Bible Strands
Genesis 38:20
Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Judah dispatches his friend Hirah the Adullamite to retrieve the items he left with a woman, but Hirah fails to locate her. This action occurs immediately after Tamar removes her veil and resumes her widow’s garments, preceding Judah’s direct inquiry to the local men.
The words — The verb וַ/יִּשְׁלַ֨ח (va/yishlach) literally renders “and he sent,” marking Judah’s initiative. The prepositional phrase בְּ/יַד (be/yad) translates as “by the hand of,” specifying the use of an intermediary for the transaction.
The thread — This sequence parallels Genesis 20:9, where a failed intermediary leads to confrontation, and Judges 14:20, where a husband’s companion receives his abandoned wife. Leviticus 19:17 contrasts the narrative by commanding direct rebuke rather than indirect or unsuccessful mediation.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that indirect attempts to resolve personal obligations often fail when confronted with concealed reality. A reader must note that divine providence operates through human failure rather than through the success of human schemes.
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 Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.
Cross-references
- Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”
- Leviticus 19:17 You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.
- Judges 14:20 and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.
- 2 Samuel 13:3 Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,
- Luke 23:12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this time they had been enemies.