Genesis 38:12

12 Now after a considerable time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers * at ¹Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

Genesis 38:12 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:12

And in process of time the daughter of Shuah, Judah's wife,
died
Shuah was his wife's father, who was a Canaanite, ( Genesis 38:2 ) ; what her name was is not certain, nor the exact time of her death; it was some time after Tamar was sent home to her father's house; and some take the death of Judah's wife to be a correction and reproof to him for his ill usage of his daughter-in-law, in neglecting to give her to his son, or not designing to do it at all: and Judah was comforted:
he mourned awhile for the death of his wife, according to the custom of the country, and of those times, and then he laid aside the tokens of it, and his sorrow wore off, and he appeared in company and conversed with his friends: and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath;
a city in the tribe of Judah, ( Joshua 15:57 ) , said ^F19 to be six miles from Adullam, where Judah lived; here he had his flocks of sheep, at least this was judged a proper place for the shearing and washing of them, and this time of the year a proper time for it, at which it was usual to have a feast; and Judah went up to his shearers, not only to see how they went on with their work, but with this view to make an entertainment for them, see ( 1 Samuel 25:3 1 Samuel 25:4 1 Samuel 25:36 ) : he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite;
he took him along with him for a companion, and to partake of the entertainment.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 Bunting's Travels, p. 78.

Genesis 38:12 In-Context

10 But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD ; so He took his life also.

11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Remain a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up"; for he thought, "I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers." So Tamar went and lived in her father's house.

12 Now after a considerable time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

13 It was told to Tamar, "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."

14 So she removed her widow's garments and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife.

Cross References

• 1. Joshua 15:10, 57

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "the days became many and"
• [b]. Lit "Judah was comforted, he"