Genesis 38:5

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.

Genesis 38:5 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:5

And she conceived, and bare a son
A third son: and called his name Shelah;
which signifies tranquil, quiet, peaceable and prosperous, and is a word that comes from the same root as Shiloh, that famous son of Judah that should spring from him, ( Genesis 49:10 ) the reason of the name, as given by the Targum, is,

``because her husband forgot her:''

and she was at Chezib when she bare him;
Chezib is the name of a place, by some taken to be the same with Achzib or Ecdippe, now Zib, see ( Micah 1:14 ) ; it seems to be a city in the tribe of Judah; and Jerom says, in his time there was a desert place of this name near Adullam, on the borders of Eleutheropolis; the reason of her being here at the time of her delivery, and of this circumstance being related, is not certain.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 De loc. Heb. fol. 90. E.

Genesis 38:5 In-Context

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.

7 But Er was a wicked man in the LORD ’s sight, so the LORD took his life.