Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 38:15

When Judah saw her, he thought her [to be] a harlot; because she had covered her face.

15. covered her face ] Cf. Pro 7:10. The attire indicated the character she had assumed.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 15. Thought her to be a harlot] See the original of this term, Ge 34:31. The Hebrew is zonah, and signifies generally a person who prostitutes herself to the public for hire, or one who lives by the public; and hence very likely applied to a publican, a tavern-keeper, or hostess, Jos 2:1; translated by the Septuagint, and in the New Testament, , from , to sell, which certainly may as well apply to her goods as to her person.

It appears that in very ancient times there were public persons of this description; and they generally veiled themselves, sat in public places by the highway side, and received certain hire. Though adultery was reputed a very flagrant crime, yet this public prostitution was not; for persons whose characters were on the whole morally good had connections with them. But what could be expected from an age in which there was no written Divine revelation, and consequently the bounds of right and wrong were not sufficiently ascertained? This defect was supplied in a considerable measure by the law and the prophets, and now completely by the Gospel of Christ.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

And was doubtless careful not to discover herself by her voice.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

When Judah saw her, he thought her [to be] an harlot,…. By her posture and the place she was in:

because she had covered her face; with her veil, that he did not know her; for this is not given as a reason why he took her to be an harlot; the reason of this was, because she sat in the public road; but having covered her face he could not discern who she was, and therefore, from the other circumstance, concluded that she was an harlot, and sat there to prostitute herself to any that passed by.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

15. When Judah saw her. It was a great disgrace to Judah that he hastily desired intercourse with an unknown woman. He was now old; and therefore age alone, even in a lascivious man, ought to have restrained the fervor of intemperance. He sees the woman at a distance, and it is not possible that he should have been captivated by her beauty. (142) The lust kindles him as a stallion neighs when it smells a mare. Hence we gather, that the fear of God, or a regard to justice and prosperity, cannot have flourished greatly in the heart of one who thus eagerly breaks forth to the indulgence of his passions. He is therefore set before us as an example, that we may learn how easily the lust of the flesh would break forth, unless the Lord should restrain it; and thus, conscious of our infirmity, let us desire from the Lord, a spirit of continence and moderation. But lest the same security should steal over us, which caused Judah to precipitate himself into fornication; let us mark, that the dishonor which Judah sustained in consequence of his incest, was a punishment divinely inflicted upon him. Who then will indulge in a crime which he sees, by this dreadful kind of vengeance, to be so very hateful to God?

(142) The original here adds, “ pruritus tamen non secus in eo accenditur quam in equo, qui ad equarum odorem adhinnit.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(15) Because she had covered her face.The Jewish commentators all agree that this was not the custom of harlots; and as Judah, in Gen. 38:21, calls her kedeshah, one consecrated, he probably thought that she was a woman performing the vow required of every female votary of the Phnician Venus (Astarte), once in her lifetime (Herod. i. 199). Hence the hire was a kid to be sacrificed to the goddess. As for Tamar her object was to assert her claim to the inheritance of Er. Lange considers that the wickedness of Er had caused him, equally with Onan, to neglect her, and that consequently there was no real incest. This is made probable by her immediate conception.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

15. A harlot The word here used is , the common Hebrew word for harlot . But Judah’s friend Hirah uses (Gen 38:21) a different word, though our translators have rendered it just the same . There the Hebrew word is , a consecrated woman, that is, a woman consecrated to Astarte, the Canaanitish Venus; one who prostituted herself in the name of religion. Thus it appears that this abominable worship was at that time prevalent in Canaan, and Judah had become acquainted with its ways, though he did not call the woman thus devoted by the word that designated her as one sacred to Astarte. He regarded her as a prostitute, because she had covered her face, and he had come to know that this was the practice of women thus consecrated to lust. But to him she was only a harlot, while to his friend she was supposed to be a kedeshah.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments