Genesis 38:20

38:20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah ¹  the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, ²  but Hirah ³  could not find her.

Genesis 38:24-25

38:24 After three months Judah was told, ⁴  “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, ⁵  and as a result she has become pregnant.” ⁶  Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” 38:25 While they were bringing her out, she sent word ⁷  to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” ⁸  Then she said, “Identify ⁹  the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.”

Proverbs 20:16

20:16 Take a man’s ¹⁰  garment ¹¹  when he has given security for a stranger, ¹² 

and when he gives surety for strangers, ¹³  hold him ¹⁴  in pledge.

Luke 16:8

16:8 The ¹⁵  master commended the dishonest ¹⁶  manager because he acted shrewdly. ¹⁷  For the people ¹⁸  of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries ¹⁹  than the people ²⁰  of light.

[38:20]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand.”

[38:20]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Judah’s friend Hirah the Adullamite) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[38:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “it was told to Judah, saying.”

[38:24]  ⁵ tn Or “has been sexually promiscuous.” The verb may refer here to loose or promiscuous activity, not necessarily prostitution.

[38:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “and also look, she is with child by prostitution.”

[38:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “she was being brought out and she sent.” The juxtaposition of two clauses, both of which place the subject before the predicate, indicates synchronic action.

[38:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “who these to him.”

[38:25]  ⁹ tn Or “ recognize; note.” This same Hebrew verb (נָכַר, nakhar) is used at the beginning of v. 26, where it is translated “recognized.”

[20:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his garment.”

[20:16]  ¹¹ sn Taking a garment was the way of holding someone responsible to pay debts. In fact, the garment was the article normally taken for security (Exod 22:24-26; Deut 24:10-13). Because this is a high risk security pledge (e.g., 6:1-5), the creditor is to deal more severely than when the pledge is given by the debtor for himself.

[20:16]  ¹² tc The Kethib has the masculine plural form, נָכְרִים (nakhrim), suggesting a reading “strangers.” But the Qere has the feminine form נָכְרִיָּה (nakhriyyah), “strange woman” or “another man’s wife” (e.g., 27:13). The parallelism would suggest “strangers” is the correct reading, although theories have been put forward for the interpretation of “strange woman” (see below).

[20:16]  ¹³ tn M. Dahood argues that the cloak was taken in pledge for a harlot (cf. NIV “a wayward woman”). Two sins would then be committed: taking a cloak and going to a prostitute (“To Pawn One’s Cloak,” Bib 42 [1961]: 359-66; also Snijders, “The Meaning of זָר,” 85-86). In the MT the almost identical proverb in 27:13 has a feminine singular form here.

[20:16]  ¹⁴ tn Or “hold it” (so NIV, NCV).

[16:8]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:8]  ¹⁶ sn Is the manager dishonest because of what he just did? Or is it a reference to what he had done earlier, described in v. 1? This is a difficult question, but it seems unlikely that the master, having fired the man for prior dishonesty, would now commend those same actions. It would also be unusual for Jesus to make that point of the story the example. Thus it is more likely the reference to dishonesty goes back to the earliest events, while the commendation is for the cleverness of the former manager reflected in vv. 5-7.

[16:8]  ¹⁷ sn Where this parable ends is debated: Does it conclude with v. 7, after v. 8a, after v. 8b, or after v. 9? Verse 8a looks as if it is still part of the story, with its clear reference to the manager, while 8b looks like Jesus’ application, since its remarks are more general. So it is most likely the parable stops after v. 8a.

[16:8]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “sons” (an idiom).

[16:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “with their own generation.”

[16:8]  ²⁰ tn Grk “sons.” Here the phrase “sons of light” is a reference to the righteous. The point is that those of the world often think ahead about consequences better than the righteous do.