Bible Strands
Genesis 38:22
So Hirah returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Hirah reports to Judah after failing to locate the designated woman at Enaim, delivering the local men’s denial that any shrine prostitute was present.
The words — The verb וַיָּ֙שָׁב (va.ya.shov, H7725) marks Hirah’s physical return to Judah, while לֹא מְצָאתִיהָ (lo me.tza.Ti.ha, H4672) records his direct statement that he did not find her.
The thread — This report concludes Judah’s search for the prostitute at Enaim and directly precedes his instruction to leave the pledged goat with her to avoid public ridicule (Genesis 38:23).
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to trace how a failed search and contradictory local testimony force a patriarch to prioritize social reputation over personal accountability.
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 he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.