Génesis 38:8

8 Entonces Judá dijo a Onán, hermano de Er: «Cásate con Tamar, como nuestra ley exige al hermano de un hombre que haya muerto. Tú debes darle un heredero a tu hermano».

Génesis 38:8 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:8

And Judah said unto Onan
Some time after his brother's death: go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her;
Moses here uses a word not common for marriage, but which was peculiar to the marrying of a brother's wife according to a law given in his time: it appears to have been a custom before, and which the patriarch might be directed to by the Lord, in such a case when a brother died, and left no issue, for the sake of multiplication of seed, according to the divine promise, and which in the time of Moses passed into a law, see ( Deuteronomy 25:5 ) ; and raise up seed unto thy brother;
that might bear his name, and enjoy his inheritance. For this law or custom was partly political, to continue the paternal inheritance in the family, and partly typical, to direct to Christ the firstborn among many brethren, ( Romans 8:29 ) , who in all things was to have the preeminence, ( Colossians 1:18 ) ; and this was not taken from the Canaanites, among whom Judah now was, but from the ancient patriarchs, which they had no doubt from divine revelation, and was taught in the school of Shem, and handed down from father to son; for as to this being a law among the Egyptians in later times, and which continued to the days of Zeno Augustus ^F17, it is most likely they took it from the Jews.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Justinian. Cod l. 5. tit. 6. leg. 8.

Génesis 38:8 In-Context

6 Con el transcurso del tiempo, Judá arregló que Er, su hijo mayor, se casara con una joven llamada Tamar.

7 Pero Er era un hombre perverso ante los ojos del Señor
, y el Señor
le quitó la vida.

8 Entonces Judá dijo a Onán, hermano de Er: «Cásate con Tamar, como nuestra ley exige al hermano de un hombre que haya muerto. Tú debes darle un heredero a tu hermano».

9 Pero Onán no estaba dispuesto a tener un hijo que no fuera su propio heredero. Por eso, cada vez que tenía relaciones sexuales con la mujer de su hermano, derramaba el semen en el suelo. Esto evitaba que ella tuviera un hijo de su hermano.

10 Así que el Señor
consideró una maldad que Onán negara un hijo a su hermano muerto, y el Señor
también le quitó la vida a Onán.