Genesis 38:20

 Genesis 38:20

And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.

a. NASB 1995: When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her.  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand; but he was unable to find her.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: Judah sent the kid of the goats through his friend the Adullamite to retrieve the pledge from her; but he did not find her. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV:  When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.

a. [And] Judah [Strong: 3063 Yᵉhûwdâh, yeh-hoo-daw'; from H3034; celebrated; Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory:—Judah.]

b. sent [Strong: 7971 shâlach, shaw-lakh'; a primitive root; to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications):—× any wise, appoint, bring (on the way), cast (away, out), conduct, × earnestly, forsake, give (up), grow long, lay, leave, let depart (down, go, loose), push away, put (away, forth, in, out), reach forth, send (away, forth, out), set, shoot (forth, out), sow, spread, stretch forth (out).]

c. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

d. [the] kid [Strong: 1423 gᵉdîy, ghed-ee'; from the same as H1415; a young goat (from browsing):—kid.]

e. [Strong: 5795 ʻêz, aze; from H5810; a she-goat (as strong), but masculine in plural (which also is used elliptically for goat's hair):—(she) goat, kid.]

f. [by the] hand [Strong: 3027 yâd, yawd; a primitive word; a hand (the open one [indicating power, means, direction, etc.], in distinction from 3709, the closed one); used (as noun, adverb, etc.) in a great variety of applications, both literally and figuratively, both proximate and remote [as follows]:—( be) able, × about, armholes, at, axletree, because of, beside, border, × bounty, broad, (broken-) handed, × by, charge, coast, consecrate, creditor, custody, debt, dominion, × enough, fellowship, force, × from, hand(-staves, -y work), × he, himself, × in, labour, large, ledge, (left-) handed, means, × mine, ministry, near, × of, × order, ordinance, × our, parts, pain, power, × presumptuously, service, side, sore, state, stay, draw with strength, stroke, swear, terror, × thee, × by them, × themselves, × thine own, × thou, through, × throwing, thumb, times, × to, × under, × us, × wait on, (way-) side, where, wide, × with (him, me, you), work, yield, × yourselves.]

g. [of his] friend [Strong: 7453 rêaʻ, ray'-ah; or רֵיעַ rêyaʻ; from H7462; an associate (more or less close):—brother, companion, fellow, friend, husband, lover, neighbour, × (an-) other.]

h. [the] Adullamite [Strong: 5726 ʻĂdullâmîy, ad-ool-law-mee'; patrial from H5725; an Adullamite or native of Adullam:—Adullamite.]

i. [to] receive [Strong: 3947 lâqach, law-kakh'; a primitive root; to take (in the widest variety of applications):—accept, bring, buy, carry away, drawn, fetch, get, infold, × many, mingle, place, receive(-ing), reserve, seize, send for, take (away, -ing, up), use, win.]

j. [his] pledge [Strong: 6162 ʻărâbôwn, ar-aw-bone'; from H6148 (in the sense of exchange); a pawn (given as security):—pledge.]

k. [from the] woman’s [Strong: 802 ʼishshâh, ish-shaw'; feminine of H376 or H582; irregular plural, נָשִׁים nâshîym;(used in the same wide sense as H582) a woman:—(adulter) ess, each, every, female, × many, none, one, together, wife, woman. Often unexpressed in English.]

l. hand [Strong: 3027 yâd, yawd; a primitive word; a hand (the open one [indicating power, means, direction, etc.], in distinction from 3709, the closed one); used (as noun, adverb, etc.) in a great variety of applications, both literally and figuratively, both proximate and remote [as follows]:—( be) able, × about, armholes, at, axletree, because of, beside, border, × bounty, broad, (broken-) handed, × by, charge, coast, consecrate, creditor, custody, debt, dominion, × enough, fellowship, force, × from, hand(-staves, -y work), × he, himself, × in, labour, large, ledge, (left-) handed, means, × mine, ministry, near, × of, × order, ordinance, × our, parts, pain, power, × presumptuously, service, side, sore, state, stay, draw with strength, stroke, swear, terror, × thee, × by them, × themselves, × thine own, × thou, through, × throwing, thumb, times, × to, × under, × us, × wait on, (way-) side, where, wide, × with (him, me, you), work, yield, × yourselves.]

m. [but he] found [her] [Strong: 4672  mâtsâʼ, maw-tsaw'; a primitive root; properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present:— be able, befall, being, catch, × certainly, (cause to) come (on, to, to hand), deliver, be enough (cause to) find(-ing, occasion, out), get (hold upon), × have (here), be here, hit, be left, light (up-) on, meet (with), × occasion serve, (be) present, ready, speed, suffice, take hold on.]

n. not [Strong: 3808 lôʼ, lo; or לוֹא lôwʼ; or לֹה lôh; (Deuteronomy 3:11), a primitive particle; + not (the simple or abstract negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles:—× before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (× as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

1). Don Costello: There are vairious forms of incest in the Bible. Two instances of incest that are forbidden in the Bible is between father and daughter and father and daughter in law. The first is found in Genesis 19:30-38. The Biblical record not only shows both of Lot’s daughters were pregnant by Lot, but it shows the elder daughter bore a son named Moab, while the younger daughter bore a son named Ammon. Both of these sons became nations and both became bitter enemies of Israel, and both were subject to judgments by God because of their behavior toward Israel. In Deuteronomy 23:3 God declares a Moabite or Ammonite unto the tenth generation could not enter into the congregation. Zephaniah 3:8-10 declares they would be annihilated as nations because of their reproach and pride toward Israel. Yet Ruth in the Book of Ruth is a Moabitess and because of her faithfulness to the one true God, ends up marrying Boaz. A son came out of that union whose name is Obed, grandfather to David, and part of the Messianic line, Ruth 4:13-17. The second form of incest that is forbidden under the Mosaic law, is found in Genesis 38, between Tamar and Judah. Judah’s oldest son Er marries Tamar; because of his evilness the LORD kills Er. As a result of his death, the second son is to marry Tamar and provide a son for his oldest brother. Onan, though, just has sex with Tamar and causes his seed to be spilt on the ground.  As a result of that act, Onan is also killed by the LORD. Judah then promises Tamar that when the youngest is grown he would give him to Tamar to raise up children. When that doesn’t happen Tamar dresses as a prostitute and tricks Judah into getting her pregnant. When Tamar is found to be pregnant, Judah commands her to be put to death. Tamar then reveals Judah to be the father and Judah reverses the order. Tamar ends up having twins, Pharez and Zarah. The fascinating thing about this is that Pharez in Ruth 4:18-22 is listed as the great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather to David and is included in the Messianic line to Jesus. The important lesson in both of these incidents is that God can turn any tragic human condition into a blessed condition that gives Him glory. He doesn’t sanction the behavior that causes the tragedy but he can turn it around into a blessing.

2). This kind of incest is forbidden in Scripture.

a).  Leviticus 18:15Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

3). Don Costello:From the time of Adam up to the time of Moses, approximately 2500 years, mankind practiced incest in one form or another. In fact it was necessary after the Creation and the flood in Noah’s day to insure the propagation of humanity. Biblical examples that would have been forbidden after this new legislation are Abraham marrying his half sister Sarah (Genesis 11:29; 20:12), and Moses' father marrying his aunt Exodus 6:20). This new divine legislation (Leviticus 18) was implemented because as the generations continued to be born and die, the effects of sin multiplied the generational defects within men and women. Just as the spiritual effects of sin produced more wickedness in the next generations, the physical defects from sin also multiplied to the point that intermarriage between close relatives made birth defects inevitable, and to prevent that, God in his wisdom gave the commandments forbidding these marriages.

In our day incest is being renamed “Genetic Sexual Attraction” which will probably pave the way for normalization, just like homosexuality.