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16 So Judah went to her and said, “Let me have sexual relations with you.” He did not know that she was Tamar, his daughter-in-law.

She asked, “What will you give me if I let you have sexual relations with me?”

17 Judah answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.”

She answered, “First give me something to keep as a deposit until you send the goat.”

18 Judah asked, “What do you want me to give you as a deposit?”

Tamar answered, “Give me your seal and its cord,[a] and give me your walking stick.” So Judah gave these things to her. Then Judah and Tamar had sexual relations, and Tamar became pregnant.

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Footnotes

  1. 38:18 seal . . . cord A seal was used like a rubber stamp, and people ran a string through it to tie around the neck. They wrote a contract, folded it, put wax or clay on the contract, and pressed the seal onto it as a signature.

16 Not realizing(A) that she was his daughter-in-law,(B) he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”(C)

“And what will you give me to sleep with you?”(D) she asked.

17 “I’ll send you a young goat(E) from my flock,” he said.

“Will you give me something as a pledge(F) until you send it?” she asked.

18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?”

“Your seal(G) and its cord, and the staff(H) in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.(I)

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