Genesis 38:7

7 But Judah's firstborn, Er, grievously offended God and God took his life.

Genesis 38:7 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:7

And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the
Lord
That is, exceedingly wicked, as this phrase signifies, ( Genesis 13:13 ) , was guilty of some very heinous sin, but what is not mentioned; according to the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi, it was the same with his brother Onan's, ( Genesis 38:9 ) , which it is suggested he committed, lest his wife should prove with child, and lose her beauty; but if it had been the same with his, it would have been expressed as well as his. An Arabic writer ^F16 says, that he cohabited with his wife not according to the course of nature, but in the "sodomitical" way: and the Lord slew him;
by his immediate hand, striking him dead at once, as Ananias and Sapphira were stricken, ( Acts 5:5 Acts 5:10 ) ; or by sending some distemper, which quickly carried him off, as a token of his displeasure at his sin.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 16.

Genesis 38:7 In-Context

5 She had still another son; she named this one Shelah. They were living at Kezib when she had him.

6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn. Her name was Tamar.

7 But Judah's firstborn, Er, grievously offended God and God took his life.

8 So Judah told Onan, "Go and sleep with your brother's widow; it's the duty of a brother-in-law to keep your brother's line alive."

9 But Onan knew that the child wouldn't be his, so whenever he slept with his brother's widow he spilled his semen on the ground so he wouldn't produce a child for his brother.