Genesis 38:17

17 And he said, "I will send a kid from the goats of the flock." And she said, "[Only] if you give a pledge until you send [it]."

Genesis 38:17 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:17

And he said, I will send [thee] a kid from the flock
Either from Timnath, where his flock was shearing, or rather from Adullam, where he lived; since it is probable he was now returning from Timnath, where he had been feasting and making merry with his shearers, and so in a disposition to commit such an action: and she said, wilt thou give [me] a pledge, till thou send [it]?
she made no objection to the hire or present, only required a pawn, or security for it till she had it; and this was her view indeed in asking an hire that she might have something to produce, should she prove with child by him, to convince him by whom it was.

Genesis 38:17 In-Context

15 And Judah saw her and reckoned her to [be] a prostitute, for she had covered her face.

16 And he turned aside to her at the roadside and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she [was] his daughter-in-law. And she said, "What will you give to me that you may come in to me?"

17 And he said, "I will send a kid from the goats of the flock." And she said, "[Only] if you give a pledge until you send [it]."

18 And he said, "What [is] the pledge that I must give to you?" And she said, "your seal, your cord, and your staff that [is] in your hand." And he gave [them] to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him.

19 And she arose and left, and she removed her veil from herself and put on the garments of her widowhood.