Genesis 38:26
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Judah recognized the items and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not have relations with her again.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
This chapter gives us an account of Judah and his family, and such an account it is that one would wonder that, of all Jacob's sons, our Lord should spring out of Judah, Heb 7:14. If we were to form a character of him by this story, we should not say, "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise," Gen 49:8. But God will show that his choice is of grace and not of merit, and that Christ came into the world to save sinners, even the chief, and is not ashamed, upon their repentance, to be allied to them, also that the worth and worthiness of Jesus Christ are personal, of himself, and not derived from his ancestors. Humbling himself to be "made in the likeness of sinful flesh," he was pleased to descend from some that were infamous. How little reason had the Jews, who were so called from this Judah, to boast, as they did, that they were not born of fornication! Joh 8:41. We have, in this chapter, I. Judah's marriage and issue, and the untimely death of his two eldest sons (Gen 38:1-11). II. Judah's incest with his daughter-in-law Tamar, without his knowing it (Gen 38:12-23). III. His confusion, when it was discovered (Gen 38:24-26). IV. The birth of his twin sons, in whom his family was built up (Gen 38:27, etc.).
Open source ↗38:26 She is more righteous than I am: Judah acknowledged that he had shirked his responsibility to provide an heir. It was sinful for Judah to go to a prostitute, but Tamar had a legal right to be the mother of Judah’s child and had acted on that right. In the book of Ruth, the elders analogously blessed the marriage of Boaz and Ruth, praying that God would make Ruth like Tamar (Ruth 4:12; cp. Matt 1:3, 5).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.
When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.
The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
His father recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”
When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to care for the palace, and he placed them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but he no longer slept with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.
But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.
Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.
she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.