Genesis 38:12

12 After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah had gotten over his sorrow, he went to Timnah to his men who were cutting the wool from his sheep. His friend Hirah from Adullam went with him.

Genesis 38:12 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:12

And in process of time the daughter of Shuah, Judah's wife,
died
Shuah was his wife's father, who was a Canaanite, ( Genesis 38:2 ) ; what her name was is not certain, nor the exact time of her death; it was some time after Tamar was sent home to her father's house; and some take the death of Judah's wife to be a correction and reproof to him for his ill usage of his daughter-in-law, in neglecting to give her to his son, or not designing to do it at all: and Judah was comforted:
he mourned awhile for the death of his wife, according to the custom of the country, and of those times, and then he laid aside the tokens of it, and his sorrow wore off, and he appeared in company and conversed with his friends: and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath;
a city in the tribe of Judah, ( Joshua 15:57 ) , said ^F19 to be six miles from Adullam, where Judah lived; here he had his flocks of sheep, at least this was judged a proper place for the shearing and washing of them, and this time of the year a proper time for it, at which it was usual to have a feast; and Judah went up to his shearers, not only to see how they went on with their work, but with this view to make an entertainment for them, see ( 1 Samuel 25:3 1 Samuel 25:4 1 Samuel 25:36 ) : he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite;
he took him along with him for a companion, and to partake of the entertainment.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Bunting's Travels, p. 78.

Genesis 38:12 In-Context

10 The Lord was displeased by this wicked thing Onan had done, so the Lord killed Onan also.

11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Go back to live in your father's house, and don't marry until my young son Shelah grows up." Judah was afraid that Shelah also would die like his brothers. So Tamar returned to her father's home.

12 After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah had gotten over his sorrow, he went to Timnah to his men who were cutting the wool from his sheep. His friend Hirah from Adullam went with him.

13 Tamar learned that Judah, her father-in-law, was going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep.

14 So she took off the clothes that showed she was a widow and covered her face with a veil to hide who she was. Then she sat down by the gate of Enaim on the road to Timnah. She did this because Judah's younger son Shelah had grown up, but Judah had not made plans for her to marry him.