Discovery BoxGenesis 16:2 
Context16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since 1 the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with 2 my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” 3 Abram did what 4 Sarai told him.
Genesis 19:31
Context19:31 Later the older daughter said 5 to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby 6 to have sexual relations with us, 7 according to the way of all the world.
Genesis 24:16
Context24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. 8 She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up.
Genesis 26:10
Context26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? 9 One of the men 10 might easily have had sexual relations with 11 your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”
Genesis 38:8-9
Context38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with 12 your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise 13 up a descendant for your brother.” 14 38:9 But Onan knew that the child 15 would not be considered his. 16 So whenever 17 he had sexual relations with 18 his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely 19 so as not to give his brother a descendant.
Genesis 38:26
Context38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright 20 than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have sexual relations with her 21 again.
1 tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the imperative to follow.
2 tn Heb “enter to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual relations (also in v. 4).
sn The Hebrew expression translated have sexual relations with does not convey the intimacy of other expressions, such as “so and so knew his wife.” Sarai simply sees this as the social custom of having a child through a surrogate. For further discussion see C. F. Fensham, “The Son of a Handmaid in Northwest Semitic,” VT 19 (1969): 312-21.
3 tn Heb “perhaps I will be built from her.” Sarai hopes to have a family established through this surrogate mother.
4 tn Heb “listened to the voice of,” which is an idiom meaning “obeyed.”
sn Abram did what Sarai told him. This expression was first used in Gen 3:17 of Adam’s obeying his wife. In both cases the text highlights weak faith and how it jeopardized the plan of God.
5 tn Heb “and the firstborn said.”
6 tn Or perhaps “on earth,” in which case the statement would be hyperbolic; presumably there had been some men living in the town of Zoar to which Lot and his daughters had initially fled.
7 tn Heb “to enter upon us.” This is a euphemism for sexual relations.
8 tn Heb “And the young woman was very good of appearance, a virgin, and a man she had not known.” Some argue that the Hebrew noun translated “virgin” (בְּתוּלָה, bÿtulah) is better understood in a general sense, “young woman” (see Joel 1:8, where the word appears to refer to one who is married). In this case the circumstantial clause (“and a man she had not known”) would be restrictive, rather than descriptive. If the term actually means “virgin,” one wonders why the circumstantial clause is necessary (see Judg 21:12 as well). Perhaps the repetition emphasizes her sexual purity as a prerequisite for her role as the mother of the covenant community.
9 tn Heb “What is this you have done to us?” The Hebrew demonstrative pronoun “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to us?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
10 tn Heb “people.”
11 tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”
12 tn Heb “go to.” The expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
13 tn The imperative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose.
14 sn Raise up a descendant for your brother. The purpose of this custom, called the levirate system, was to ensure that no line of the family would become extinct. The name of the deceased was to be maintained through this custom of having a child by the nearest relative. See M. Burrows, “Levirate Marriage in Israel,” JBL 59 (1940): 23-33.
15 tn Heb “offspring.”
16 tn Heb “would not be his,” that is, legally speaking. Under the levirate system the child would be legally considered the child of his deceased brother.
17 tn The construction shows that this was a repeated practice and not merely one action.
sn The text makes it clear that the purpose of the custom was to produce an heir for the deceased brother. Onan had no intention of doing that. But he would have sex with the girl as much as he wished. He was willing to use the law to gratify his desires, but was not willing to do the responsible thing.
18 tn Heb “he went to.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
19 tn Heb “he spoiled [his semen] to the ground.” Onan withdrew prematurely and ejaculated on the ground to prevent his brother’s widow from becoming pregnant.
20 tn Traditionally “more righteous”; cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT “more in the right.”
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.
21 tn Heb “and he did not add again to know her.” Here “know” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
