Onan knew that the offspring wouldn’t be his; and when he went in to his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother.
Parallel Translations
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Onan knew that the offspring wouldn’t be his; and when he went in to his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother.
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And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
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And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Genesis 38:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 25:6 It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel.
- Titus 3:3 For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
- James 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.
- James 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”?
- Ruth 4:10 Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his place. You are witnesses today.”
- Job 5:2 For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
- Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
- James 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth.
- Ruth 1:11 Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 38:9 And Onan knew that the seed should…
Gen 38:9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled [it] on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
Ver. 9. When he went in unto his brother’s wife.] God, for the respect he bears to his own institution of marriage, is pleased to bear with, cover, and not impute many frailties, follies, vanities, wickednesses that are found between man and wife. Howbeit, there is required of such a holy care and conscience, to preserve between themselves, by a conjugal chastity, the marriage bed undefiled; taking heed of an intemperate or intempestive use of it: which by divines, {a} both ancient and modern, is deemed no better than plain adultery before God. Qui cum uxore sua, quasi eum aliena, concumbit, adulter est, saith that heathen. {b} Onan’s sin here was self-pollution, aggravated much by his envy that moved him to it, expressed in these words, "lest he should give seed to his deceased brother." And the more sinful was this sin of his in spilling his seed; because it should have served for the propagation of the Messiah; therefore the Lord slew him: as also, because he was not warned by his brother’s punishment. {c}
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{a} Intemperans in coniugio, uxoris suae adulter est. - Aug. In uxorem alienam omnis amor turpis est, in suam vero nimius. - Hieron.
{b} Seneca.
{c} Hebraei inquiunt perinde ut homicidam, reum esse qui temere semen profundit. - Mercer., in loc.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Two things are here noted:
Two things are here noted:
1. The sin itself, which is here particularly described by the Holy Ghost, that men might be instructed concerning the nature and the great evil of this sin of self-pollution, which is such that it brought upon the actor of it the extraordinary vengeance of God, and which is condemned not only by Scripture, but even by the light of nature, and the judgment of heathens, who have expressly censured it as a great sin, and as a kind of murder. Of which see my Latin Synopsis. Whereby we may sufficiently understand how wicked and abominable a practice this is amongst Christians, and in the light of the gospel, which lays greater and stricter obligations upon us to purity, and severely forbids all pollution both of flesh and spirit.
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2. The cause of this wickedness; which seems to have been either hatred of his brother, or envy at his brother’s name and honour, springing from the pride of his own heart.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the thing which he did displeased the Lord,....…
And the thing which he did displeased the Lord,.... Being done out of envy to his brother, and through want of affection to the memory of his name; and it may be out of covetousness to get his estate into his own hands, and especially as it frustrated the end of such an usage of marrying a brother's wife; which appears to be according to the will of God, since it afterwards became a known law of his; and it was the more displeasing, as it was not only a check upon the multiplication of Abraham's seed as promised, but since the Messiah was to come from Judah. This was doing all to hinder it that lay in his power:
wherefore he slew him also; in like manner as he had slain his brother, Gen 38:7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Onan knew that the seed should not…
Verse 9. Onan knew that the seed should not be his] That is, that the child begotten of his brother's widow should be reckoned as the child of his deceased brother, and his name, though the real father of it, should not appear in the genealogical tables.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 9, 10. And Onan knew that the seed…
Vers. 9, 10. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when literally, and it was if, i.e. whenever (cf. Ewald, Hebrews Synt., he went in unto his brother"s wife, that he spilled it on the ground (literally, destroyed to the ground), lest that he should (or, so as not to) give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased (literally, was evil in the eyes of) the Lord: the word Jehovah is employed not because the writer was a late interpolator, but because the sin of Onan was an offence against the sanctity and prosperity of the theocratic family (Hengstenberg)wherefore he (i.e. Jehovah) slew him also (vide supra).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 38:9-10 Onan married Tamar, but was not willing to…
38:9-10 Onan married Tamar, but was not willing to provide an heir for his brother. He would have sex with Tamar but not fulfill his responsibility to his dead brother (38:8).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.