And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
And Judah said to Onan, 'Go to your brother's wife and marry her, and have children to carry on your brother's family line.'
Judah is telling his son Onan to marry his deceased brother's widow and have children who would be considered his brother's descendants.
📚 Historical Context
In ancient Israelite culture, it was a customary practice for a man to marry his deceased brother's widow in order to provide an heir for his brother, a tradition known as levirate marriage that helped preserve family lineage and inheritance rights. This occurred within the broader narrative of the patriarchs in Genesis, where Judah, one of Jacob's sons, was dealing with the deaths in his family. In this specific story, Judah instructed his son Onan to fulfill this duty after his older brother Er died childless, leaving his widow Tamar without an heir.
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