Genesis 38:20

20 Judah sent his friend Hirah to deliver the young goat so that he could get back his deposit from the woman, but his friend couldn't find her.

Genesis 38:20 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:20

And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the
Adullamite
Who went with him to Timnath, and was privy to all this wickedness, and kept the secret; but would have acted the more friendly and faithful part had he dissuaded him from it: him he employed to carry the kid he had promised, and not any of his servants, for the greater secrecy: and to receive [his] pledge from the woman's hand;
his signet, bracelets, and staff, or whatever they were: but he found her not;
she was gone from the place where she sat, or where she retired to with Judah.

Genesis 38:20 In-Context

18 "What should I give you as a deposit?" he asked. "Your signet ring, its cord, and the shepherd's staff that's in your hand," she answered. So he gave them to her. Then he slept with her, and she became pregnant.

19 After she got up and left, she took off her veil and put her widow's clothes back on.

20 Judah sent his friend Hirah to deliver the young goat so that he could get back his deposit from the woman, but his friend couldn't find her.

21 He asked the men of that area, "Where's that prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?" "There's no prostitute here," they answered.

22 So he went back to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. Even the men of that area said, 'There's no prostitute here.'"