Genesis 38:18

18 Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge? She answered: Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therefore at one copulation conceived.

Genesis 38:18 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 38:18

And he said, what pledge shall I give thee?
&c.] Being willing to part with anything for the gratification of his lust: and she said, thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that [is]
in thine hand;
she asks all these, that if one should be lost, or fail of being sufficient proof, the other might: the first of these the Septuagint version renders, "thy ring"; the ring upon his finger, which had a seal on it, and was the signet of his right hand; so Onkelos and Ben Melech: the second word seems not so well rendered, since "bracelets" were wore by women and not men: Jarchi takes it to be a garment with which he was covered; so Ben Melech and the Targum, a cloak, which is not likely, that she should desire him to strip off his clothes: it seems to be either a covering of his head, a wrap of linen such as the Turks wear, or else a handkerchief he had in his pocket; and the staff in his hand was either his walking staff or a shepherd's crook or staff: and he gave [it] her,
all the above things as a pledge: and came in unto her;
not on the public road, but in some private place at some distance, to which they retired. Maimonides ^F3 says, before the law was given, if a man met a woman in the street, and he and she agreed, he gave her hire, and he lay with her, and went away, and such an one was called "Kedeshah", a harlot, the word used afterwards for Tamar: and she conceived by him;
she proved with child upon it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Hilchot lshot, c. 1. sect. 4.

Genesis 38:18 In-Context

16 And going to her, he said: Suffer me to lie with thee: for he knew her not to be his daughter-in-law. And she answered: What wilt thou give me to enjoy my company?

17 He said: I will send thee a kid out of the flock. And when she said again: I will suffer what thou wilt, if thou give me a pledge, till thou send what thou promisest.

18 Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge? She answered: Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therefore at one copulation conceived.

19 And she arose and went her way: and putting off the apparel which she had taken, put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 And Juda sent a kid by his shepherd, the Odollamite, that he might receive the pledge again, which he had given to the woman: but he, not finding her,