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Genesis 38

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1 And it was at this time that Judah went·​·down from his brothers, and went·​·aside, even·​·to a man, an Adullamite, and his name was Hirah.

2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a man, a Canaanite, and his name was Shua; and he took her, and came to her.

3 And she conceived and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and he called his name Er.

4 And she conceived yet·​·again and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and she called his name Onan.

5 And she added yet·​·again and gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and she called his name Shelah; and he was in Chezib when she gave·​·birth·​·to him.

6 And Judah took a woman for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

7 And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Jehovah; and Jehovah put· him ·to·​·death.

8 And Judah said to Onan, Come to the wife of thy brother, and perform the duty of a husband’s·​·brother for her, and raise·​·up seed for thy brother.

9 And Onan knew that the seed would not be for himself; and it was, when he came to the wife of his brother, that he destroyed it to the earth, so·​·that he might not give seed to his brother.

10 And what he did was·​·evil in the eyes of Jehovah; and He caused· him also ·to·​·die.

11 And Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Dwell· a widow ·in thy father’s house, until Shelah my son be grown·​·up; for he said, Lest he also die, like his brothers. And Tamar went and dwelt·​·in her father’s house.

12 And the days were·​·multiplied, and the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went·​·up to the shearers of his flock, he and his companion Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnath.

13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law is going·​·up towards Timnath to shear his flock.

14 And she removed from upon herself the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the entrance of the founts which are upon the way toward Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown·​·up, and she was not given to him for a woman.

15 And Judah saw her, and thought her to be a harlot, because she had covered her face.

16 And he went·​·aside to her to the way, and said, Give, I pray, that I may come to thee; for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What wilt thou Give me, that thou mayest come to me?

17 And he said, I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, If thou wilt give a surety, until thou send it?

18 And he said, What surety shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy kerchief*, and thy rod that is in thy hand. And he gave them to her, and came to her; and she conceived to him.

19 And she arose, and went, and removed her veil from upon her, and clothed· herself ·with the garments of her widowhood.

20 And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his companion the Adullamite, to take the surety from the woman’s hand; and he found her not.

21 And he asked the men of the place, saying, Where is the prostitute that was at the founts on the way? And they said, There was not a prostitute there.

22 And he returned to Judah and said, I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, There was not a prostitute there.

23 And Judah said, Let her take it to herself, lest perhaps we be despised; behold I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

24 And it was, about three months after, and it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law has committed·​·harlotry; and also, behold, she has conceived by harlotries. And Judah said, Bring· her ·out, and she shall be burnt·​·up.

25 She was brought·​·out, and she sent to her father-in-law, saying, To the man whose these are, to him I have conceived; and she said, Recognize, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet and the kerchief and the rod.

26 And Judah recognized them, and said, She is· more ·just than I; because as I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he added not to know her any·​·more.

27 And it was, in the time of her giving·​·birth, and behold twins were in her belly.

28 And it was, when she gave·​·birth, and one put out a hand; and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread twice-dyed upon his hand, saying, This came·​·out first.

29 And it was, as he brought·​·back his hand, that behold, his brother came·​·out; and she said, How hast thou broken·​·off from upon thee a breaking·​·off*? And he called his name Perez*.

30 And afterwards came·​·out his brother, that had the scarlet thread twice-dyed upon his hand; and he called his name Zerah*.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 4825

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4825. 'And yet again she bore a son' means idolatry. This is clear from the meaning of 'a son' in this case as idolatry; for those born before him meant falsity and evil, 4821, 4823. From this it follows that the third son means idolatry, for these two - falsity and evil - lead to idolatry and are contained within it. Of the three born to Judah by the Canaanite this son was the only one to survive, a third of the Jewish nation being descended from him. The meaning in the internal sense at this point is that this nation sprang from idolatry. Its very strong inclination to idolatrous practice is clear from the historical and the prophetical parts - from the sense of the letter - of the Word; and from its internal sense it is evident that this nation was constantly an idolatrous one. For idolatry consists not only in the worship of idols and graven images, and also the worship of other gods, but even in the worship of external things devoid of internal ones. This kind of idolatrous practice existed constantly among that nation, for they revered external things alone and cast internal ones completely aside, and did not even wish to know about them. They indeed had holy things - such as the Tent of Meeting containing the Ark and the Mercy seat on this, the tables with the loaves on them, the lampstand, and incenses; and outside the Tent there was the altar on which they presented burnt offerings and sacrifices. All these things were called holy, while the inmost part there was called the Holy of Holies, as well as the Sanctuary. Also, there were the vestments they had which were worn by Aaron and their high priests, which were referred to as holy vestments, for these included the ephod and the breastplate where the Urim and Thummin were, besides much else. But these things were not inherently holy; they were holy because they were representative of holy things, that is to say, they were representative of the Divine celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, and representative of the Lord Himself. Still less was the holiness of those things due to the people among whom they existed, for those people had no affection at all for the internal things that were represented, only for external ones; and having an affection for external things alone is idolatry. This involves the worship of wood and stone, and also of gold and silver covering these, from a delusion that those objects are inherently holy. This is what the nation was like then and is also like at the present day.

[2] Yet a representative of the Church was nevertheless able to exist among such people because in that which is representative no attention is paid to the person who represents, only to whatever is represented, see 665, 1097 (end), 3670, 4208, 4281, 4288. Consequently their worship did not lead them to blessing and happiness in the next life, but merely to worldly prosperity, provided they adhered to those representatives and did not turn aside to the idols of the gentiles, and in so doing did not become openly idolatrous. For if they did it was no longer possible for that nation to represent anything at all of the Church. This then is what the idolatry, meant by Judah's third son by his Canaanite wife, is describing. This idolatry among that nation had its origin in internal idolatry, for more than all others this nation was governed by self-love and love of the world, 4459 (end), 4570. Among those governed by self-love and love of the world internal idolatry exists, for they worship themselves and they worship the world. They pay attention to holy things for the sake of personal adoration and gain; that is, they have a selfish end in view, and do not have the Lord's Church and kingdom, and so the Lord Himself, in view.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.