Genesis 38:23

23 Judah said, "Let her keep the things. I don't want people to laugh at us. I sent her the goat as I promised, but you could not find her."

Genesis 38:23 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:23

And Judah said, let her take [it] to her
The pledge, and make no further inquiry after her; lest we be shamed;
Judah for committing fornication, which even among Heathens, at least at that time of day, was reckoned a shameful action; and be laughed at also, for committing such a pledge to an whore, who had tricked him out of it; and his friend Hirah for conniving at the sin, and being employed on such an errand: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her:
who could be a witness for him, if there should be any occasion, that he was faithful to his promise.

Genesis 38:23 In-Context

21 He asked some of the people at the town of Enaim, "Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?" They answered, "There has never been a prostitute here."

22 So he went back to Judah and said, "I could not find the woman, and the people who lived there said, 'There has never been a prostitute here.'"

23 Judah said, "Let her keep the things. I don't want people to laugh at us. I sent her the goat as I promised, but you could not find her."

24 About three months later someone told Judah, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law, is guilty of acting like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant." Then Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned to death."

25 When the people went to bring Tamar out, she sent a message to her father-in-law that said, "The man who owns these things has made me pregnant. Look at this seal and its cord and this walking stick, and tell me whose they are."