Bible Strands
Genesis 38:10
What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrative voice reports God’s judgment on Onan immediately after he deliberately spills his seed to avoid fulfilling levirate duty for his deceased brother.
The words — וַ/יֵּ֛רַע (va/i.Ye.ra') translates as "it was evil," and וַ/יָּ֖מֶת (va/i.Ya.met) translates as "he put to death."
The thread — The deaths of Er and Onan in Canaan are recorded later in Genesis 46:12 and Numbers 26:19.
Why it lands — The text states that divine judgment follows deliberate violation of familial obligation, requiring the reader to recognize the seriousness of disobeying established duty.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.
Cross-references
- Genesis 46:12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
- Numbers 11:1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- Numbers 26:19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.
- 1 Chronicles 21:7 This command was also evil in the sight of God; so He struck Israel.
- Proverbs 14:32 The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
- 2 Samuel 11:27 And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Proverbs 24:18 or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him.
- Jeremiah 44:4 Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’
- Haggai 1:13 Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, delivered the message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD.
- Numbers 22:34 “I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”