Did God kill Onan because he wasted his seed and spilled it on the ground? The answer is clear in the Bible but sadly, many people don’t read the Bible stories in their entirety. They just read snippets. This leads to people dreadfully misinformed about biblical events. Now, let’s take a look at the passage.
Onan and Tamar 1892 painting by Alexandre Cabanel
Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother.10 What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.
11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household. (Genesis 38:6-11)
Most people just read verses 8-10 which is not enough for them to understand the full context. Below is a brief breakdown of the passages for a better understanding of what the author of the passage was trying to demonstrate.
Genesis 38:6-7 Judah’s first son married Tamar, but unfortunately he did not live long enough to impregnate his wife. This is a problem because Tamar has no heir to inherit Er’s land or possessions. Women could not inherit things usually. Though, special cases existed when appeals were made to judges. This is why it was an expected practice for the brother of the deceased husband to have a son with her. It’s referred too as a Levirate duty.
Deuteronomy explains the issue with the brotherly duties
If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. 6The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
7However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.” 8Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” 9his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” 10That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled. (Deuteronomy 25:5-10)
Genesis 38:8-9 Onan was the brother of Er, and it was now his responsibility to have a son with her. If he did not do so then it would be the nearest kin’s job, but no nearer kin existed (Genesis 38:11). So Onan was charged with the task to produce offspring with his brother’s wife and he shamefully and selfishly decided not to because he knew the son would not belong to him. This means he would not inherit his brother’s land or belongings but his brother’s surrogate son would.
This is shameful on two levels. On the major level he knows that he is going to leave Tamar stranded and desolate. Many women who have no “redeemer” to give them a son could fall into prostitution or even worse. The second piece is that he still had sex with her, pretending to get her pregnant. But he was just lying to have sex with her and then eventually take her dead husband’s belongings.
Genesis 38:10 The above wickedness is why God put him to death. It had nothing to do with wasting his seed. It was the betrayal of his brother and of Tamar.
Genesis 38:11 Judah has now lost two sons and the only son left was probably too young to redeem Tamar. However, the passage indicates the Judah also feared for his life, not knowing why Onan was killed. I am sure Onan did not reveal his dirty deeds with his father. So Judah decided to send her back to her father’s house to live out her days as a widow. This was essentially a death sentence.
This is also why we see later in the story Tamar goes to extreme measures and tricks Judah (her dead husband’s father) into having sex with her and having a son. It is one of the best survival and revenge stories to ever exist. Here it is to enjoy.
Francesco Hayez, Tamar of Judah – 1847 (Public Domain)
When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,”14 she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.16 Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”
“And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
17 “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.
“Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.
18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?”
“Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.
20 Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her.21 He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”
“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.
22 So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”
23 Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”
24 About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”
Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”
25 As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said. And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”
26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, “This one came out first.”29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez.30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.
(Genesis 38:13-30)
Wasn’t Deuteronomy Written After Genesis?
One astute commenter brought up the matter of Chronology and I thought it might be wise to add it to the post. The problem with using Deuteronomy to explain Genesis is anachronistic because the law of Moses was not yet given in Genesis 38. So why does Deuteronomy matter?
The answer is that this passage, and others from Genesis, were written long after the books of the law began to be introduced into Israelite and Judean society. That is why a number of the stories in Genesis seem to comport to laws given later. Many scholars actually think that this part of the narrative was written at the same time as 2 Kings.[1]Kim, Dohyung (2011) A literary-critical analysis of the role of Genesis 38 within Genesis 37-50 as part of the primary narrative (Genesis – 2 Kings) of the Hebrew Bible. PhD thesis, … Continue reading Parts of the stories were re-told and rationalized through later narrators who already had the law. Moreover, a great deal of OT laws were already considered to be part of the social fabric, even before the laws of Moses. The rules pertaining to levirate duties are also found in Hittite, Akkadian, Babylonian, and other law codes. The law of Moses was merely reinforcing the existing known laws.
Hittite Law 193: If a man has a wife, and the man dies, his brother shall take his widow as wife. (If the brother dies,) his father shall take her. When afterwards his father dies, his (i.e., the father’s) brother shall take the woman whom he had.
Hittite Law 195: If however a man sleeps with the wife of his brother while his brother is living, it is a capital crime.
Gortyn 14: The heiress shall marry the brother of the father, the eldest of those living; and if there be more heiresses and brothers of the father, they shall marry the eldest in succession. . . But if he do not wish to marry the heiress, the relatives of the heiress shall charge him and the judge shall order him to marry her within two months; and if he do not marry, she shall marry the next eldest. If she do not wish to marry, the heiress shall have the house and whatever is in the house, but sharing the half of the remainder, she may marry another of her tribe, and the other half shall go to the eldest. .
Mid Bab 30: If a father has conveyed (or) brought the betrothal-gift to the house of his son’s (prospective) father-in-law, with the woman not yet married to his son and another son of his, whose wife is living in her father’s house, died, he shall give his dead son’s wife in marriage to his other son to whose father-in-law’s house he brought (the gift); if the girl’s master, who has received the gift, is not willing to give up his daughter, if he wishes, the father who brought the gift may take his (prospective) daughter-in-law (and) marry (her) to his son; however, if he wishes, he may take back in full as much as he brought: lead, silver, gold, (and) what is not edible, (but) with no claim to what is edible.
Mid Bab 33: [If], while a woman is still living in her father’s house, her husband died and she has sons, [she shall live where she chooses in] a house of theirs. [If] she has no [son, her father-in-law shall marry her to the son] of his choice … or if he wishes, he may give her in marriage to her father-in-law. If her husband and her father-in-law are both dead and she has no son, she becomes a widow; she may go where she wishes.
Mid Bab 42: If a seignior poured oil on the head of a(nother) seignior’s daughter on a holiday or brought betrothal-presents on a festival, they shall not make any return (of the gifts).
Mid Bab 43: If the seignior either poured oil on (her) head or brought betrothal-presents (and) the son to whom he assigned the wife either died or fled, he may give (her) to whichever he wishes of his remaining sons from the oldest son to the youngest son who is at least ten years old. If the father died and the son to whom he assigned the wife also died, but the dead son has a son who is at least ten years old, he shall marry (her), but if the grandsons are younger than ten years, the girl’s father, if he wishes, may give his daughter (to one of them); or if he wishes, he may make an equitable return (of the gifts). If there is no son, he shall return in full as much as he received, precious stones and whatever is not edible, but he need not return what is edible.
Conclusion
Tamar was basically left destitute by the death of her husband. Furthermore, without a son she would have no one to take care of her when she ages. This is why it was important for Onan to do his brotherly duty and provide her with a son. However, he decided that he wanted the sex but he did not want to have the responsibility of looking after his brother’s widow or the offspring that could come from their union. So he tricked her and used her for sex while knowing she would still be left in despair and would never have a future.
Why is this important? This topic is important because many believe this passage teaches that sex must only be for procreation. If God killed Onan because he spilled his seed then it must be evil to have sex without trying to impregnate the woman. However, his death has nothing to do with the wasting of his seed and everything to do with Onan lying and tricking his brother’s widow.
Kim, Dohyung (2011) A literary-critical analysis of the role of Genesis 38 within Genesis 37-50 as part of the primary narrative (Genesis – 2 Kings) of the Hebrew Bible. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield. https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14568/1/555638.pdf
22 thoughts on “Did God Kill Onan For Spilling His Seed?”
Wasn’t Deuteronomy given way after the 38 years plus in the desert, before entering Canaan? if so that law would not apply, would it?
or is it the way he treated semen (which is considered blood by the Hebrews)? Remember blood is taken very seriously by God. The patriarchs and their offsprings would have known this.
That is a correct observation. However, this passage was written long after the books of the law began to be introduced and integrated into Israelite and Judean society. That is why so many of the stories in Genesis seem to comport to laws given later. Parts of the stories were re-told and rationalized through later narrators who already had the law. Moreover, a great deal of OT laws were already considered to be the proper way of living, even before the laws of Moses. The rules pertaining to levirate duties are also found in Hittite, Akkadian, and Babylonian law codes.
Hittite Law 193: If a man has a wife, and the man dies, his brother shall take his widow as wife. (If the brother dies,) his father shall take her. When afterwards his father dies, his (i.e., the father’s) brother shall take the woman whom he had.
Hittite Law 195: If however a man sleeps with the wife of his brother while his brother is living, it is a capital crime.
Gortyn 14: XIV. The heiress shall marry the brother of the father, the eldest of those living; and if there be more heiresses and brothers of the father, they shall marry the eldest in succession. . . But if he do not wish to marry the heiress, the relatives of the heiress shall charge him and the judge shall order him to marry her within two months; and if he do not marry, she shall marry the next eldest. If she do not wish to marry, the heiress shall have the house and whatever is in the house, but sharing the half of the remainder, she may marry another of her tribe, and the other half shall go to the eldest. .
Mid Bab 30: If a father has conveyed (or) brought the betrothal-gift to the house of his son’s (prospective) father-in-law, with the woman not yet married to his son and another son of his, whose wife is living in her father’s house, died, he shall give his dead son’s wife in marriage to his other son to whose father-in-law’s house he brought (the gift); if the girl’s master, who has received the gift, is not willing to give up his daughter, if he wishes, the father who brought the gift may take his (prospective) daughter-in-law (and) marry (her) to his son; however, if he wishes, he may take back in full as much as he brought: lead, silver, gold, (and) what is not edible, (but) with no claim to what is edible.
Mid Bab 33: [If], while a woman is still living in her father’s house, her husband died and she has sons, [she shall live where she chooses in] a house of theirs. [If] she has no [son, her father-in-law shall marry her to the son] of his choice … or if he wishes, he may give her in marriage to her father-in-law. If her husband and her father-in-law are both dead and she has no son, she becomes a widow; she may go where she wishes.
Mid Bab 42: If a seignior poured oil on the head of a(nother) seignior’s daughter on a holiday or brought betrothal-presents on a festival, they shall not make any return (of the gifts).
Mid Bab 43: If the seignior either poured oil on (her) head or brought betrothal-presents (and) the son to whom he assigned the wife either died or fled, he may give (her) to whichever he wishes of his remaining sons from the oldest son to the youngest son who is at least ten years old. If the father died and the son to whom he assigned the wife also died, but the dead son has a son who is at least ten years old, he shall marry (her), but if the grandsons are younger than ten years, the girl’s father, if he wishes, may give his daughter (to one of them); or if he wishes, he may make an equitable return (of the gifts). If there is no son, he shall return in full as much as he received, precious stones and whatever is not edible, but he need not return what is edible.
At it’s root, these laws are trying to prevent the tribal unit and it’s people’s identity from being wiped out. They also have to contend with the fact that women in the ANE could not generally own property. So they also needed to deal with who gets the properties so that they can stay within the tribe. There were many other laws pertaining to this matter.
Hammurabi 166. If a man take wives for his son, but take no wife for his minor son, and if then he die: if the sons divide the estate, they shall set aside besides his portion the money for the “purchase price” for the minor brother who had taken no wife as yet, and secure a wife for him.
Hammurabi 180. If a father give a present to his daughter–either marriageable or a prostitute unmarriageable)–and then die, then she is to receive a portion as a child from the paternal estate, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.
All you guys think SO SUPERFICIALLY about this passage. The real truth why God kill Onan is because EVERY TIME he spilled his semen on the ground HE WAS DELAYING the birt of Jesus , because Jesus is DESCENDENT of Judah !!!
So, there is N O T T I N G to do about sin to avoid contraceptive.
That’s an interesting theory but I think there is an issue with genetics. The union of Judah and Tamar produced a child, not Onan and Tamar. If Onan had done his duty, she would have never slept with Judah in order to produce an heir. Every sperm and every egg combination would produce a unique offspring. Had Judah and Tamar not had relations on that exact same time and day, the entire lineage would be different, as both parties would have been working with a different batch of genetic material.
Now, obviously they did not know such things back then, but we know today how genetics work and presumably, God was aware as well.
1Jo 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (No masturbation)
1Co 7:3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
1Co 7:4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. (No masturbation)
I would first remind the reader that this passage is not about whether or not the Bible condemns masturbation. It is about the reason God killed Onan. Nevertheless, these passages don’t speak of masturbation.
1Jo 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (No masturbation)
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest:
This passage is referring to Jesus’ seed. It’s about those children (seed) of God and those who are children (seed) of the devil. This is even more clear in the Greek text which uses the genitive case for “his seed” (αὐτοῦ σπέρμα). It literally reads “of HIS seed”. A better translation would be “Anyone born of God does not sin because of His seed (God’s) in him abides (person) and he is not able to continue sinning because he is born of God”. This passage is clearly about those who are born of God not being able to sin because the seed of God (Christ) abides in them. If you read the whole chapter the context pretty much clears up any questions.
1Co 7:3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
1Co 7:4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. (No masturbation)
This passage says nothing about masturbation. It’s about your spouses’ right to a sexual relationship and the need for it to prevent temptation.
The whole explanation is a crock the sole reason onans life was taken was because he wasted his seed which is killing. Your mind is not his mind your understanding is not his understanding before spreading untruth maybe you should read more of the Bible and knock some dust off your mind
The whole explanation is a crack online with killed solely because of the fact he wasted the seed on the ground maybe you should read more of the Bible and get somebody to dust off your understanding
Remember this – 7. However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.” 8Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” 9his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” 10That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled. (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).
I do not think he used her for sex, I think he wanted to trick the elders and possibly God, he didn’t want to give his brother an heir out of himself and he didn’t want to publicly state it so his generation will not be known as unsandaled
You are certainly right that his first motivation was likely not wanting to provide an heir and thus redeem his brother and his property (and wife). However, I would find it hard to believe that he did not also gain a sexual gratification.
Obviously you cant pull out and prevent pregnancy some swimmers already started the journey, only abstinence prevents pregnancy. According to this passage many over the centuries have taken it verbatim that pulling out will keep from getting a woman pregnant. How mis-educational and dangerous a notion.
According to research the pullout method is 96% effective. So it was good enough for many occasions. Also, no one believes that pulling out is 100% effective. Not even condoms are 100%
Morayo is correct. Onan was guilty on many counts. But if Onan was speaking to YWHW and YHWH to him, Onan should have obeyed. Secondly, YHWH is life and to waste that which brings forth life, life which begins with sperm is a wicked thing to HIM. YHWH states that Er was wicked. YHWH then states that Onan was wicked BECAUSE he was vain and SPILLED (wasted) his seed ON THE GROUND.
Correction:Onan was spoken to by Judah not YHWH and vice versa. Therefore, Onan was judged by YHWH and lost his life before the rest of the story played out for spilling his seed on the ground. YHWH is life, and to abort sperm, for sperm is life, it is an act judged and worthy of death in the eyes of HIM.
Your are correct that it was Judah that commanded Onan to sleep with his brother’s wife. If I said otherwise I’ll make corrections. Thanks for pointing that out
However, the premise is still the same. He was killed for tricking her and not fulfilling his duty…. Which was a commandment by the Lord in Deuteronomy 25:5.
The only commandment broken in this passage is Onan not fulfilling his duty to his brother as nearest kinsman and lying about his fake attempts to do so. There is NO commanded in the old testament against spilling seamen.
I think that Onan’s ultimate death judgement was as a result of a multiple count charge against him so it’s unfair to take one out and just base his death judgement on the others.
….He was guilty of pretence while enjoying free sex
….guilty of ahbouring wickedness in his heart so that he ALONE can inherit his late brother’s properties,
….guilty of wasting his seed fir whatever reason,
….he was also guilty of causing heart ache to poor TAMAR….bless her and finally to me,
….guilty of wanting to stop recreation process and
…..Yes….disobeying God’s lawz if we go back to read Deu25:5-10
Wasn’t Deuteronomy given way after the 38 years plus in the desert, before entering Canaan? if so that law would not apply, would it?
or is it the way he treated semen (which is considered blood by the Hebrews)? Remember blood is taken very seriously by God. The patriarchs and their offsprings would have known this.
That is a correct observation. However, this passage was written long after the books of the law began to be introduced and integrated into Israelite and Judean society. That is why so many of the stories in Genesis seem to comport to laws given later. Parts of the stories were re-told and rationalized through later narrators who already had the law. Moreover, a great deal of OT laws were already considered to be the proper way of living, even before the laws of Moses. The rules pertaining to levirate duties are also found in Hittite, Akkadian, and Babylonian law codes.
Hittite Law 193: If a man has a wife, and the man dies, his brother shall take his widow as wife. (If the brother dies,) his father shall take her. When afterwards his father dies, his (i.e., the father’s) brother shall take the woman whom he had.
Hittite Law 195: If however a man sleeps with the wife of his brother while his brother is living, it is a capital crime.
Gortyn 14: XIV. The heiress shall marry the brother of the father, the eldest of those living; and if there be more heiresses and brothers of the father, they shall marry the eldest in succession. . . But if he do not wish to marry the heiress, the relatives of the heiress shall charge him and the judge shall order him to marry her within two months; and if he do not marry, she shall marry the next eldest. If she do not wish to marry, the heiress shall have the house and whatever is in the house, but sharing the half of the remainder, she may marry another of her tribe, and the other half shall go to the eldest. .
Mid Bab 30: If a father has conveyed (or) brought the betrothal-gift to the house of his son’s (prospective) father-in-law, with the woman not yet married to his son and another son of his, whose wife is living in her father’s house, died, he shall give his dead son’s wife in marriage to his other son to whose father-in-law’s house he brought (the gift); if the girl’s master, who has received the gift, is not willing to give up his daughter, if he wishes, the father who brought the gift may take his (prospective) daughter-in-law (and) marry (her) to his son; however, if he wishes, he may take back in full as much as he brought: lead, silver, gold, (and) what is not edible, (but) with no claim to what is edible.
Mid Bab 33: [If], while a woman is still living in her father’s house, her husband died and she has sons, [she shall live where she chooses in] a house of theirs. [If] she has no [son, her father-in-law shall marry her to the son] of his choice … or if he wishes, he may give her in marriage to her father-in-law. If her husband and her father-in-law are both dead and she has no son, she becomes a widow; she may go where she wishes.
Mid Bab 42: If a seignior poured oil on the head of a(nother) seignior’s daughter on a holiday or brought betrothal-presents on a festival, they shall not make any return (of the gifts).
Mid Bab 43: If the seignior either poured oil on (her) head or brought betrothal-presents (and) the son to whom he assigned the wife either died or fled, he may give (her) to whichever he wishes of his remaining sons from the oldest son to the youngest son who is at least ten years old. If the father died and the son to whom he assigned the wife also died, but the dead son has a son who is at least ten years old, he shall marry (her), but if the grandsons are younger than ten years, the girl’s father, if he wishes, may give his daughter (to one of them); or if he wishes, he may make an equitable return (of the gifts). If there is no son, he shall return in full as much as he received, precious stones and whatever is not edible, but he need not return what is edible.
At it’s root, these laws are trying to prevent the tribal unit and it’s people’s identity from being wiped out. They also have to contend with the fact that women in the ANE could not generally own property. So they also needed to deal with who gets the properties so that they can stay within the tribe. There were many other laws pertaining to this matter.
Hammurabi 166. If a man take wives for his son, but take no wife for his minor son, and if then he die: if the sons divide the estate, they shall set aside besides his portion the money for the “purchase price” for the minor brother who had taken no wife as yet, and secure a wife for him.
Hammurabi 180. If a father give a present to his daughter–either marriageable or a prostitute unmarriageable)–and then die, then she is to receive a portion as a child from the paternal estate, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.
All you guys think SO SUPERFICIALLY about this passage. The real truth why God kill Onan is because EVERY TIME he spilled his semen on the ground HE WAS DELAYING the birt of Jesus , because Jesus is DESCENDENT of Judah !!!
So, there is N O T T I N G to do about sin to avoid contraceptive.
That’s an interesting theory but I think there is an issue with genetics. The union of Judah and Tamar produced a child, not Onan and Tamar. If Onan had done his duty, she would have never slept with Judah in order to produce an heir. Every sperm and every egg combination would produce a unique offspring. Had Judah and Tamar not had relations on that exact same time and day, the entire lineage would be different, as both parties would have been working with a different batch of genetic material.
Now, obviously they did not know such things back then, but we know today how genetics work and presumably, God was aware as well.
1Jo 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (No masturbation)
1Co 7:3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
1Co 7:4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. (No masturbation)
I would first remind the reader that this passage is not about whether or not the Bible condemns masturbation. It is about the reason God killed Onan. Nevertheless, these passages don’t speak of masturbation.
1Jo 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. (No masturbation)
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest:
This passage is referring to Jesus’ seed. It’s about those children (seed) of God and those who are children (seed) of the devil. This is even more clear in the Greek text which uses the genitive case for “his seed” (αὐτοῦ σπέρμα). It literally reads “of HIS seed”. A better translation would be “Anyone born of God does not sin because of His seed (God’s) in him abides (person) and he is not able to continue sinning because he is born of God”. This passage is clearly about those who are born of God not being able to sin because the seed of God (Christ) abides in them. If you read the whole chapter the context pretty much clears up any questions.
1Co 7:3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
1Co 7:4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. (No masturbation)
This passage says nothing about masturbation. It’s about your spouses’ right to a sexual relationship and the need for it to prevent temptation.
The whole explanation is a crock the sole reason onans life was taken was because he wasted his seed which is killing. Your mind is not his mind your understanding is not his understanding before spreading untruth maybe you should read more of the Bible and knock some dust off your mind
Retype:
Citation needed…..
The whole explanation is a crack online with killed solely because of the fact he wasted the seed on the ground maybe you should read more of the Bible and get somebody to dust off your understanding
Remember this – 7. However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.” 8Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” 9his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” 10That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled. (Deuteronomy 25:5-10).
I do not think he used her for sex, I think he wanted to trick the elders and possibly God, he didn’t want to give his brother an heir out of himself and he didn’t want to publicly state it so his generation will not be known as unsandaled
You are certainly right that his first motivation was likely not wanting to provide an heir and thus redeem his brother and his property (and wife). However, I would find it hard to believe that he did not also gain a sexual gratification.
every sperm is precious, every sperm is great, if a sperm is wasted god gets quite irate…
While I disagree in substance, excellent limerick!
Obviously you cant pull out and prevent pregnancy some swimmers already started the journey, only abstinence prevents pregnancy. According to this passage many over the centuries have taken it verbatim that pulling out will keep from getting a woman pregnant. How mis-educational and dangerous a notion.
According to research the pullout method is 96% effective. So it was good enough for many occasions. Also, no one believes that pulling out is 100% effective. Not even condoms are 100%
Morayo is correct. Onan was guilty on many counts. But if Onan was speaking to YWHW and YHWH to him, Onan should have obeyed. Secondly, YHWH is life and to waste that which brings forth life, life which begins with sperm is a wicked thing to HIM. YHWH states that Er was wicked. YHWH then states that Onan was wicked BECAUSE he was vain and SPILLED (wasted) his seed ON THE GROUND.
Correction:Onan was spoken to by Judah not YHWH and vice versa. Therefore, Onan was judged by YHWH and lost his life before the rest of the story played out for spilling his seed on the ground. YHWH is life, and to abort sperm, for sperm is life, it is an act judged and worthy of death in the eyes of HIM.
Your are correct that it was Judah that commanded Onan to sleep with his brother’s wife. If I said otherwise I’ll make corrections. Thanks for pointing that out
However, the premise is still the same. He was killed for tricking her and not fulfilling his duty…. Which was a commandment by the Lord in Deuteronomy 25:5.
The only commandment broken in this passage is Onan not fulfilling his duty to his brother as nearest kinsman and lying about his fake attempts to do so. There is NO commanded in the old testament against spilling seamen.
I think that Onan’s ultimate death judgement was as a result of a multiple count charge against him so it’s unfair to take one out and just base his death judgement on the others.
….He was guilty of pretence while enjoying free sex
….guilty of ahbouring wickedness in his heart so that he ALONE can inherit his late brother’s properties,
….guilty of wasting his seed fir whatever reason,
….he was also guilty of causing heart ache to poor TAMAR….bless her and finally to me,
….guilty of wanting to stop recreation process and
…..Yes….disobeying God’s lawz if we go back to read Deu25:5-10