Genesis 38:2

38:2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man ¹  named Shua. ²  Judah acquired her as a wife ³  and had marital relations with her. ⁴ 

Genesis 38:5

38:5 Then she had ⁵  yet another son, whom she named Shelah. She gave birth to him in Kezib. ⁶ 

Genesis 38:11

38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, ⁷  “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” ⁸  So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

Genesis 38:14

38:14 So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because ⁹  she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.) ¹⁰ 

[38:2]  ¹ tn Heb “a man, a Canaanite.”

[38:2]  ² tn Heb “and his name was Shua.”

[38:2]  ³ tn Heb “and he took her.”

[38:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he went to her.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and she added again and she gave birth.” The first verb and the adverb emphasize that she gave birth once more.

[38:5]  ⁶ tn Or “and he [i.e., Judah] was in Kezib when she gave birth to him.”

[38:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “said.”

[38:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Otherwise he will die, also he, like his brothers.”

[38:14]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text simply has “because,” connecting this sentence to what precedes. For stylistic reasons the words “she did this” are supplied in the translation and a new sentence begun.

[38:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she was not given to him as a wife.”