Genesis 38:5

5 Yet again she bore a son, and she named him Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him.

Genesis 38:5 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:5

And she conceived, and bare a son
A third son: and called his name Shelah;
which signifies tranquil, quiet, peaceable and prosperous, and is a word that comes from the same root as Shiloh, that famous son of Judah that should spring from him, ( Genesis 49:10 ) the reason of the name, as given by the Targum, is,

``because her husband forgot her:''
and she was at Chezib when she bare him;
Chezib is the name of a place, by some taken to be the same with Achzib or Ecdippe, now Zib, see ( Micah 1:14 ) ; it seems to be a city in the tribe of Judah; and Jerom says, in his time there was a desert place of this name near Adullam, on the borders of Eleutheropolis; the reason of her being here at the time of her delivery, and of this circumstance being related, is not certain.

FOOTNOTES:

F14 De loc. Heb. fol. 90. E.

Genesis 38:5 In-Context

3 She conceived and bore a son; and he named him Er.
4 Again she conceived and bore a son whom she named Onan.
5 Yet again she bore a son, and she named him Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him.
6 Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar.
7 But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.

Footnotes 1

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.