Onan - Revision history

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Early Jewish views: grammar

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	===Early Jewish views===		===Early Jewish views===
	One opinion expressed in the [[Talmud]] argues that this was where the [[death penalty]]'s imposition originated.<ref name="niddah13a">[[Tohorot\|Niddah]] 13a.</ref>{{not in source\|date=October 2022}} Talmud also likens emitting semen in vain to shedding blood.<ref name="niddah13a"/>		One opinion expressed in the [[Talmud]] argues that this was where the [[death penalty]]'s imposition originated.<ref name="niddah13a">[[Tohorot\|Niddah]] 13a.</ref>{{not in source\|date=October 2022}} The Talmud also likens emitting semen in vain to shedding blood.<ref name="niddah13a"/>

	However, the [[Keri\|regulations concerning ejaculation]] in the [[book of Leviticus]], whether as a result of [[sexual intercourse]] or not,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Leviticus\|15:18\|HE}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Leviticus\|15:16-17\|HE}}</ref> merely prescribe a ritual washing and becoming [[ritual impurity\|ritually impure]] until the following evening.		However, the [[Keri\|regulations concerning ejaculation]] in the [[book of Leviticus]], whether as a result of [[sexual intercourse]] or not,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Leviticus\|15:18\|HE}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Leviticus\|15:16-17\|HE}}</ref> merely prescribe a ritual washing and becoming [[ritual impurity\|ritually impure]] until the following evening.

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	==Biblical account==		==Biblical account==

	After [[Yahweh]] slew Onan's oldest brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]], Onan's father Judah told him to fulfill his duty<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=The duty in question, known in English as "levirate marriage" is spelled out in Deut. 25.5-10. If a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow, and her first son is reckoned as the offspring of the deceased. In Deuteronomy, the surviving brother can decline and undergo a procedure that the Rabbis named "halitzah," but Gen. ch 38 presupposes a stage in the history of the law in which "haliztah" is still unknown.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich. \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=Onan's responsibility is to fulfill his part in what is known as levirate marriage. He is to levirate, or perform the duty of a brother-in-law to (weyabbēm), Tamar. Later biblical law spells out the particulars of the levirate in Deut. 25:5-10, in which the root ybm (cf. yāḇām, "brother-in-law") appears six times (twice as a verb, vv. 5, 7; four times as a noun, vv. 5, 7 [twice], 9). These six occurrences of ybm account for all but two uses of the root in the OT (here and Ruth 1:15). The law states that if brothers live together, and if one of them is married but dies without children, one of the surviving brothers is to marry or take her as wife and father a child with her. The child born of this levirate relationship (levir is Latin for "brother-in-law") carries on the name of his deceased father and eventually inherits the family estate. Here Judah is clever enough to mention only producing a child for the brother. For obvious reasons he says nothing about the inheritance this child will one day receive.}}</ref> as a brother-in-law to his brother Er by entering into a [[levirate marriage]]<ref>{{Cite web \|title=LEVIRATE MARRIAGE - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15085-yibbum \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=8. do your duty as brother-in-law. In the Hebrew, this is a single verb, yabem, referring to the so-called levirate marriage. The legal obligation of yibum, which was a widespread practice in the ancient Near East, was incurred when a man died leaving his wife childless. His closest brother in order of birth was obliged to become his proxy, "raising up seed" for him by impregnating his widow. The dead brother would thus be provided a kind of biological continuity, and the widow would be able to produce progeny, which was a woman's chief avenue of fulfillment in this culture.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The purpose of levirate marriage is expressed by Deut 25:6: ―that his name [the name of the dead brother] may not be blotted out of Israel.‖ Thus, in order to comply with the intent of the tradition, Judah commanded Onan to take the wife of his deceased brother in order to raise an offspring for his brother (Gen 38:8). Onan was not required to actually marry Tamar, for in levirate marriage the widow only had the right to a son to preserve her husband‘s name}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Collins \|first=John J. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1031462523 \|title=Introduction to the Hebrew Bible \|date=2018 \|isbn=978-1-5064-4605-9 \|edition=Third \|location=Minneapolis \|oclc=1031462523 \|quote=The story begins with Judah's marriage to a Canaanite woman. This is not condemned in the text, but it goes against the practice of the patriarchs hitherto. When their son Er dies, his brother Onan is expected to "go in" to his widow, Tamar, to raise up offspring for him. (This is known as the levirate law. It is spelled out in Deut 25:5-10.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45879881 \|title=The Oxford Bible commentary \|date=2001 \|editor-first=John \|editor-last=Barton\|editor-first2=John \|editor-last2=Muddiman \|isbn=0-19-875500-7 \|location=Oxford \|oclc=45879881 \|quote=Tamar's second marriage, to Onan, conforms to the custom of levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5—6).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Judah then directs his second son, Onan, to "perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her" (though marriage is not mentioned, consummation probably entails it; cf. v. 14)—namely, to raise up an heir to carry on the name and inheritance of the deceased brother (cf. Deut 25:5-10; Ruth 4).}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1006596851 \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first=Michael David \|editor-last=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A. \|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme \|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=According to the ancient custom of levirate marriage (Deut 25.5–10), the duty of a brother-in-law of his brother's childless widow was to impregnate her and thus perpetuate his brother's name and inheritance through his widow's offspring.\|page=65}}</ref> with his brother's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]] to give her offspring. Religion professor [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]] has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.<ref name="Frymer">Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/tamar-bible Tamar: Bible]", ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)</ref>		After [[Yahweh]] slew Onan's oldest brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]], Onan's father Judah told him to fulfill his duty<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=The duty in question, known in English as "levirate marriage" is spelled out in Deut. 25.5-10. If a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow, and her first son is reckoned as the offspring of the deceased. In Deuteronomy, the surviving brother can decline and undergo a procedure that the Rabbis named "halitzah," but Gen. ch 38 presupposes a stage in the history of the law in which "haliztah" is still unknown.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich. \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=Onan's responsibility is to fulfill his part in what is known as levirate marriage. He is to levirate, or perform the duty of a brother-in-law to (weyabbēm), Tamar. Later biblical law spells out the particulars of the levirate in Deut. 25:5-10, in which the root ybm (cf. yāḇām, "brother-in-law") appears six times (twice as a verb, vv. 5, 7; four times as a noun, vv. 5, 7 [twice], 9). These six occurrences of ybm account for all but two uses of the root in the OT (here and Ruth 1:15). The law states that if brothers live together, and if one of them is married but dies without children, one of the surviving brothers is to marry or take her as wife and father a child with her. The child born of this levirate relationship (levir is Latin for "brother-in-law") carries on the name of his deceased father and eventually inherits the family estate. Here Judah is clever enough to mention only producing a child for the brother. For obvious reasons he says nothing about the inheritance this child will one day receive.}}</ref> as a brother-in-law to his brother Er by entering into a [[levirate marriage]]<ref>{{Cite web \|title=LEVIRATE MARRIAGE - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15085-yibbum \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=8. do your duty as brother-in-law. In the Hebrew, this is a single verb, yabem, referring to the so-called levirate marriage. The legal obligation of yibum, which was a widespread practice in the ancient Near East, was incurred when a man died leaving his wife childless. His closest brother in order of birth was obliged to become his proxy, "raising up seed" for him by impregnating his widow. The dead brother would thus be provided a kind of biological continuity, and the widow would be able to produce progeny, which was a woman's chief avenue of fulfillment in this culture.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The purpose of levirate marriage is expressed by Deut 25:6: ―that his name [the name of the dead brother] may not be blotted out of Israel.‖ Thus, in order to comply with the intent of the tradition, Judah commanded Onan to take the wife of his deceased brother in order to raise an offspring for his brother (Gen 38:8). Onan was not required to actually marry Tamar, for in levirate marriage the widow only had the right to a son to preserve her husband‘s name}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Collins \|first=John J. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1031462523 \|title=Introduction to the Hebrew Bible \|date=2018 \|isbn=978-1-5064-4605-9 \|edition=Third \|publisher=Fortress Press\| location=Minneapolis \|oclc=1031462523 \|quote=The story begins with Judah's marriage to a Canaanite woman. This is not condemned in the text, but it goes against the practice of the patriarchs hitherto. When their son Er dies, his brother Onan is expected to "go in" to his widow, Tamar, to raise up offspring for him. (This is known as the levirate law. It is spelled out in Deut 25:5-10.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45879881 \|title=The Oxford Bible commentary \|date=2001 \|editor-first=John \|editor-last=Barton\|editor-first2=John \|editor-last2=Muddiman \|isbn=0-19-875500-7 \|location=Oxford \|oclc=45879881 \|quote=Tamar's second marriage, to Onan, conforms to the custom of levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5—6).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Judah then directs his second son, Onan, to "perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her" (though marriage is not mentioned, consummation probably entails it; cf. v. 14)—namely, to raise up an heir to carry on the name and inheritance of the deceased brother (cf. Deut 25:5-10; Ruth 4).}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1006596851 \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first=Michael David \|editor-last=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A. \|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme \|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=According to the ancient custom of levirate marriage (Deut 25.5–10), the duty of a brother-in-law of his brother's childless widow was to impregnate her and thus perpetuate his brother's name and inheritance through his widow's offspring.\|page=65}}</ref> with his brother's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]] to give her offspring. Religion professor [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]] has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.<ref name="Frymer">Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/tamar-bible Tamar: Bible]", ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)</ref>

	When Onan had sex with Tamar, he [[coitus interruptus\|withdrew before he ejaculated]]<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN\|0802824005}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen\|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''coitus interuptus'',<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN\|0446524794}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Walton \|first=John H. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872206 \|title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life \|date=2001 \|isbn=0-310-20617-0 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich \|oclc=46872206 \|quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Mathews \|first=K. A. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33207787 \|title=Genesis \|date=1996–2005 \|publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers \|isbn=0-8054-0101-6 \|location=Nashville, Tenn. \|oclc=33207787 \|quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref\|Genesis\|38:8-10\|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":4"/>		When Onan had sex with Tamar, he [[coitus interruptus\|withdrew before he ejaculated]]<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN\|0802824005}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen\|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''coitus interuptus'',<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN\|0446524794}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Walton \|first=John H. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872206 \|title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life \|date=2001 \|isbn=0-310-20617-0 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich \|oclc=46872206 \|quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Mathews \|first=K. A. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33207787 \|title=Genesis \|date=1996–2005 \|publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers \|isbn=0-8054-0101-6 \|location=Nashville, Tenn. \|oclc=33207787 \|quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref\|Genesis\|38:8-10\|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":4"/>

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	'''Onan'''{{efn\|{{Hebrew Name\|אוֹנָן\|ʾŌnan\|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{lang-grc-gre\|Αὐνάν}} ''Aunan''}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Genesis\|38\|HE\|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)\|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)\|Shelah]] as well.		'''Onan'''{{efn\|{{Hebrew Name\|אוֹנָן\|ʾŌnan\|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{lang-grc-gre\|Αὐνάν}} ''Aunan''}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Genesis\|38\|HE\|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)\|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)\|Shelah]] as well.

	After being commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with the late Er's wife [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]], Onan instead refused to perform his duty as a levirate and "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=First \|pages=218 \|quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The second son of Judah and Shua, a Canaanite woman (Gen 38:2–4). He was the brother of Er and Shelah. In the genealogical list of Judah‘s descendants, Onan is mentioned as the daughter of Bath-shua (1 Chr 2:3). Judah had arranged a marriage between his firstborn, Er, and a woman named Tamar. Er, however, died an early death, which was attributed to an act of Yahweh because of Er‘s unmentioned wickedness (Gen 36:7).}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|title=ONAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11708-onan \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com \|quote=A son of Judah; he refused to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister-in-law after the death of his elder brother Er, and it was for this reason that the Lord "slew him also" (Gen. xxxviii. 7-10).}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing [[coitus interruptus]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book \|last1=Carr \|first1=David M. \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first1=Michael David\|editor-last1=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi\|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A.\|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme\|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to perform this duty of impregnating Er's widow, Tamar, probably by coitus interruptus (rather than "onanism," masturbation).\|page=65\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65}}</ref>		After being commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with the late Er's wife [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]], Onan instead refused to perform his duty as a levirate and "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=First \|pages=218 \|quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The second son of Judah and Shua, a Canaanite woman (Gen 38:2–4). He was the brother of Er and Shelah. In the genealogical list of Judah‘s descendants, Onan is mentioned as the daughter of Bath-shua (1 Chr 2:3). Judah had arranged a marriage between his firstborn, Er, and a woman named Tamar. Er, however, died an early death, which was attributed to an act of Yahweh because of Er‘s unmentioned wickedness (Gen 36:7).}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|title=ONAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11708-onan \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com \|quote=A son of Judah; he refused to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister-in-law after the death of his elder brother Er, and it was for this reason that the Lord "slew him also" (Gen. xxxviii. 7-10).}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing [[coitus interruptus]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book \|last1=Carr \|first1=David M. \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first1=Michael David\|editor-last1=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi\|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A.\|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme\|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to perform this duty of impregnating Er's widow, Tamar, probably by coitus interruptus (rather than "onanism," masturbation).\|page=65\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65}}</ref>

	==Biblical account==		==Biblical account==

Tgeorgescu: Restored revision 1229860404 by Tgeorgescu (talk)

2024-06-19T03:06:45Z

Restored revision 1229860404 by Tgeorgescu (talk)

← Previous revision		Revision as of 03:06, 19 June 2024
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	'''Onan'''{{efn\|{{Hebrew Name\|אוֹנָן\|ʾŌnan\|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{lang-grc-gre\|Αὐνάν}} ''Aunan''}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Genesis\|38\|HE\|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)\|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)\|Shelah]] as well.		'''Onan'''{{efn\|{{Hebrew Name\|אוֹנָן\|ʾŌnan\|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{lang-grc-gre\|Αὐνάν}} ''Aunan''}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Genesis\|38\|HE\|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)\|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)\|Shelah]] as well.

	After being commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with the late Er's wife [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]], Onan instead refused to perform his duty as a levirate and "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=First \|pages=218 \|quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The second son of Judah and Shua, a Canaanite woman (Gen 38:2–4). He was the brother of Er and Shelah. In the genealogical list of Judah‘s descendants, Onan is mentioned as the daughter of Bath-shua (1 Chr 2:3). Judah had arranged a marriage between his firstborn, Er, and a woman named Tamar. Er, however, died an early death, which was attributed to an act of Yahweh because of Er‘s unmentioned wickedness (Gen 36:7).}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|title=ONAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11708-onan \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com \|quote=A son of Judah; he refused to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister-in-law after the death of his elder brother Er, and it was for this reason that the Lord "slew him also" (Gen. xxxviii. 7-10).}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing [[coitus interruptus]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. ~~Modern biblical~~ scholars agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book \|last1=Carr \|first1=David M. \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first1=Michael David\|editor-last1=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi\|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A.\|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme\|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to perform this duty of impregnating Er's widow, Tamar, probably by coitus interruptus (rather than "onanism," masturbation).\|page=65\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65}}</ref>		After being commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with the late Er's wife [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]], Onan instead refused to perform his duty as a levirate and "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=First \|pages=218 \|quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The second son of Judah and Shua, a Canaanite woman (Gen 38:2–4). He was the brother of Er and Shelah. In the genealogical list of Judah‘s descendants, Onan is mentioned as the daughter of Bath-shua (1 Chr 2:3). Judah had arranged a marriage between his firstborn, Er, and a woman named Tamar. Er, however, died an early death, which was attributed to an act of Yahweh because of Er‘s unmentioned wickedness (Gen 36:7).}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|title=ONAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11708-onan \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com \|quote=A son of Judah; he refused to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister-in-law after the death of his elder brother Er, and it was for this reason that the Lord "slew him also" (Gen. xxxviii. 7-10).}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing [[coitus interruptus]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book \|last1=Carr \|first1=David M. \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first1=Michael David\|editor-last1=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi\|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A.\|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme\|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to perform this duty of impregnating Er's widow, Tamar, probably by coitus interruptus (rather than "onanism," masturbation).\|page=65\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65}}</ref>

	==Biblical account==		==Biblical account==

Tgeorgescu: see talk page

2024-06-19T03:06:01Z

see talk page

← Previous revision		Revision as of 03:06, 19 June 2024
Line 3:		Line 3:
	'''Onan'''{{efn\|{{Hebrew Name\|אוֹנָן\|ʾŌnan\|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{lang-grc-gre\|Αὐνάν}} ''Aunan''}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Genesis\|38\|HE\|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)\|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)\|Shelah]] as well.		'''Onan'''{{efn\|{{Hebrew Name\|אוֹנָן\|ʾŌnan\|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{lang-grc-gre\|Αὐνάν}} ''Aunan''}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Genesis\|38\|HE\|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)\|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)\|Shelah]] as well.

	After being commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with the late Er's wife [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]], Onan instead refused to perform his duty as a levirate and "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=First \|pages=218 \|quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The second son of Judah and Shua, a Canaanite woman (Gen 38:2–4). He was the brother of Er and Shelah. In the genealogical list of Judah‘s descendants, Onan is mentioned as the daughter of Bath-shua (1 Chr 2:3). Judah had arranged a marriage between his firstborn, Er, and a woman named Tamar. Er, however, died an early death, which was attributed to an act of Yahweh because of Er‘s unmentioned wickedness (Gen 36:7).}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|title=ONAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11708-onan \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com \|quote=A son of Judah; he refused to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister-in-law after the death of his elder brother Er, and it was for this reason that the Lord "slew him also" (Gen. xxxviii. 7-10).}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing [[coitus interruptus]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. ~~Biblical~~ ~~scholars~~ ~~universally~~ agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book \|last1=Carr \|first1=David M. \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first1=Michael David\|editor-last1=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi\|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A.\|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme\|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to perform this duty of impregnating Er's widow, Tamar, probably by coitus interruptus (rather than "onanism," masturbation).\|page=65\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65}}</ref>		After being commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with the late Er's wife [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]], Onan instead refused to perform his duty as a levirate and "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=First \|pages=218 \|quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The second son of Judah and Shua, a Canaanite woman (Gen 38:2–4). He was the brother of Er and Shelah. In the genealogical list of Judah‘s descendants, Onan is mentioned as the daughter of Bath-shua (1 Chr 2:3). Judah had arranged a marriage between his firstborn, Er, and a woman named Tamar. Er, however, died an early death, which was attributed to an act of Yahweh because of Er‘s unmentioned wickedness (Gen 36:7).}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|title=ONAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11708-onan \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com \|quote=A son of Judah; he refused to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister-in-law after the death of his elder brother Er, and it was for this reason that the Lord "slew him also" (Gen. xxxviii. 7-10).}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing [[coitus interruptus]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Modern biblical scholars agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book \|last1=Carr \|first1=David M. \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first1=Michael David\|editor-last1=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi\|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A.\|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme\|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to perform this duty of impregnating Er's widow, Tamar, probably by coitus interruptus (rather than "onanism," masturbation).\|page=65\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65}}</ref>

	==Biblical account==		==Biblical account==

Tgeorgescu: ref

2024-06-19T02:56:09Z

ref

← Previous revision		Revision as of 02:56, 19 June 2024
Line 3:		Line 3:
	'''Onan'''{{efn\|{{Hebrew Name\|אוֹנָן\|ʾŌnan\|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{lang-grc-gre\|Αὐνάν}} ''Aunan''}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Genesis\|38\|HE\|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)\|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)\|Shelah]] as well.		'''Onan'''{{efn\|{{Hebrew Name\|אוֹנָן\|ʾŌnan\|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{lang-grc-gre\|Αὐνάν}} ''Aunan''}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse\|\|Genesis\|38\|HE\|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)\|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)\|Shelah]] as well.

	After being commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with the late Er's wife [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]], Onan instead refused to perform his duty as a levirate and "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=First \|pages=218 \|quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The second son of Judah and Shua, a Canaanite woman (Gen 38:2–4). He was the brother of Er and Shelah. In the genealogical list of Judah‘s descendants, Onan is mentioned as the daughter of Bath-shua (1 Chr 2:3). Judah had arranged a marriage between his firstborn, Er, and a woman named Tamar. Er, however, died an early death, which was attributed to an act of Yahweh because of Er‘s unmentioned wickedness (Gen 36:7).}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|title=ONAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11708-onan \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com \|quote=A son of Judah; he refused to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister-in-law after the death of his elder brother Er, and it was for this reason that the Lord "slew him also" (Gen. xxxviii. 7-10).}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing [[coitus interruptus]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book \|last1=Carr \|first1=David M. ~~\|DUPLICATE_url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1006596851~~ \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first1=Michael David\|editor-last1=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi\|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A.\|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme\|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to perform this duty of impregnating Er's widow, Tamar, probably by coitus interruptus (rather than "onanism," masturbation).\|page=65\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65}}</ref>		After being commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with the late Er's wife [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]], Onan instead refused to perform his duty as a levirate and "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=First \|pages=218 \|quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The second son of Judah and Shua, a Canaanite woman (Gen 38:2–4). He was the brother of Er and Shelah. In the genealogical list of Judah‘s descendants, Onan is mentioned as the daughter of Bath-shua (1 Chr 2:3). Judah had arranged a marriage between his firstborn, Er, and a woman named Tamar. Er, however, died an early death, which was attributed to an act of Yahweh because of Er‘s unmentioned wickedness (Gen 36:7).}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web \|title=ONAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11708-onan \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com \|quote=A son of Judah; he refused to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister-in-law after the death of his elder brother Er, and it was for this reason that the Lord "slew him also" (Gen. xxxviii. 7-10).}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing [[coitus interruptus]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book \|last1=Carr \|first1=David M. \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first1=Michael David\|editor-last1=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi\|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A.\|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme\|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to perform this duty of impregnating Er's widow, Tamar, probably by coitus interruptus (rather than "onanism," masturbation).\|page=65\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65}}</ref>

	==Biblical account==		==Biblical account==

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	After [[Yahweh]] slew Onan's oldest brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]], Onan's father Judah told him to fulfill his duty<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=The duty in question, known in English as "levirate marriage" is spelled out in Deut. 25.5-10. If a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow, and her first son is reckoned as the offspring of the deceased. In Deuteronomy, the surviving brother can decline and undergo a procedure that the Rabbis named "halitzah," but Gen. ch 38 presupposes a stage in the history of the law in which "haliztah" is still unknown.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich. \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=Onan's responsibility is to fulfill his part in what is known as levirate marriage. He is to levirate, or perform the duty of a brother-in-law to (weyabbēm), Tamar. Later biblical law spells out the particulars of the levirate in Deut. 25:5-10, in which the root ybm (cf. yāḇām, "brother-in-law") appears six times (twice as a verb, vv. 5, 7; four times as a noun, vv. 5, 7 [twice], 9). These six occurrences of ybm account for all but two uses of the root in the OT (here and Ruth 1:15). The law states that if brothers live together, and if one of them is married but dies without children, one of the surviving brothers is to marry or take her as wife and father a child with her. The child born of this levirate relationship (levir is Latin for "brother-in-law") carries on the name of his deceased father and eventually inherits the family estate. Here Judah is clever enough to mention only producing a child for the brother. For obvious reasons he says nothing about the inheritance this child will one day receive.}}</ref> as a brother-in-law to his brother Er by entering into a [[levirate marriage]]<ref>{{Cite web \|title=LEVIRATE MARRIAGE - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15085-yibbum \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=8. do your duty as brother-in-law. In the Hebrew, this is a single verb, yabem, referring to the so-called levirate marriage. The legal obligation of yibum, which was a widespread practice in the ancient Near East, was incurred when a man died leaving his wife childless. His closest brother in order of birth was obliged to become his proxy, "raising up seed" for him by impregnating his widow. The dead brother would thus be provided a kind of biological continuity, and the widow would be able to produce progeny, which was a woman's chief avenue of fulfillment in this culture.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The purpose of levirate marriage is expressed by Deut 25:6: ―that his name [the name of the dead brother] may not be blotted out of Israel.‖ Thus, in order to comply with the intent of the tradition, Judah commanded Onan to take the wife of his deceased brother in order to raise an offspring for his brother (Gen 38:8). Onan was not required to actually marry Tamar, for in levirate marriage the widow only had the right to a son to preserve her husband‘s name}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Collins \|first=John J. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1031462523 \|title=Introduction to the Hebrew Bible \|date=2018 \|isbn=978-1-5064-4605-9 \|edition=Third \|location=Minneapolis \|oclc=1031462523 \|quote=The story begins with Judah's marriage to a Canaanite woman. This is not condemned in the text, but it goes against the practice of the patriarchs hitherto. When their son Er dies, his brother Onan is expected to "go in" to his widow, Tamar, to raise up offspring for him. (This is known as the levirate law. It is spelled out in Deut 25:5-10.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45879881 \|title=The Oxford Bible commentary \|date=2001 \|editor-first=John \|editor-last=Barton\|editor-first2=John \|editor-last2=Muddiman \|isbn=0-19-875500-7 \|location=Oxford \|oclc=45879881 \|quote=Tamar's second marriage, to Onan, conforms to the custom of levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5—6).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Judah then directs his second son, Onan, to "perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her" (though marriage is not mentioned, consummation probably entails it; cf. v. 14)—namely, to raise up an heir to carry on the name and inheritance of the deceased brother (cf. Deut 25:5-10; Ruth 4).}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1006596851 \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first=Michael David \|editor-last=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A. \|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme \|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=According to the ancient custom of levirate marriage (Deut 25.5–10), the duty of a brother-in-law of his brother's childless widow was to impregnate her and thus perpetuate his brother's name and inheritance through his widow's offspring.\|page=65}}</ref> with his brother's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]] to give her offspring. Religion professor [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]] has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.<ref name="Frymer">Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/tamar-bible Tamar: Bible]", ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)</ref>		After [[Yahweh]] slew Onan's oldest brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]], Onan's father Judah told him to fulfill his duty<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=The duty in question, known in English as "levirate marriage" is spelled out in Deut. 25.5-10. If a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow, and her first son is reckoned as the offspring of the deceased. In Deuteronomy, the surviving brother can decline and undergo a procedure that the Rabbis named "halitzah," but Gen. ch 38 presupposes a stage in the history of the law in which "haliztah" is still unknown.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich. \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=Onan's responsibility is to fulfill his part in what is known as levirate marriage. He is to levirate, or perform the duty of a brother-in-law to (weyabbēm), Tamar. Later biblical law spells out the particulars of the levirate in Deut. 25:5-10, in which the root ybm (cf. yāḇām, "brother-in-law") appears six times (twice as a verb, vv. 5, 7; four times as a noun, vv. 5, 7 [twice], 9). These six occurrences of ybm account for all but two uses of the root in the OT (here and Ruth 1:15). The law states that if brothers live together, and if one of them is married but dies without children, one of the surviving brothers is to marry or take her as wife and father a child with her. The child born of this levirate relationship (levir is Latin for "brother-in-law") carries on the name of his deceased father and eventually inherits the family estate. Here Judah is clever enough to mention only producing a child for the brother. For obvious reasons he says nothing about the inheritance this child will one day receive.}}</ref> as a brother-in-law to his brother Er by entering into a [[levirate marriage]]<ref>{{Cite web \|title=LEVIRATE MARRIAGE - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15085-yibbum \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=8. do your duty as brother-in-law. In the Hebrew, this is a single verb, yabem, referring to the so-called levirate marriage. The legal obligation of yibum, which was a widespread practice in the ancient Near East, was incurred when a man died leaving his wife childless. His closest brother in order of birth was obliged to become his proxy, "raising up seed" for him by impregnating his widow. The dead brother would thus be provided a kind of biological continuity, and the widow would be able to produce progeny, which was a woman's chief avenue of fulfillment in this culture.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The purpose of levirate marriage is expressed by Deut 25:6: ―that his name [the name of the dead brother] may not be blotted out of Israel.‖ Thus, in order to comply with the intent of the tradition, Judah commanded Onan to take the wife of his deceased brother in order to raise an offspring for his brother (Gen 38:8). Onan was not required to actually marry Tamar, for in levirate marriage the widow only had the right to a son to preserve her husband‘s name}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Collins \|first=John J. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1031462523 \|title=Introduction to the Hebrew Bible \|date=2018 \|isbn=978-1-5064-4605-9 \|edition=Third \|location=Minneapolis \|oclc=1031462523 \|quote=The story begins with Judah's marriage to a Canaanite woman. This is not condemned in the text, but it goes against the practice of the patriarchs hitherto. When their son Er dies, his brother Onan is expected to "go in" to his widow, Tamar, to raise up offspring for him. (This is known as the levirate law. It is spelled out in Deut 25:5-10.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45879881 \|title=The Oxford Bible commentary \|date=2001 \|editor-first=John \|editor-last=Barton\|editor-first2=John \|editor-last2=Muddiman \|isbn=0-19-875500-7 \|location=Oxford \|oclc=45879881 \|quote=Tamar's second marriage, to Onan, conforms to the custom of levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5—6).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Judah then directs his second son, Onan, to "perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her" (though marriage is not mentioned, consummation probably entails it; cf. v. 14)—namely, to raise up an heir to carry on the name and inheritance of the deceased brother (cf. Deut 25:5-10; Ruth 4).}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1006596851 \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first=Michael David \|editor-last=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A. \|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme \|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=According to the ancient custom of levirate marriage (Deut 25.5–10), the duty of a brother-in-law of his brother's childless widow was to impregnate her and thus perpetuate his brother's name and inheritance through his widow's offspring.\|page=65}}</ref> with his brother's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]] to give her offspring. Religion professor [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]] has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.<ref name="Frymer">Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/tamar-bible Tamar: Bible]", ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)</ref>

	When Onan had sex with Tamar, he [[coitus interruptus\|withdrew before he ejaculated]]<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN\|0802824005}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen\|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''coitus interuptus'',<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN\|0446524794}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Walton \|first=John H. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872206 \|title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life \|date=2001 \|isbn=0-310-20617-0 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich \|oclc=46872206 \|quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Mathews \|first=K. A. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33207787 \|title=Genesis \|date=1996–2005 \|publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers \|isbn=0-8054-0101-6 \|location=Nashville, Tenn. \|oclc=33207787 \|quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref\|Genesis\|38:8-10\|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3"~~>{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https:~~//www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4"/>		When Onan had sex with Tamar, he [[coitus interruptus\|withdrew before he ejaculated]]<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN\|0802824005}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen\|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''coitus interuptus'',<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN\|0446524794}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Walton \|first=John H. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872206 \|title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life \|date=2001 \|isbn=0-310-20617-0 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich \|oclc=46872206 \|quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Mathews \|first=K. A. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33207787 \|title=Genesis \|date=1996–2005 \|publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers \|isbn=0-8054-0101-6 \|location=Nashville, Tenn. \|oclc=33207787 \|quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref\|Genesis\|38:8-10\|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":4"/>

	However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse<ref>{{Cite web \|title=ḤALIẒAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7105-halizah \|access-date=2022-06-21 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel \| editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110}}</ref><ref name=":0" />		However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse<ref>{{Cite web \|title=ḤALIẒAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7105-halizah \|access-date=2022-06-21 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel \| editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Tgeorgescu: ref

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ref

← Previous revision		Revision as of 02:48, 19 June 2024
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	When Onan had sex with Tamar, he [[coitus interruptus\|withdrew before he ejaculated]]<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN\|0802824005}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen\|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''coitus interuptus'',<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN\|0446524794}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Walton \|first=John H. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872206 \|title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life \|date=2001 \|isbn=0-310-20617-0 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich \|oclc=46872206 \|quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Mathews \|first=K. A. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33207787 \|title=Genesis \|date=1996–2005 \|publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers \|isbn=0-8054-0101-6 \|location=Nashville, Tenn. \|oclc=33207787 \|quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref\|Genesis\|38:8-10\|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4"/>		When Onan had sex with Tamar, he [[coitus interruptus\|withdrew before he ejaculated]]<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN\|0802824005}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen\|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''coitus interuptus'',<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN\|0446524794}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Walton \|first=John H. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872206 \|title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life \|date=2001 \|isbn=0-310-20617-0 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich \|oclc=46872206 \|quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Mathews \|first=K. A. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33207787 \|title=Genesis \|date=1996–2005 \|publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers \|isbn=0-8054-0101-6 \|location=Nashville, Tenn. \|oclc=33207787 \|quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref\|Genesis\|38:8-10\|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4"/>

	However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse<ref>{{Cite web \|title=ḤALIẒAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7105-halizah \|access-date=2022-06-21 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-~~firs1~~=David Noel \| editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110}}</ref><ref name=":0" />		However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse<ref>{{Cite web \|title=ḤALIẒAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7105-halizah \|access-date=2022-06-21 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel \| editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

	=== Family tree ===		=== Family tree ===

Tgeorgescu: ref

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ref

← Previous revision		Revision as of 02:47, 19 June 2024
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	According to some [[biblical criticism\|Bible critics]] who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an [[aetiology\|origin myth]] concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the [[tribe of Judah]], with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a [[clan]];<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar">{{cite book\| first= J. A.\| last= Emerton\| title= Judah And Tamar\| publisher= \| year= \| page= }}</ref><ref name= "ReferenceA">Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> ''Er'' and ''Onan'' are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an [[Edom]]ite clan named Onam,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> mentioned by an Edomite [[genealogy]] in Genesis.<ref>Genesis 36:23</ref>		According to some [[biblical criticism\|Bible critics]] who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an [[aetiology\|origin myth]] concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the [[tribe of Judah]], with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a [[clan]];<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar">{{cite book\| first= J. A.\| last= Emerton\| title= Judah And Tamar\| publisher= \| year= \| page= }}</ref><ref name= "ReferenceA">Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> ''Er'' and ''Onan'' are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an [[Edom]]ite clan named Onam,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> mentioned by an Edomite [[genealogy]] in Genesis.<ref>Genesis 36:23</ref>

	Biblical scholars universally agree that the biblical story of Onan is not about masturbation nor about contraception per se or the "wasting of semen" but his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate-marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus''.<ref>{{Cite book \|chapter-url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45439956 \|title=The Oxford guide to people & places of the Bible \|first=Carl S.\|last=Ehrlich \|date=2001 \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|editor-first1=Bruce M.\|editor-last1=Metzger\|editor-first2=Michael David \|editor-last2=Coogan \|chapter=Onan \|isbn=0-19-514641-7 \|location=Oxford, New York \|oclc=45439956 \|page=222 \|quote=Although Onan did cohabit with Tamar, "he spilled his seed on the ground"; for this he was put to death by God. Onan's effort to avoid impregnating his sister-in-law has given rise to the term "onanism," a synonym for masturbation. This passage is then employed by some to indicate divine condemnation of autoeroticism. This interpretation, however, completely misses the point of the passage. Onan's sin was not sexual. Rather, it was his refusal to fulfill the obligation of levirate marriage, according to which a man was obligated to impregnate the wife of his brother if his brother had died without an heir, thus ensuring the continuation of his brothers line and inheritance. That fulfilling this obligation often raised additional questions regarding the apportioning of the familial inheritance is indicated by passages in Deuteronomy and Ruth. Thus Onan's sexual act, most probably coitus interruptus, was the means whereby he avoided his fraternal duty, in spite of the fact that he seemed to be fulfilling it by cohabiting with Tamar. For this deception he was punished.}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book \|chapter-url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|chapter=Onan (PERSON) \|editor-~~first~~=David Noel \|editor-last1=Freedman ~~\|editor-first1=David Noel~~\|first=Claude F. \|last=Mariottini \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=This action of Onan probably was a reference to coitus interruptus, but Onan's conduct has produced the word "onanism," which has come to be a reference to masturbation. \|volume=5\|pages=20–21}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Satlow \|first=Michael L. \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvzpv5s5 \|title=Tasting the Dish: Rabbinic Rhetorics of Sexuality \|date=2020 \|publisher=Brown Judaic Studies \|isbn=978-1-946527-53-0 \|doi= 10.2307/j.ctvzpv5s5\|jstor=j.ctvzpv5s5 \|s2cid=241988511 }}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite journal \|last= Satlow \|first= Michael L. \|date=1994 \|title= 'Wasted Seed,' The History of a Rabbinic Idea \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23508531 \|journal=Hebrew Union College Annual \|volume=65 \|pages=137–175 \| publisher= [[Hebrew Union College]] \|jstor=23508531 \|issn=0360-9049}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=The levir in this case is to be Onan, the second born. But he refuses to accept his responsibility. Instead, he practices coitus interruptus with Tamar; that is, instead of impregnating her, he wasted his semen on the ground (lit., "he spoiled [it] groundward").This is clearly a reference to withdrawal to prevent conception, rather than a reference to masturbation.}}</ref><ref name=":5" />		Biblical scholars universally agree that the biblical story of Onan is not about masturbation nor about contraception per se or the "wasting of semen" but his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate-marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus''.<ref>{{Cite book \|chapter-url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45439956 \|title=The Oxford guide to people & places of the Bible \|first=Carl S.\|last=Ehrlich \|date=2001 \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|editor-first1=Bruce M.\|editor-last1=Metzger\|editor-first2=Michael David \|editor-last2=Coogan \|chapter=Onan \|isbn=0-19-514641-7 \|location=Oxford, New York \|oclc=45439956 \|page=222 \|quote=Although Onan did cohabit with Tamar, "he spilled his seed on the ground"; for this he was put to death by God. Onan's effort to avoid impregnating his sister-in-law has given rise to the term "onanism," a synonym for masturbation. This passage is then employed by some to indicate divine condemnation of autoeroticism. This interpretation, however, completely misses the point of the passage. Onan's sin was not sexual. Rather, it was his refusal to fulfill the obligation of levirate marriage, according to which a man was obligated to impregnate the wife of his brother if his brother had died without an heir, thus ensuring the continuation of his brothers line and inheritance. That fulfilling this obligation often raised additional questions regarding the apportioning of the familial inheritance is indicated by passages in Deuteronomy and Ruth. Thus Onan's sexual act, most probably coitus interruptus, was the means whereby he avoided his fraternal duty, in spite of the fact that he seemed to be fulfilling it by cohabiting with Tamar. For this deception he was punished.}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book \|chapter-url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|chapter=Onan (PERSON) \|editor-first1=David Noel \|editor-last1=Freedman \|first=Claude F. \|last=Mariottini \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=This action of Onan probably was a reference to coitus interruptus, but Onan's conduct has produced the word "onanism," which has come to be a reference to masturbation. \|volume=5\|pages=20–21}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Satlow \|first=Michael L. \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvzpv5s5 \|title=Tasting the Dish: Rabbinic Rhetorics of Sexuality \|date=2020 \|publisher=Brown Judaic Studies \|isbn=978-1-946527-53-0 \|doi= 10.2307/j.ctvzpv5s5\|jstor=j.ctvzpv5s5 \|s2cid=241988511 }}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite journal \|last= Satlow \|first= Michael L. \|date=1994 \|title= 'Wasted Seed,' The History of a Rabbinic Idea \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23508531 \|journal=Hebrew Union College Annual \|volume=65 \|pages=137–175 \| publisher= [[Hebrew Union College]] \|jstor=23508531 \|issn=0360-9049}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=The levir in this case is to be Onan, the second born. But he refuses to accept his responsibility. Instead, he practices coitus interruptus with Tamar; that is, instead of impregnating her, he wasted his semen on the ground (lit., "he spoiled [it] groundward").This is clearly a reference to withdrawal to prevent conception, rather than a reference to masturbation.}}</ref><ref name=":5" />

	The text emphasizes the social and legal situation, with Judah explaining what Onan must do and why. A plain reading of the text is that Onan was killed because he refused to follow instructions. Scholars have argued that the secondary purpose of the narrative about Onan and Tamar, of which the description of Onan is a part, was to either assert the institution of levirate marriage or present a myth for its origin;<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar"/> Onan's role in the narrative is, thus, as the brother abusing his obligations by agreeing to [[Human reproduction#Copulation\|sexual intercourse]] with his dead brother's wife, but refusing to allow her to become pregnant as a result. [[John Emerton\|Emerton]] regards the evidence for this to be inconclusive, although [[classical rabbinical literature\|classical rabbinical writers]] argued that this narrative describes the origin of levirate marriage.<ref>''[[Genesis Rabbah]]'' 85:6</ref>		The text emphasizes the social and legal situation, with Judah explaining what Onan must do and why. A plain reading of the text is that Onan was killed because he refused to follow instructions. Scholars have argued that the secondary purpose of the narrative about Onan and Tamar, of which the description of Onan is a part, was to either assert the institution of levirate marriage or present a myth for its origin;<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar"/> Onan's role in the narrative is, thus, as the brother abusing his obligations by agreeing to [[Human reproduction#Copulation\|sexual intercourse]] with his dead brother's wife, but refusing to allow her to become pregnant as a result. [[John Emerton\|Emerton]] regards the evidence for this to be inconclusive, although [[classical rabbinical literature\|classical rabbinical writers]] argued that this narrative describes the origin of levirate marriage.<ref>''[[Genesis Rabbah]]'' 85:6</ref>

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	After [[Yahweh]] slew Onan's oldest brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]], Onan's father Judah told him to fulfill his duty<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=The duty in question, known in English as "levirate marriage" is spelled out in Deut. 25.5-10. If a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow, and her first son is reckoned as the offspring of the deceased. In Deuteronomy, the surviving brother can decline and undergo a procedure that the Rabbis named "halitzah," but Gen. ch 38 presupposes a stage in the history of the law in which "haliztah" is still unknown.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich. \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=Onan's responsibility is to fulfill his part in what is known as levirate marriage. He is to levirate, or perform the duty of a brother-in-law to (weyabbēm), Tamar. Later biblical law spells out the particulars of the levirate in Deut. 25:5-10, in which the root ybm (cf. yāḇām, "brother-in-law") appears six times (twice as a verb, vv. 5, 7; four times as a noun, vv. 5, 7 [twice], 9). These six occurrences of ybm account for all but two uses of the root in the OT (here and Ruth 1:15). The law states that if brothers live together, and if one of them is married but dies without children, one of the surviving brothers is to marry or take her as wife and father a child with her. The child born of this levirate relationship (levir is Latin for "brother-in-law") carries on the name of his deceased father and eventually inherits the family estate. Here Judah is clever enough to mention only producing a child for the brother. For obvious reasons he says nothing about the inheritance this child will one day receive.}}</ref> as a brother-in-law to his brother Er by entering into a [[levirate marriage]]<ref>{{Cite web \|title=LEVIRATE MARRIAGE - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15085-yibbum \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=8. do your duty as brother-in-law. In the Hebrew, this is a single verb, yabem, referring to the so-called levirate marriage. The legal obligation of yibum, which was a widespread practice in the ancient Near East, was incurred when a man died leaving his wife childless. His closest brother in order of birth was obliged to become his proxy, "raising up seed" for him by impregnating his widow. The dead brother would thus be provided a kind of biological continuity, and the widow would be able to produce progeny, which was a woman's chief avenue of fulfillment in this culture.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The purpose of levirate marriage is expressed by Deut 25:6: ―that his name [the name of the dead brother] may not be blotted out of Israel.‖ Thus, in order to comply with the intent of the tradition, Judah commanded Onan to take the wife of his deceased brother in order to raise an offspring for his brother (Gen 38:8). Onan was not required to actually marry Tamar, for in levirate marriage the widow only had the right to a son to preserve her husband‘s name}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Collins \|first=John J. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1031462523 \|title=Introduction to the Hebrew Bible \|date=2018 \|isbn=978-1-5064-4605-9 \|edition=Third \|location=Minneapolis \|oclc=1031462523 \|quote=The story begins with Judah's marriage to a Canaanite woman. This is not condemned in the text, but it goes against the practice of the patriarchs hitherto. When their son Er dies, his brother Onan is expected to "go in" to his widow, Tamar, to raise up offspring for him. (This is known as the levirate law. It is spelled out in Deut 25:5-10.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45879881 \|title=The Oxford Bible commentary \|date=2001 \|editor-first=John \|editor-last=Barton\|editor-first2=John \|editor-last2=Muddiman \|isbn=0-19-875500-7 \|location=Oxford \|oclc=45879881 \|quote=Tamar's second marriage, to Onan, conforms to the custom of levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5—6).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Judah then directs his second son, Onan, to "perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her" (though marriage is not mentioned, consummation probably entails it; cf. v. 14)—namely, to raise up an heir to carry on the name and inheritance of the deceased brother (cf. Deut 25:5-10; Ruth 4).}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1006596851 \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first=Michael David \|editor-last=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A. \|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme \|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=According to the ancient custom of levirate marriage (Deut 25.5–10), the duty of a brother-in-law of his brother's childless widow was to impregnate her and thus perpetuate his brother's name and inheritance through his widow's offspring.\|page=65}}</ref> with his brother's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]] to give her offspring. Religion professor [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]] has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.<ref name="Frymer">Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/tamar-bible Tamar: Bible]", ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)</ref>		After [[Yahweh]] slew Onan's oldest brother [[Er (biblical person)\|Er]], Onan's father Judah told him to fulfill his duty<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=The duty in question, known in English as "levirate marriage" is spelled out in Deut. 25.5-10. If a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow, and her first son is reckoned as the offspring of the deceased. In Deuteronomy, the surviving brother can decline and undergo a procedure that the Rabbis named "halitzah," but Gen. ch 38 presupposes a stage in the history of the law in which "haliztah" is still unknown.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich. \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=Onan's responsibility is to fulfill his part in what is known as levirate marriage. He is to levirate, or perform the duty of a brother-in-law to (weyabbēm), Tamar. Later biblical law spells out the particulars of the levirate in Deut. 25:5-10, in which the root ybm (cf. yāḇām, "brother-in-law") appears six times (twice as a verb, vv. 5, 7; four times as a noun, vv. 5, 7 [twice], 9). These six occurrences of ybm account for all but two uses of the root in the OT (here and Ruth 1:15). The law states that if brothers live together, and if one of them is married but dies without children, one of the surviving brothers is to marry or take her as wife and father a child with her. The child born of this levirate relationship (levir is Latin for "brother-in-law") carries on the name of his deceased father and eventually inherits the family estate. Here Judah is clever enough to mention only producing a child for the brother. For obvious reasons he says nothing about the inheritance this child will one day receive.}}</ref> as a brother-in-law to his brother Er by entering into a [[levirate marriage]]<ref>{{Cite web \|title=LEVIRATE MARRIAGE - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15085-yibbum \|access-date=2022-06-20 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=8. do your duty as brother-in-law. In the Hebrew, this is a single verb, yabem, referring to the so-called levirate marriage. The legal obligation of yibum, which was a widespread practice in the ancient Near East, was incurred when a man died leaving his wife childless. His closest brother in order of birth was obliged to become his proxy, "raising up seed" for him by impregnating his widow. The dead brother would thus be provided a kind of biological continuity, and the widow would be able to produce progeny, which was a woman's chief avenue of fulfillment in this culture.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel\|editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=The purpose of levirate marriage is expressed by Deut 25:6: ―that his name [the name of the dead brother] may not be blotted out of Israel.‖ Thus, in order to comply with the intent of the tradition, Judah commanded Onan to take the wife of his deceased brother in order to raise an offspring for his brother (Gen 38:8). Onan was not required to actually marry Tamar, for in levirate marriage the widow only had the right to a son to preserve her husband‘s name}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Collins \|first=John J. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1031462523 \|title=Introduction to the Hebrew Bible \|date=2018 \|isbn=978-1-5064-4605-9 \|edition=Third \|location=Minneapolis \|oclc=1031462523 \|quote=The story begins with Judah's marriage to a Canaanite woman. This is not condemned in the text, but it goes against the practice of the patriarchs hitherto. When their son Er dies, his brother Onan is expected to "go in" to his widow, Tamar, to raise up offspring for him. (This is known as the levirate law. It is spelled out in Deut 25:5-10.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45879881 \|title=The Oxford Bible commentary \|date=2001 \|editor-first=John \|editor-last=Barton\|editor-first2=John \|editor-last2=Muddiman \|isbn=0-19-875500-7 \|location=Oxford \|oclc=45879881 \|quote=Tamar's second marriage, to Onan, conforms to the custom of levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5—6).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Judah then directs his second son, Onan, to "perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her" (though marriage is not mentioned, consummation probably entails it; cf. v. 14)—namely, to raise up an heir to carry on the name and inheritance of the deceased brother (cf. Deut 25:5-10; Ruth 4).}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1006596851 \|title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha \|date=2018 \|editor-first=Michael David \|editor-last=Coogan\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|editor-first3=Carol A. \|editor-last3=Newsom\|editor-first4=Pheme \|editor-last4=Perkins \|isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 \|edition=Fully revised fifth \|location=New York, New York \|oclc=1006596851 \|quote=According to the ancient custom of levirate marriage (Deut 25.5–10), the duty of a brother-in-law of his brother's childless widow was to impregnate her and thus perpetuate his brother's name and inheritance through his widow's offspring.\|page=65}}</ref> with his brother's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)\|Tamar]] to give her offspring. Religion professor [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]] has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.<ref name="Frymer">Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/tamar-bible Tamar: Bible]", ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)</ref>

	When Onan had sex with Tamar, he [[coitus interruptus\|withdrew before he ejaculated]]<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN\|0802824005}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen\|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''coitus interuptus'',<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN\|0446524794}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Walton \|first=John H. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872206 \|title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life \|date=2001 \|isbn=0-310-20617-0 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich \|oclc=46872206 \|quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Mathews \|first=K. A. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33207787 \|title=Genesis \|date=1996–2005 \|publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers \|isbn=0-8054-0101-6 \|location=Nashville, Tenn. \|oclc=33207787 \|quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref\|Genesis\|38:8-10\|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3"~~>{{Cite journal \|last=Patton \|first=Michael S. \|date=1986 \|title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation \|url=https:~~//www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 \|journal=Journal of Religion and Health \|volume=25 \|issue=4 \|pages=291–302 \|doi=10.1007/BF01534067 \|jstor=27505893 \|pmid=24301692 \|s2cid=2994906 \|issn=0022-4197 \|quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.}}</ref><ref name=":4"/>		When Onan had sex with Tamar, he [[coitus interruptus\|withdrew before he ejaculated]]<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN\|0802824005}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892041536 \|title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. \|date=2015 \|publisher=Abingdon Press \|editor=Leander E. Keck \|isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 \|location=Nashville, Tennessee \|oclc=892041536 \|quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen\|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''coitus interuptus'',<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN\|0446524794}}, {{ISBN\|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Alter \|first=Robert \|title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary \|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company \|year=1997 \|isbn=978-0393316704 \|edition=1st \|pages=218 \|quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892869165 \|title=The Jewish Study Bible \|date=2014 \|editor-first=Adele \|editor-last=Berlin\|editor-first2=Marc Zvi \|editor-last2=Brettler\|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 \|edition=Second \|location=Oxford \|oclc=892869165 \|quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Walton \|first=John H. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46872206 \|title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life \|date=2001 \|isbn=0-310-20617-0 \|location=Grand Rapids, Mich \|oclc=46872206 \|quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Mathews \|first=K. A. \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33207787 \|title=Genesis \|date=1996–2005 \|publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers \|isbn=0-8054-0101-6 \|location=Nashville, Tenn. \|oclc=33207787 \|quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref\|Genesis\|38:8-10\|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":4"/>

	However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse<ref>{{Cite web \|title=ḤALIẒAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7105-halizah \|access-date=2022-06-21 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel \| editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110}}</ref><ref name=":0" />		However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse<ref>{{Cite web \|title=ḤALIẒAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com \|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7105-halizah \|access-date=2022-06-21 \|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).<ref>{{Cite book \|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|editor-first1=David Noel \| editor-last1=Freedman \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

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	According to some [[biblical criticism\|Bible critics]] who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an [[aetiology\|origin myth]] concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the [[tribe of Judah]], with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a [[clan]];<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar">{{cite book\| first= J. A.\| last= Emerton\| title= Judah And Tamar\| publisher= \| year= \| page= }}</ref><ref name= "ReferenceA">Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> ''Er'' and ''Onan'' are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an [[Edom]]ite clan named Onam,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> mentioned by an Edomite [[genealogy]] in Genesis.<ref>Genesis 36:23</ref>		According to some [[biblical criticism\|Bible critics]] who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an [[aetiology\|origin myth]] concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the [[tribe of Judah]], with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a [[clan]];<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar">{{cite book\| first= J. A.\| last= Emerton\| title= Judah And Tamar\| publisher= \| year= \| page= }}</ref><ref name= "ReferenceA">Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> ''Er'' and ''Onan'' are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an [[Edom]]ite clan named Onam,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> mentioned by an Edomite [[genealogy]] in Genesis.<ref>Genesis 36:23</ref>

	Biblical scholars universally agree that the biblical story of Onan is not about masturbation nor about contraception per se or the "wasting of semen" but his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate-marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus''.<ref>{{Cite book \|chapter-url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45439956 \|title=The Oxford guide to people & places of the Bible \|first=Carl S.\|last=Ehrlich \|date=2001 \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|editor-first1=Bruce M.\|editor-last1=Metzger\|editor-first2=Michael David \|editor-last2=Coogan \|chapter=Onan \|isbn=0-19-514641-7 \|location=Oxford, New York \|oclc=45439956 \|page=222 \|quote=Although Onan did cohabit with Tamar, "he spilled his seed on the ground"; for this he was put to death by God. Onan's effort to avoid impregnating his sister-in-law has given rise to the term "onanism," a synonym for masturbation. This passage is then employed by some to indicate divine condemnation of autoeroticism. This interpretation, however, completely misses the point of the passage. Onan's sin was not sexual. Rather, it was his refusal to fulfill the obligation of levirate marriage, according to which a man was obligated to impregnate the wife of his brother if his brother had died without an heir, thus ensuring the continuation of his brothers line and inheritance. That fulfilling this obligation often raised additional questions regarding the apportioning of the familial inheritance is indicated by passages in Deuteronomy and Ruth. Thus Onan's sexual act, most probably coitus interruptus, was the means whereby he avoided his fraternal duty, in spite of the fact that he seemed to be fulfilling it by cohabiting with Tamar. For this deception he was punished.}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book \|chapter-url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|chapter=Onan (PERSON) \|editor-~~first~~=David Noel \|editor-last1=Freedman ~~\|editor-first1=David Noel~~\|first=Claude F. \|last=Mariottini \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=This action of Onan probably was a reference to coitus interruptus, but Onan's conduct has produced the word "onanism," which has come to be a reference to masturbation. \|volume=5\|pages=20–21}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Satlow \|first=Michael L. \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvzpv5s5 \|title=Tasting the Dish: Rabbinic Rhetorics of Sexuality \|date=2020 \|publisher=Brown Judaic Studies \|isbn=978-1-946527-53-0 \|doi= 10.2307/j.ctvzpv5s5\|jstor=j.ctvzpv5s5 \|s2cid=241988511 }}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite journal \|last= Satlow \|first= Michael L. \|date=1994 \|title= 'Wasted Seed,' The History of a Rabbinic Idea \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23508531 \|journal=Hebrew Union College Annual \|volume=65 \|pages=137–175 \| publisher= [[Hebrew Union College]] \|jstor=23508531 \|issn=0360-9049}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=The levir in this case is to be Onan, the second born. But he refuses to accept his responsibility. Instead, he practices coitus interruptus with Tamar; that is, instead of impregnating her, he wasted his semen on the ground (lit., "he spoiled [it] groundward").This is clearly a reference to withdrawal to prevent conception, rather than a reference to masturbation.}}</ref><ref name=":5" />		Biblical scholars universally agree that the biblical story of Onan is not about masturbation nor about contraception per se or the "wasting of semen" but his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate-marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus''.<ref>{{Cite book \|chapter-url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45439956 \|title=The Oxford guide to people & places of the Bible \|first=Carl S.\|last=Ehrlich \|date=2001 \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|editor-first1=Bruce M.\|editor-last1=Metzger\|editor-first2=Michael David \|editor-last2=Coogan \|chapter=Onan \|isbn=0-19-514641-7 \|location=Oxford, New York \|oclc=45439956 \|page=222 \|quote=Although Onan did cohabit with Tamar, "he spilled his seed on the ground"; for this he was put to death by God. Onan's effort to avoid impregnating his sister-in-law has given rise to the term "onanism," a synonym for masturbation. This passage is then employed by some to indicate divine condemnation of autoeroticism. This interpretation, however, completely misses the point of the passage. Onan's sin was not sexual. Rather, it was his refusal to fulfill the obligation of levirate marriage, according to which a man was obligated to impregnate the wife of his brother if his brother had died without an heir, thus ensuring the continuation of his brothers line and inheritance. That fulfilling this obligation often raised additional questions regarding the apportioning of the familial inheritance is indicated by passages in Deuteronomy and Ruth. Thus Onan's sexual act, most probably coitus interruptus, was the means whereby he avoided his fraternal duty, in spite of the fact that he seemed to be fulfilling it by cohabiting with Tamar. For this deception he was punished.}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book \|chapter-url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/237189110 \|title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary \|date=2008 \|publisher=Yale University Press \|chapter=Onan (PERSON) \|editor-first1=David Noel \|editor-last1=Freedman \|first=Claude F. \|last=Mariottini \|isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 \|location=New Haven, Conn. \|oclc=237189110 \|quote=This action of Onan probably was a reference to coitus interruptus, but Onan's conduct has produced the word "onanism," which has come to be a reference to masturbation. \|volume=5\|pages=20–21}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Satlow \|first=Michael L. \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvzpv5s5 \|title=Tasting the Dish: Rabbinic Rhetorics of Sexuality \|date=2020 \|publisher=Brown Judaic Studies \|isbn=978-1-946527-53-0 \|doi= 10.2307/j.ctvzpv5s5\|jstor=j.ctvzpv5s5 \|s2cid=241988511 }}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite journal \|last= Satlow \|first= Michael L. \|date=1994 \|title= 'Wasted Seed,' The History of a Rabbinic Idea \|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23508531 \|journal=Hebrew Union College Annual \|volume=65 \|pages=137–175 \| publisher= [[Hebrew Union College]] \|jstor=23508531 \|issn=0360-9049}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book \|last=Hamilton \|first=Victor P. \|url= https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31604392 \|title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 \|date=1995 \|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co \|isbn=0-8028-2309-2 \|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan \|oclc=31604392 \|quote=The levir in this case is to be Onan, the second born. But he refuses to accept his responsibility. Instead, he practices coitus interruptus with Tamar; that is, instead of impregnating her, he wasted his semen on the ground (lit., "he spoiled [it] groundward").This is clearly a reference to withdrawal to prevent conception, rather than a reference to masturbation.}}</ref><ref name=":5" />

	The text emphasizes the social and legal situation, with Judah explaining what Onan must do and why. A plain reading of the text is that Onan was killed because he refused to follow instructions. Scholars have argued that the secondary purpose of the narrative about Onan and Tamar, of which the description of Onan is a part, was to either assert the institution of levirate marriage or present a myth for its origin;<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar"/> Onan's role in the narrative is, thus, as the brother abusing his obligations by agreeing to [[Human reproduction#Copulation\|sexual intercourse]] with his dead brother's wife, but refusing to allow her to become pregnant as a result. [[John Emerton\|Emerton]] regards the evidence for this to be inconclusive, although [[classical rabbinical literature\|classical rabbinical writers]] argued that this narrative describes the origin of levirate marriage.<ref>''[[Genesis Rabbah]]'' 85:6</ref>		The text emphasizes the social and legal situation, with Judah explaining what Onan must do and why. A plain reading of the text is that Onan was killed because he refused to follow instructions. Scholars have argued that the secondary purpose of the narrative about Onan and Tamar, of which the description of Onan is a part, was to either assert the institution of levirate marriage or present a myth for its origin;<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar"/> Onan's role in the narrative is, thus, as the brother abusing his obligations by agreeing to [[Human reproduction#Copulation\|sexual intercourse]] with his dead brother's wife, but refusing to allow her to become pregnant as a result. [[John Emerton\|Emerton]] regards the evidence for this to be inconclusive, although [[classical rabbinical literature\|classical rabbinical writers]] argued that this narrative describes the origin of levirate marriage.<ref>''[[Genesis Rabbah]]'' 85:6</ref>