Genesis 38:1-9 ▼

1 Now at that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to [stay with] a certain Adullamite named Hirah.

2 There Judah saw a daughter of Shua, a Canaanite, and he took her [as his wife] and lived with her.

3 So she conceived and gave birth to a son and Judah named him Er.

4 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.

5 Again she conceived and gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.

6 Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar.

7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD killed him [in judgment].

8 Then Judah told Onan, “Go in to your brother’s widow, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law [under the levirate marriage custom]; [be her husband and] raise children for [the name of] your brother.”

9 Onan knew that the child (heir) would not be his [but his dead brother’s]; so whenever he lay with his brother’s widow, he spilled his seed on the ground [to prevent conception], so that he would not give a child to his brother.