Genesis 38:4

4 Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan.

Genesis 38:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:4

And she conceived again, and bare a son
As soon as she well could: and she called his name Onan;
the first son Judah gave the name to, but his wife named this, so called from grief or sorrow; the reason of it, according to the above Targum, was,

``because his father would mourn for him;''

he was a Benoni, see ( Genesis 35:18 ) , whose sin and immature death caused sorrow.

Genesis 38:4 In-Context

2 There he saw a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her. When he slept with her,

3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er.

4 Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan.

5 And when she gave birth to a third son, she named him Shelah. At the time of Shelah’s birth, they were living at Kezib.

6 In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar.