Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 38:16
And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she [was] his daughter-in-law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
And he turned unto her by the way,…. Which led to her; he turned out of the way in which he was to that where she sat; and very probably it was at some little distance from the way, and therefore he turned aside to it, his lust towards her being excited at the sight of her; perhaps he left his friend Hirah the Adullamite, and sent him on his way, while he committed the following crime:
and said, go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; that is, lie with her:
for he knew not that she [was] his daughter in law; or otherwise, it is suggested by the historian, he would not have offered such a thing to her; but though this may excuse him from wilful incest, yet not from fornication; for he took her to be an harlot, and however knew she was not his wife, and whom he ought not to have had any concern with in such a manner:
and she said, what wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? perhaps she said this with a very low voice, that he might not know her by it; and she behaved like an harlot by requiring an hire, on condition of which she consented: she knew Judah though he did not know her, and therefore cannot be excused from wilful incest: some indeed extenuate her crime, by supposing that she, though a Canaanite, was become a proselyte to the true religion by marrying into Judah’s family, and had knowledge of the Messiah being to be born of Jacob’s line; and therefore was desirous of being the mother or ancestor at least of that great Person, and so took this method; that since she could not have the son for her husband, was desirous of enjoying the father, not for the gratification of her lust, but in hopes of the promised seed; and accordingly she has a place in the genealogy of the Messiah, Mt 1:3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
16. What wilt thou give me, etc. Tamar did not wish to make a gain by the prostitution of her person, but to have a certain pledge, in order that she might boast of the revenge taken for the injury she had received: and indeed there is no doubt that God blinded Judah, as he deserved; for how did it happen that he did not know the voice of his daughter-in-law, with which he had been long familiar? Besides, if a pledge must be given for the promised kid, what folly to deliver up his ring to a harlot? I pass over the absurdity of his giving a double pledge. It appears, therefore, that he was then bereft of all judgment; and for no other cause are these things written by Moses, than to teach us that his miserable mind was darkened by the just judgment of God, because, by heaping sin upon sin, he had quenched the light of the Spirit.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Gen 38:16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she [was] his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
Ver. 16. Let me come in unto thee. ] This is recorded, (1.) To cut the comb of those proud Jews, that glory so much of their pedigree, and name of Judah. How could they say, “We be not born of fornication?” Joh 8:41 (2.) To mind us that there is no Church to be found on earth without blot and blemish. (3.) That we may consider and admire the utter abasement of our Lord Christ, who would be born, not only of holy, but of impure parentage. And this, to show, [1.] That he borrowed no grace or glory from his progenitors, and as he needed not to be ennobled, so neither was he disparaged by them; [2.] That by his purity and passion all our sins are expiated and done away; like as the sun cleareth whatsoever filth is found in the air or on the earth. Three women only are mentioned in his genealogy; Rahab the harlot, Bathsheba the adulteress, and this incestuous Tamar; Mat 1:3 ; Mat 1:5-6 to show his readiness to receive the most notorious offenders, that come unto him with bleeding and believing hearts. 1Ti 1:15
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Go to: 2Sa 13:11
What wilt: Deu 23:18, Eze 16:33, Mat 26:15, 1Ti 6:10
Reciprocal: Gen 29:21 – go in Gen 44:7 – General Lev 20:12 – lie Jdg 16:1 – and went 2Sa 16:21 – Go in
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
38:16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee;
(for he {e} knew not that she [was] his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
(e) God miraculously blinded him so that he could not know her by her voice.