Genesis 38:17

17 He said, "I will give you a kid goat from my flock." She said, "Only if you give me some deposit, as security to guarantee that you will 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 Judah saw her and thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face.

16 He turned to her beside the road and said, "Let me sleep with you," because he didn't know she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me for sleeping with you?"

17 He said, "I will give you a kid goat from my flock." She said, "Only if you give me some deposit, as security to guarantee that you will send it."

18 He said, "What kind of deposit should I give you?" And she said, "Your seal, its cord, and the staff in your hand." He gave these to her, slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

19 Then she got up, left, and took off her veil, dressing once again in the clothing she wore as a widow.