She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.
Judah's second son by his Canaanite wife arrives, and his mother names him Onan. The verse reads like a plain birth record. Yet commentators find two things in it: the fruit of a wrong step Judah had already taken, and the start of a line God would not abandon.
Where this family came from
Judah left his brothers and settled among the Canaanites before this son was born. One writer points to the wording Scripture uses for that move:
Edwin N. CrossJudah leaves his brothers to join the world of the Canaanite (the Merchant) in all its ruined character. The actual words of Scripture, "went down from," show the course of departure he set out on. They alert the reader that what follows will be marked by sin. Judah's wilful departure will have serious consequences. He will have to learn that he cannot please himself without reaping a harvest of sorrow. He has to learn that "whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Gal. 6:7).
Three names, one story
Another writer reads the three sons' names as a sequence. Er, Onan and Shelah sketch, in order, what Judah's line would prove to be and what God would still keep out of it:
Frederick W GrantHere at the start, Judah separates himself from his brothers and joins himself to the Canaanite — the "merchant." He marries the daughter of Shuah (or "riches"). These names give us in plain speech the characteristics of the nation in these centuries since the cross! His seed is, however, continued on the earth. God's wrath is on the first two sons, whose names speak: Er of "enmity," and Onan of "iniquity." The third son, Shelah ("sprout"?), speaks of divine power in resurrection bringing out of death. Thus a remnant is preserved.
The name Onan
A study of Bible names gives the sense of Onan in two directions at once — strength, and wrongdoing:
J. B. JacksonOnan — their vigour (feminine): their iniquity
Both halves of that meaning show up later in the chapter. Onan had strength to give, and he refused to give it:
Edwin N. CrossOnan married Tamar but then refused to grant her the privilege of being the mother of Judah's heir. He was prepared to marry her and enjoy married relations, but he wanted to hold back from giving his strength. The sin that is so displeasing to God in Onan's case was not simply spilling his seed on the ground. It was selfishness. He wanted her to remain a childless and despised widow, and this governed his whole attitude. It was not a single sin but a repeated one, for the word "when" in verse 9 should read "whenever." So, as with his wicked brother, the solemn harvest was reaped, and the Lord slew him too (v. 10).
The Lord's name in this chapter
This chapter does not use the general title "God." It uses the Lord's personal name, and it uses it for judgment on this household:
William KellyThe chapter needs few words to prove Judah's low moral state. The next chapter needs as few to show Joseph blessed and a blessing. Both mark the name "Jehovah," not just "God": in Genesis 38 He judges the open breaking of His will... And notice this: it was not Reuben or any other of the tribal heads, but Judah, who proposed the sale of Joseph. Now he showed in his house the evil that drew down curse upon curse.
The line God refused to give up
Onan dies childless and under judgment. Yet the family record that holds his name is the record through which Christ came. For one commentator, that is the point of the whole chapter:
C. H. MackintoshGenesis 38 presents one of those remarkable cases where divine grace triumphs gloriously over man's sin. "It is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah" (Heb. 7:14). But how? "Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar" (Matt. 1:3). This is striking. God, in His great grace, rises above the sin and folly of man to bring about His own purposes of love and mercy... Man could never have devised such a genealogy. It is entirely divine.
Summary
- Departure. Judah "went down from" his brothers first. Onan and his brothers were born after that step — and a man reaps what he sows.
- Names. Er, Onan and Shelah mean enmity, iniquity, and a sprout — two sons under God's wrath, and a third through whom God preserves a remnant.
- Strength. Onan's name means both vigour and iniquity. His sin was strength he held back from another, again and again.
- Jehovah. The chapter uses the Lord's personal name, and it names Him as the One judging the open breach of His will in this household.
- Grace. Christ came through this same family line. No man could have devised such a genealogy; grace wrote it, rising over the worst of man's sin.