Kejadian 38:14

38:14 So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because ¹  she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.) ² 

Kejadian 38:26

38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright ³  than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have sexual relations with her ⁴  again.

[38:14]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text simply has “because,” connecting this sentence to what precedes. For stylistic reasons the words “she did this” are supplied in the translation and a new sentence begun.

[38:14]  ² tn Heb “she saw that Shelah had grown up, but she was not given to him as a wife.”

[38:26]  ³ tn Traditionally “more righteous”; cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT “more in the right.”

[38:26]  sn She is more upright than I. Judah had been irresponsible and unfaithful to his duty to see that the family line continued through the levirate marriage of his son Shelah. Tamar fought for her right to be the mother of Judah’s line. When she was not given Shelah and Judah’s wife died, she took action on her own to ensure that the line did not die out. Though deceptive, it was a desperate and courageous act. For Tamar it was within her rights; she did nothing that the law did not entitle her to do. But for Judah it was wrong because he thought he was going to a prostitute. See also Susan Niditch, “The Wronged Woman Righted: An Analysis of Genesis 38,” HTR 72 (1979): 143-48.

[38:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he did not add again to know her.” Here “know” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.