. For all the legitimate sons of Judah either had no offspring, as Her and Onan, or few and plebeian ones, as Sela, as is clear from 1 Paralipomenons IV, 21. In like manner there is no king or prince who, if he traces his ancestors back two thousand years, will not find among them many bastards, many rustics or artisans, or those of baser condition; indeed very many have been raised from the vilest stock to the kingdom. Thus Saul from asses, David from sheep came to the kingdom. Jephte from a robber became a prince, Arsaces from a robber became king of the Parthians, Gyges from a shepherd became king of the Lydians. Darius Hystaspis was the quiver-bearer of Cyrus. Valentinian I the Emperor had a father who twisted ropes. Tamerlane from a cowherd became king of the Tartars. Agathocles the tyrant of Syracuse had a father who was a potter. Tullus Hostilius from a shepherd became king of the Romans, Aurelian and Diocletian were born of humble stock. Maximinus was a shepherd. Maximus Puppienus had a father who was a blacksmith. Justinus I the Emperor was first a swineherd; second, a cowherd; third, a carpenter; fourth, a soldier, then Emperor. Mahomet, the author of Mahometanism and the Alcoran, was a camel-driver. Othoman, the first prince of the Turks, was born of agricultural parents, whose descendants are still the Emperors of the Turks. The Sultans of Egypt were required by the institution of their nation and kingdom to be slaves before they ascended to that honor. Finally, all nobility had an ignoble beginning: and those who glory in the nobility of their ancestors glory not in their own, but in the virtue of others. And this therefore is vanity. And with good reason Iphicrates reproached someone for his ignoble birth: "My," he said, "lineage begins with me, yours ends with you." Thus Plutarch in the Apophthegms. Cicero gave the same answer to his rivals: "I," he said, "have surpassed my ancestors in virtue."
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 14 « Eodem tempore descendens Iudas a fratribus Suis », probabilius Hebrone, « d?vertit ad virum Odollamitem , nomine Hiram ». Odollam civitas in planitie Iuda (descendens), haud procul a Thamnas, Ierimoth, Socho, Azeca et Maresa (cf. Ios. 15,35; 2 Esdr. 11, 30; Mich. 1, 15), distinguenda a spelunca Odollam (1 Reg. 22, 1; 2 Reg. 23, 13 sq.; 1 Par. 11, 15 sqq.), quae proxime aberat Bethleheme. — Ad '*'" non est supplendum ax (Keil), quia tabernaculum non tenditur ad personam, sed ad locum; verbum induit sensum se vertendi, divertendi (cf. *» TN 7183 Ex. 23, 2; 3 Reg. 2, 28; cf. Kn.). 1y sensu praepositionis ad habes 1 Reg. 9, 9 (Dillm.). — Expressione eo tempore non necessario effici, narrari cap. 38 quae simul cum v. 37 narratis acta sint, iam Aug. perspexit. Neque hic locus est disputandi, qua aetate Iuda uxorem duxerit, cum 46, 12 eius abnepotes scribantur Aegyptum cum Iacob esse ingressi. Licet enim ibi pro numero nominum descriptorum triginta tres v. 15 Liae filii scribantur ingressi, tamen v. 12 eorumdem duo, Her et Onan, ante iter Aegyptiacum in Chanaanitide referuntur esse mortui. Ergo ille nominum elenchus non est ita premendus. Potuere quidam scribi ingressi, qui nonnisi in lumbis patrum ingressi sint.
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v. 9 « Viditque ibi filiam hominis Chananaei, vocabulo Sue ». LXX Syr. pro Y27 habent àv : sed obest v. 12. *2y25. quod Chananaei etiam mercaturam exercerent, utique sensum nactum est mercator (Targ.), tamen hic omnino vertendum est Chananaeus : soceri genus efferendum erat, non occupatio. Licet vero Deo volente Isaac et Iacob uxores duxerint Aramaeas, nulla lege nuptiae Chananaeae filiis Iacob prohibitae fuisse demonstrari possunt (Ca/m.). Aliud fortasse erat ex cap. 3^4 de filia tradenda incircumciso. « E4 accepta uxore ingressus est ad eam ».
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v. 8 « Quae concepit et peperit filium et vocavit nomen eius Her ». Cf. 1 Par. 4,21.
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v. & « ftursumque concepto foetu natum filium vocavit Onan ».
38:5
v. 5 « Tertium quoque peperit , quem appellavit Sela », LXX YXqAoy, « quo nato parere ultra cessavit ». 332 mentiri (Aq.) ad significationem cessand? detorqueri nequit. Verle cum LXX CAald. : et erat Iuda in Chazib, quando ipsa peperit illum. Chazib autem eadem est urbs (Malv.), quae alias Achzib audit (Ios. 15,54 ; Mich. 1,14). Pro 395 Sam. habet n3:2, LXX *232.
38:6
v. 6 « Dedit autem Iudas uxorem primogenito suo Her nomine Thamar »; idem nomen habes 29 Reg. 13,1; 154,97. Quod illi v. 12 sq. prope Thamnas domus fuerit paterna, merito concludes fuisse etiam ipsam Chananaeam. v. 7« Fw: quoque Her primogenitus Iudae nequam in conspectu Domni, et ab eo occisus est ». Hebr. : ét fecit eum mori Dominus. Non cogimur intelligere mortem violentam, sed praematuram liberisque carentem. At gratuito Kn. adstruit s. auctorem non alia ratione inductum esse, ut scelestum scriberet Her, praeter communem opinionem praematuram mortem in sceleris poenam infligi; ipsum factum auctor diserte affirmat, Her fuisse nequam et quidem :n conspectu Domini, i. e. vere (cf. 10,9). E quibus verbis audacius infert 7os:., fuisse scelus soli Deo notum, et fortasse uxori. Id e verbis non sequitur, fere tamen sequitur e contextu, agi sc. descelere aliquo coniugii usum attingente. Quale illud fuerit, otiose (Est.) coniectarunt auctores Hebraei. Fuisse enorme, inflicta poena docet (Vat.). |
38:8
v. 8 « Dixit ergo Iudas ad Onan filium suum : Ingredere ad uxorem fratris tui et sociare illi », — a3 a 03 levir, ergo : leviratus officium imple (cf. Deut. 25,5. 7) — « ut suscites semen fratri tuo ». Ergo lex leviratus Moyse erat antiquior (Ca:.); aliqua etiam eius vestigia apud Indos, Persas et Africae atque Italiae tribus deprehendebantur (Diod. Sic. XII. 18). Solus filius primogenitus reputandus erat filius Her, reliquis Onano tribuendis.
38:9
v. 9 « Ille sciens non sibi nasci filios », — Hebr. semen — « introiens ad uxorem fratris sui, semen fundebat in terram, ne liberi » — Hebr. semen — « fratris nomtne nascerentur ». Hebr. euphemistice corrumpebat terram versus. Filius de Thamar natus ludaeque primogenito Her attributus obtenturus erat principatum tribus Iuda : at eum filio sui nominis haeredi malebat obvenire Onan , quare a frateis vidua abstinuit.
38:10
v. 10 « E? ?dcirco percussit eum Dominus, quod rem detestabilem faceret ». Quale scelus et Her et Onan admiserint, fere e solius Thamar testimonio Iuda didicit. Verum ita facile potuit ei suboriri suspicio (EpAr.), non ob sola propria delicta interiisse filios, sed ob aliquam fortasse etiam Thamaris culpam, quam ipsa silentio premeret. Habet igitur aliquam excusationem Iuda, Thamarem tertio filio Selae non tradens.
38:11
v. 11 « [Quam o5 rem] dixit Iudas Thamar nurui suae : Esto vidua in domo patris tut, donec crescat Sela ftus meus ». Ergo moris erat iam tum, uti postea Lev. 22,13, ut vidua liberis carens in domum paternam secederet. Illud etiam fere efficiunt verba , matrimonia leviratus vel apud Chananaeos in usu tum fuisse (Cai.). « Timebat enim, ne etipse moreretur, sicut fratres eius ». Verba utique evincunt, non plane sincere cum Thamar egisse Iudam (Mar.) : non tamen fraudis, dum ea eloqueretur, est arguendus. Selae immatura aetas reapse coniugium differri poscebat poteratque sperare Iuda, « facile excepturam illam alterum virum ac proinde absolvendum se a necessitate tradendi illi tertium filium » (Calm.). At alium virum nacta non est Thamar, probabilius quod homines, Heri et Onanis scelerum ignari, sterilem reputarent. « Quae abut et habitavit in domo patris sui ».
38:12
v. 19. « Evolutis autem multis diebus » , tot certe, ut iam se negligi Thamar adulto Sela oppido perspiceret, « mortua est filia Sue, uxor Iudae, qui [post luctum| consolatione suscepta ascendebat ad tonsores ovium suarum , ipse et Hiras opilio gregis Odollamites in Thamnas », urbem sitam in confinibus Iuda Ios. 15,10, postea Danitis 19,43 tributam. Cf. quae diximus ad Iud. 154,1. Hodie Khirbet Tibneh, prope Wady es Surar : M. V. Guérin, Judée II. 29 sqq. Cum is locus in colle aliquo sit, satis explicatur vox ascendebat, neque pro Ios. 15,577 altera urbs homonyma merito adstruitur : quorsum enim montana Iudae tempore Iosue procurrerint, non satis liquet. H?ras idem sane est atque v. 1, ergo amicus Iudae (Masor. Tárg. Syr.), non pastor (Vulg. LXX) : w^ diversa punctatione utrumque sensum patitur (Hter.). Ceterum adverte, cum titulus am?cus iam tempore Isaac (26,26) principi cuidam apud Geraritas viro, et postea (2 Reg. 15,37; 16,16; 3 Reg. 5,5) apud Iudaeos aulicis quibusdam, et pluribus apud Aegyptios (Erman Y. 110 sq.) prineipibus tributus sit, fieri potuisse, ut ' etiam Iuda Hirae familiari suo eundem ^£etulum tribuerit. Iudae libidinem attinet, videtur is reapse Chananaeis plurimum esse commixtus : Chananaeum habuit amicum, Chananaeam uxorem, Chananaeam sine dubio filiis providit uxorem. Quid mirum, si idem Chananaeorum morum licentiam sit imitatus? Merito autem supponebatur vir ad licentiam apprime pronus, quo tempore viduus luctu deposito ad tonsurae ovium tripudia ascendebat. Quam opportunitatem inter Ghananaeos luxuriae consecratam seligens Thamar simul « redarguit socerum , quod incontinens ipse cum esset, continentiam se cogeret servare » (Theodoret.). Thamarem vel afficto divino aliquo instinctu excusare nisus est £ph»r., infeliciter sane.
38:13
v. 13 « Nuntiatumque est Thamar, quod socer illius ascenderet in Thamnas ad tondendas oves ».
38:14
v. 4& « Quae depositis viduitatis vestibus assumpsit. theristrum » seu pallium (254,65) — vox latina et graeca vestem designat aestivam — « e4 mutato habitu », Hebr. obvoluta, « sedit in. bivio itineris quod. ducit Thamnam » , forte ab Odollam; « eo, quod crevissel. Sela, et non eum accepisset maritum ». Ultima verba utique « quasi excusans scriptura dicit » (Chrys.), potestque Thamar credi non tam luxuriae affectu, quam prolis desiderio (TÀeodoret.) egisse. nnaon q"(7 by 1UN D'Y nn52. LEX verius Q'2*y intellexere nomen proprium Alváv; sedit in porta Enaim (Ios. 15, 34), quae est in via Thamnam. Ps. Ion. et Targ. Hier. appellative interpretati sunt : aperturam oculorum, et hinc « separationem viarum, ad quam omnes oculi respiciunt »; idemque crediderim sensisse Chald. Syr. : in separatione viarum, et Vulg. : in bivio itineris. Reapse in biviis sedere consueverant meretrices Ez. 16, 25: Ier. 3, 2 (Calm.).
38:15
v. 18. « Quam cum vidisset Iudas, suspicatus est esse meretricem; operuerat enim vultum suum, [ne agnosceretur| ». Ylud suspicatus est duo includit : primum non agnovisse nurum, alterum coniecisse esse meretricem. Vulg. (et similiter LXX) adiecto inciso expressit, prioris tantum reddi rationem (Malv.), dum opertus vultus commemoratur, non necessario alterius (Vat.); meretrices quippe tum consuevisse operto vultu sedere, reapse non liquet. Potuit meretricii quaestus suspieio orirí « ex loco et habitu » (Malv.), sc. sedentis prope portam et praeteriturum aliquem exspectantis. Sigilla apud Babylonios cylindri plerumque formam habentia, symbolis et etiam textibus tam cuneiformibus quam aramaicis insignia, itemque sigilla apud Aegyptios antiquissimis temporibus iam erant ita frequentia, ut admitti nullo pacto queat, omnes, qui eiusmodi habuerint, artis scribendi ipsos fuisse gnaros. Teste Herod. I. 195 baculus et sigillum ad communem virorum Babyloniorum ornatum pertinebant. Sigila axi perforata funiculo suspensa videntur esse gestata. Probabile est, Abrahamo natis fuisse sigilla eorum affinia, quae apud Babylonios et Chaldaeos usuvenerant. Uli postmodum Persae (Est. 3, 10. 12; 8, 2. 8), ita etiam Aegyptii antiquitus (Gen. 41, 42) et posteriores Iudaei annulis utebantur sigillaribus, neque constat Babylonios illis caruisse. Sigillo non signabantur solum scripta, sed libri elaudebantur (Is. 29, 11) et sacculi (Iob 14, 17), obserebantur putei (Dan. 6, 17) et portae (14, 13). — omn ex etymo tortwum quid significat et recentiores cum Ps. Ion. et Targ. Hier. communius funiculum interpretantur, quo sigillum gestaretur suspensum ; sed Num. 19, 15 et Iud. 16, 9 rem non certo evincunt. Vertendi cum Chaid. pallium nulla apparet ratio, et videtur sibi Thamar ea tantum expetiisse, quae ad ornatum, non quae ad vestitum spectabant. LXX Symm. Aq. vertunt torquem , Yulg. armillam; quae versio saltem aeque est probabilis, atque altera illa funiculus.
38:18
« [Ad unum igitur coitum| mulier concepit »,
38:19
v. 19 « et surgens abiit depositoque habitu, quem sumpserat , induta est viduttatis vestibus ».
38:20
v. 90 « Misit autem ludas hoedum per pastorem » , seu verius amicum (cf. ad v. 12), « suum Odollamitam, ut. reciperet pignus, quod dederat mulieri. Qui cum non invenisset eam »,
38:21
v. 94 « ?nterrogavit homines loci illius : Ubi est mulier, quae sedebat in bivio », corrige 2n. Enaim? « Respondentibus cunctis : Non fuit in loco 1sto meretrix »,
38:22
v. 99 « reversus est ad Iudam et dixit ei : Non inveni eam; sed et homines loci illius. dixerunt mihi, nunquam sedisse ibi scortum ».
38:23
v. 93 « Aut Iudas : Habeat sibi », sc. pignus (Ps. Jon. et Targ. Hier.). « Certe mendacii arguere nos non potest ». Sed haec liberior est versio. Hebr. : ne efficiamur in ludibrium. « Significat, se rnalle annulum perdere, quam longius spargendo rem , materiam praebere vulgi sermonibus » (Vat.). « Ego misi hoedum, [quem promiseram,] et tu non invenisti eam ».
38:24
Dixitque Iudas : Producite eam , ut comburatur » Narratio ostendit, omnes in Iuda agnovisse ius talis sententiae ferendae, quod ipsi competebat sane ut familiae capiti (Per.), ad quam Thamar duorum filiorum vidua tertioque reservata pertinebat. At, inquiunt, crudelior fuit incendii poena. Nihil est in textu, quo aequales prodantur eam poenam reputasse acerbiorem : nostrum autem est, quid tum moris fuerit e textu eruere, non vero eius moris omnimodam tueri iustitiam. Hypocritam vocat Iudam Es/., quod, qui ipse modo fornicatus esset, forni-. cariam supplicio addixerit. Respondet Bon/r., non fuisse meram fornicationem, sed veluti sponsalium laesionem. Ceterum adverte, maius prae viro probrum familiae inurere fornicatione mulierem, quippe quae prolem familiae inferat spuriam aut incertam. Quod probrum gravius etiam patriarcharum aevo ferebant homines posteritatis producendae apprime studiosi. In lege mosaica adulterium morte plectebatur, Thamaris vero delictum adulterio saltem erat affine. At certe in eo crudelitatis macula Iudas absolvi nequit, quod mulierem gravidam ad supplicium produci iusserit, exstirpaturus prolem cum matre (Ca?.).
38:25
v. 25 « Quae cum duceretur ad poenam, misit ad socerum suum dicens : De viro, cutus haec sunt, concepi. Cognosce , cuius sit annulus et armilla et baculus ». E plurali a2 nihil inferri potest, reliquis textibus omnibus exprimentibussingularem numerum.
38:26
v. 26 « Qui agnilis muneribus ait : Iustior me est », non « innocens est » (CArys., Theodoret.), sed comparatione mei minus malum fecit (H?er.) : « quia non tradidi eam Sela filio meo ». Ipsa non libidinis ergo fornicata est, sed leviratus iura sibi a me denegata ex me fraude zepetiit posteritatis studio. Si ipsa peccavit, ego ad peccatum compuli et ideo, qui princeps sim et quasi parens, culpandus sum prae ipsa. In tota autem hac narratione obtusae conscientiae vir de fornicatione , imo materiali incestu a se perpetrato minime erubescit, quem ludibrio (v. 23) ad summum dignum censet, non poena. « Attamen ultra non cognovit eam », soceri cum nuro coniugium nefas ratus (Ca1.).
38:27
v. 97 « Instante autem partu apparuerunt gemini in utero, atque in ipsa effusione (infantium unus] protulit manum, in qua obstetriz ligavit coccinum dicens » :
38:28
v. 98 « Iste egredietur prior », « maior natu habendus » (Calm.). Hebr. : egressus est, praeterito exprimente « certitudinem rei futurae » (Bonfr.), « quasi dicat : Non poterit hic iam primogeniturae ius amittere » (Malv.). Tamen, ut res certior reddatur, adhibetur coccinum (gal/. cochenille), i. e. filum seu lana eo colore tincta.
38:29
v. 99 « I/lo vero retrahente manum egressus est alter, dixitque mulier : Quare divisa est propter te maceria? » « Pro maceria dtvisionem Ag. ei Symm. transtulerunt, quod hebraice dicitur phares. Ab eo igitur, quod diviserit membranam secundinarum, divisionis nomen accepit » (Hier.). Potest quidem Hebr. verti etiam ita : « Cur divisisti? super te sit divisio » (Caz.). At ita intellecta verba « imprecationem » (Vat.) sonarent nutricis contra infantem, vix ferendam. Ergo "^y vertas aut propter te (Vulg.) aut, sensu maxime nativo, super te : « Quare membranam, qua obvolvebaris, divisisti, ut fratri primogenituram praeriperes? » (Bonfr.). « Et [ob hanc causam] vocavit nomen etus Phares ».
38:30
v. 30 « Postea egressus est frater eius, in cuius manu erat coccinum , quem appellavit Zara ». Nominis ratio nos latet. Cap. XXXIX
38:1
Odollam (Hebrew 'Adhullām; cf. Arabic 'Adula, "To Take Refuge")
ODOLLAM (Hebrew 'Adhullām; cf. Arabic 'Adula, "To Take Refuge"). - A Canaanite city, often mentioned in the Bible from the time of the Patriarchs to that of the Maccabees (cf. Gen. 38:1; Josh. 12:15; 15:35; 2 Chron. 11:7; Neh. 11:30; 2 Macc. 12:38), identified in 1875 by Clermont-Ganneau with the present-day Hirbet 'Id-el-mā ('Idelmijeh), about 20 km west-southwest …
38:2
… As punishment for the ignoble crime he was punished by the Lord with death (Gen. 38:2-4; 46:12). From him takes its name the sin against nature directed at preventing offspring, which is called "onanism."
38:6
1. Wife of Er, firstborn of Judah (v.), son of Jacob (Gen. 38:6). When her husband died, she passed by the law of the levirate to Onan (v.); when he too died because of his sin, constrained by her superstitious father-in-law, who feared for the …
38:8
… The custom is already documented in the patriarchal era (Gen. 38:8 ff.). …
38:9
Historically the biblical Onan (Gen. 38:9) may be considered the progenitor of the limitationists; likewise Aristotle seems the first who wished to plan birth control with his limitationist concerns. …
… Pollution is natural when it is not deliberately willed, nor approved, as nocturnal pollution can be; in other cases it is voluntary; and then it is also called the solitary sin or vice, masturbation (mana stupratio or manuturbatio: Gen. 38:9). It is simple, if it has only the malice of pollution; qualified, if besides its own malice it has another on account of the subject, his intention, scandal, etc. Voluntary pollution …
38:10
Consequently sin can be defined as: factum vel dictum vel concupitum aliquid contra legem aeternam (St. Augustine, Contra Faustum, 20, 27: PL 42, 418). This is indeed the aspect of sin most frequently recalled in Revelation (cf. Gen. 39, 9; 13, 13; 38, 10; Ex. 33, 23; Jud. 10, 7; 19, 25; Rom. 5, 19; 2, 29; 4, 16; etc.). …
38:13
… The marriage was arranged on the basis of the law of the levirate (v.), of which it nonetheless represents an interesting special case, because B. was gô'ēl not of the husband, but of Ruth's deceased father-in-law, from whom perhaps there had come to B. the duty (cf. Gen. 38:13) to marry the daughter-in-law. …
38:14
Among the Hebrews, widowhood was a state of desolation and entailed particular prohibitions (cf. Gen. 38, 14, 19; Judg. 10, 2; 16, 9; II Sam. 20, 3; Lev. 21, 14). Thus the widow is a being who commends herself by her very condition to pity (cf. Ex. 22, 22; Deut. 24, 17; 19, 21; …
38:24
… A young woman who unites with a strange man is already condemned to death as an adulteress (Gen. 38:24). Such severity suggests that even for the young man who does not keep his promise of marriage, at least a pecuniary penalty was reserved, similar to that sanctioned in the code of Hammurabi (§ 159).
38:29
… At the birth of P. his mother probably said: "Why have you made a breach (pâres) for yourself?" And he was called P. (Gen. 38:29). This and other details are given by the sacred text because of the importance of the rights of primogeniture, which were granted to him and not to Zerah, since he is always remembered …
38:39
2. Grandson of Esau and son of Reuel (Gen. 36, 13, 17; I Chron. 1, 37). 3. Son of Judah, who went down to Egypt with Jacob (Gen. 38, 39; 46, 12; I Chron. 2, 4; Jude. 7, 17, 24). 4. Son of the patriarch Simeon (Num. 26, 13; I Chron. 4, 24). 5. Levite, son of Addo and father of Iethrai (I Chron. 6, 21). 6. Father of …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.