Wayfinding Bible - Flipbook - Page 64
58
Genesis 38
PG 56
38:1-30
SCENIC
31
JUDAH AND TAMAR
Joseph has had magnificent dreams, but nothing in them prepares him for going
to Egypt or being sold into slavery. After Joseph’s brothers betray him, his older
brother Judah moves away and takes a Canaanite wife, even though his ancestors had consistently avoided them. Judah’s decision unravels a series of events
and his downward spiral continues. His story begins with a young woman named
Tamar.
mourning for my son,” he would say, and then
he would weep.
36
Meanwhile, the Midia
nite traders* arrived
in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an
officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar
was captain of the palace guard.
JUDAH AND TAMAR
38
PG 1448
b | JESUS’ FAMILY | 38:1-30
PG 255
23
So when Jo
seph arrived, his brothers
ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing.
24
Then they grabbed him and threw him into
the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there
was no water in it. 25 Then, just as they were
sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a
caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders
taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin
from Gilead down to Egypt.
26
Judah said to his brothers, “What will we
gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover
up the crime.* 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s
sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all,
he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!”
And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the
Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came
by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces* of
silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.
29
Some time later, Reuben returned to get
Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered
that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes
in grief. 30 Then he went back to his brothers
and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I
do now?”
31
Then the brothers killed a young goat and
dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. 32 They sent
the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this
robe belong to your son?”
33
Their father recognized it immediately.
“Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly
been torn to pieces!” 34 Then Jacob tore his
clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He
mourned deeply for his son for a long time.
35
His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave*
About this time, Judah left home and
moved to Adullam, where he stayed
with a man named Hirah. 2 There he saw a Ca
naanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he
married her. When he slept with her, 3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he
named the boy Er. 4 Then she became pregnant
again and gave birth to another son, and she
named him Onan. 5 And when she gave birth to
a third son, she named him Shelah. At the time
of Shelah’s birth, they were living at Kezib.
6
In the course of time, Judah arranged for
his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman
named Tamar. 7 But Er was a wicked man in the
Lord’s sight, so the Lord took his life. 8 Then
Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and marry
Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a
man who has died. You must produce an heir
for your brother.”
9
But Onan was not willing to have a child
who would not be his own heir. So whenever
he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he
spilled the semen on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong
to his brother. 10 But the Lord considered it evil
for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So
the Lord took Onan’s life, too.
11
Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-
37:26 Hebrew cover his blood. 37:28 Hebrew 20 [shekels], about
8 ounces or 228 grams in weight. 37:35 Hebrew go down to Sheol.
37:36 Hebrew the Medanites. The relationship between the Midianites
and Medanites is unclear; compare 37:28. See also 25:2.
