Genesis 38:7

7 But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.

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 Yet again she bore a son, and she named him Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him.

6 Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar.

7 But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.

8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother."

9 But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother's wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother.