Genesis 38:15-21

38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute ¹  because she had covered her face. 38:16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come on! I want to have sex with you.” ²  (He did not realize ³  it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?” ⁴  38:17 He replied, “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give me a pledge until you send it?” ⁵  38:18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had sex with her. ⁶  She became pregnant by him. 38:19 She left immediately, ⁷  removed her veil, and put on her widow’s clothes.

38:20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah ⁸  the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, ⁹  but Hirah ¹⁰  could not find her. 38:21 He asked the men who were there, ¹¹  “Where is the cult prostitute ¹²  who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.”

[38:15]  ¹ tn Heb “he reckoned her for a prostitute,” which was what Tamar had intended for him to do. She obviously had some idea of his inclinations, or she would not have tried this risky plan.

[38:16]  ² tn Heb “I will go to you.” The imperfect verbal form probably indicates his desire here. The expression “go to” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:16]  ³ tn Heb “for he did not know that.”

[38:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “when you come to me.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:17]  ³ tn Heb “until you send.”

[38:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “and she arose and left,” the first verb in the pair emphasizing that she wasted no time.

[38:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “sent by the hand of his friend.” Here the name of the friend (“Hirah”) has been included in the translation for clarity.

[38:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand.”

[38:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Judah’s friend Hirah the Adullamite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[38:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “the men of her place,” that is, who lived at the place where she had been.

[38:21]  ⁸ sn The Hebrew noun translated “cult prostitute” is derived from a verb meaning “to be set apart; to be distinct.” Thus the term refers to a woman who did not marry, but was dedicated to temple service as a cult prostitute. The masculine form of this noun is used for male cult prostitutes. Judah thought he had gone to an ordinary prostitute (v. 15); but Hirah went looking for a cult prostitute, perhaps because it had been a sheep-shearing festival. For further discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, “Cultic Prostitution,” Orient and Occident (AOAT), 213-23.