Genesis 38:5

5 Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah; she was at Chezib when the birth took place.

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Genesis 38:5 In-Context

3 And she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Er.

4 And again she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Onan.

5 Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah; she was at Chezib when the birth took place.

6 And Judah took a wife for his first son Er, and her name was Tamar.

7 Now Er, Judah's first son, did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he put him to death.