Chuàngshìjì 38:18

18 Tā shuō , wǒ gĕi nǐ shénme dàngtóu ne , Tāmǎ shuō , nǐde yìn , nǐde daìzi , hé nǐ shǒu lǐ de zhàng . Yóudà jiù gĕi le tā , yǔ tā tóng qǐn , tā jiù cóng Yóudà huái le yùn .

Chuàngshìjì 38:18 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:18

And he said, what pledge shall I give thee?
&c.] Being willing to part with anything for the gratification of his lust: and she said, thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that [is]
in thine hand;
she asks all these, that if one should be lost, or fail of being sufficient proof, the other might: the first of these the Septuagint version renders, "thy ring"; the ring upon his finger, which had a seal on it, and was the signet of his right hand; so Onkelos and Ben Melech: the second word seems not so well rendered, since "bracelets" were wore by women and not men: Jarchi takes it to be a garment with which he was covered; so Ben Melech and the Targum, a cloak, which is not likely, that she should desire him to strip off his clothes: it seems to be either a covering of his head, a wrap of linen such as the Turks wear, or else a handkerchief he had in his pocket; and the staff in his hand was either his walking staff or a shepherd's crook or staff: and he gave [it] her,
all the above things as a pledge: and came in unto her;
not on the public road, but in some private place at some distance, to which they retired. Maimonides ^F3 says, before the law was given, if a man met a woman in the street, and he and she agreed, he gave her hire, and he lay with her, and went away, and such an one was called "Kedeshah", a harlot, the word used afterwards for Tamar: and she conceived by him;
she proved with child upon it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Hilchot lshot, c. 1. sect. 4.

Chuàngshìjì 38:18 In-Context

16 Yóudà jiù zhuǎn dào Tānàli qù , shuō , lái ba . ràng wǒ yǔ nǐ tóng qǐn . tā yuán bú zhīdào shì tāde ér fù . Tāmǎ shuō , nǐ yào yǔ wǒ tóng qǐn , bǎ shénme gĕi wǒ ne ,

17 Yóudà shuō , wǒ cóng yáng qún lǐ qǔ yī zhī shānyánggāo , dǎfa rén sòng lái gĕi nǐ . Tāmǎ shuō , zaì wèi sòng yǐ xiān , nǐ yuànyì gĕi wǒ yī gè dàngtóu ma ,

18 Tā shuō , wǒ gĕi nǐ shénme dàngtóu ne , Tāmǎ shuō , nǐde yìn , nǐde daìzi , hé nǐ shǒu lǐ de zhàng . Yóudà jiù gĕi le tā , yǔ tā tóng qǐn , tā jiù cóng Yóudà huái le yùn .

19 Tāmǎ qǐlai zǒu le , chú qù pàzi , réngjiù chuān shàng zuò guǎfu de yīshang .

20 Yóudà tuō tā péngyou Yàdùlánrén sòng yī zhī shānyánggāo qù , yào cóng nà nǚrén shǒu lǐ qǔhuí dàngtóu lái , què zhǎo bú zhe tā .