1Omkring den tid rejste Juda hjemmefra og flyttede til Adullam, hvor han boede hos en mand ved navn Hira.2Der mødte han en kana’anæisk pige—en datter af Shua—og giftede sig med hende.3Snart blev hun gravid og fødte en søn, som hun kaldte Er.4Senere blev hun igen gravid og fødte en søn, som hun kaldte Onan.5Derefter fødte hun endnu en søn, som hun kaldte Shela. På det tidspunkt boede de i Kezib.6Da Er var blevet voksen, fandt Juda en kone til ham. Hun hed Tamar.7Men Er var en ond mand, og derfor lod Herren ham dø.8Da sagde Juda til Ers bror Onan: „Gift dig med Tamar, og opfyld din forpligtelse til din afdøde bror, så han kan få en arving.”9Men Onan vidste, at hans første barn med Tamar ikke ville blive regnet for hans eget. Så hver gang han gik i seng med hende, sørgede han for at spilde sin sæd på jorden. På den måde nægtede han at skaffe sin afdøde bror en arving.10Det blev Herren vred over, og derfor lod han også Onan dø.11Da sagde Juda til sin svigerdatter Tamar: „Rejs hjem til dine forældre og lev som enke, indtil min søn Shela bliver gammel nok til at gifte sig med dig.” Juda var nemlig bange for, at hans yngste søn også skulle dø ligesom de to andre, hvis han blev gift med hende. Så rejste Tamar hjem til sine forældre.12Nogen tid efter døde Judas kone. Da sørgetiden var overstået, tog Juda og hans ven, adullamitten Hira, af sted til Timna for at overvåge fåreklipningen.13Da Tamar hørte, at hendes svigerfar var på vej til fåreklipningen i Timna,14lagde hun sit enketøj til side, hyllede sig i et slør, så det skjulte hendes ansigt og satte sig ved vejen, der førte ind til landsbyen Enajim på vej til Timna. Hun var nemlig godt klar over, at hun aldrig ville blive gift med Shela, som i mellemtiden var blevet voksen.15Da Juda kom forbi og fik øje på hende, troede han, at hun var prostitueret, fordi hendes slør dækkede hele ansigtet.16Han gik hen til hende og spurgte, om han måtte ligge med hende, uden at vide, at hun var hans svigerdatter. „Hvor meget vil du give mig for det?” spurgte hun.17„Jeg kan sende dig et gedekid,” svarede han. „Hvad giver du mig i pant, så jeg kan være sikker på, at du sender det?” spurgte hun.18„Hvad vil du have?” spurgte han tilbage. „Giv mig dit segl og snoren, som det hænger i, og så den vandrestav, du har i hånden,” svarede hun. Så gav han hende tingene, og hun lå med ham og blev gravid.19Bagefter gik hun hjem, tog sløret af og skiftede til sit enketøj.20Juda bad nu sin ven, adullamitten Hira, om at bringe gedekiddet til hende og samtidig hente de ting tilbage, som han havde givet i pant, men Hira kunne ikke finde hende.21Til sidst spurgte han nogle mænd i byen: „Hvor bor den prostituerede, som sad ved vejen uden for byen?” „Der har aldrig været en prostitueret på det sted,” svarede de.22Så vendte Hira tilbage til Juda og fortalte, at han ikke kunne finde pigen, og at mændene havde sagt, der ikke var nogen prostitueret der.23„Så lad hende beholde sit pant,” sagde Juda. „Vi gjorde i hvert fald, hvad vi kunne. Hvis vi går tilbage igen, bliver vi da helt til grin.”24Omkring tre måneder senere fik Juda at vide, at hans svigerdatter Tamar var blevet gravid som følge af prostitution. „Tag hende uden for byen og brænd hende!” sagde Juda.25Men da de førte hende ud til bålet, sendte hun følgende besked til sin svigerfar: „Det er ejeren af dette segl, denne snor og denne vandrestav, der har gjort mig gravid. Se godt efter! Genkender du pantet?”26Juda måtte indrømme, at tingene tilhørte ham. Da tilstod han: „Hun har retten på sin side, for jeg opfyldte ikke mit løfte og gav hende ikke til min søn Shela.” Men han lå aldrig med hende igen.27Da tidspunktet kom, hvor hun skulle føde, viste det sig, at det var tvillinger.28Under presseveerne kom der en hånd frem, og jordemoderen bandt en rød snor om hånden for at markere, hvem der var kommet først.29Men barnet trak hånden tilbage, og det var den anden, som blev født først. „Som han dog bryder igennem,” udbrød jordemoderen, og derfor gav man ham navnet Peretz.[1]30Bagefter blev drengen med den røde snor om håndleddet født. Han kom til at hedde Zerach.
1It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. (1.Mos 19,3; 1.Mos 38,16; 1.Sam 22,1; 2.Sam 23,13; 2.Kong 4,8; 1.Krøn 11,15; Mika 1,15)2There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, (1.Krøn 2,3)3and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. (1.Mos 46,12; 4.Mos 26,19)4She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. (1.Mos 38,3)5Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah[1] was in Chezib when she bore him. (1.Mos 38,3)6And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.7But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. (1.Krøn 2,3)8Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” (5.Mos 25,5; Matt 22,24; Mark 12,19; Luk 20,28)9But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother.10And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also.11Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house. (3.Mos 22,13; Ruth 1,12)12In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. (1.Mos 24,67; 1.Mos 37,35; Dom 14,1; 2.Sam 13,39)13And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”14she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. (1.Mos 24,65; 1.Mos 38,19; 1.Mos 38,21; 1.Mos 38,26)15When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.16He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”17He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—”18He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. (1.Mos 38,25)19Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood. (1.Mos 38,14)20When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her.21And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute[2] who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.” (1.Mos 38,14)22So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’”23And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”24About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral.[3] Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.”[4] And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” (3.Mos 21,9; 5.Mos 22,21; Dom 19,2; Joh 8,5)25As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” (1.Mos 38,18)26Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again. (1.Mos 38,14; 1.Sam 24,17)27When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb.28And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”29But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez.[5] (1.Mos 46,12; 4.Mos 26,20; 1.Krøn 2,4; Matt 1,3)30Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah. (1.Mos 38,29)