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Passage Research

Genesis 38 — Sermon Preparation

Below is a research summary for Genesis 38, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

30
verses
405 / 131
Hebrew words / lemmas
3
classic sermon excerpts
3
preachers & commentators

Genesis 38 in the Hebrew

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

Hebrew Transliteration Strong's Count Glosses
יְהוּדָה Yᵉhûwdâh H3063 15 Jehudah
אָח ʼâch H251 8 brother
שֵׁם shêm H8034 8 appellation, honor
תָּמָר Tâmâr H8559 5 Tamar
יָלַד yâlad H3205 7 bear young, beget
שֵׁלָה Shêlâh H7956 4 Shelah
נָתַן nâthan H5414 8 give, put

How preachers through history handled this text

3 public-domain excerpts on Genesis 38, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Calvin 1 Matthew Henry 1 John Wesley 1

“This chapter gives us an account of Judah and his family, and such an account it is that one would wonder that, of all Jacob's sons, our Lord should spring out of Judah, Heb. vii. 14. If we were to form a character of him by this story, we should not say, "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise," ch. xlix. 8. …”

— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 1 (Genesis to Deuteronomy), on Genesis 38:1–35 (Public Domain)

Places in the text

Based on ancient-geography data

  • Adullam — Gen 38:1
  • Timnah 3 — Gen 38:12
  • Enaim — Gen 38:14

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Greek exegesis, historical background, current scholarship, sermon outlines, illustrations — a complete PDF report on Genesis 38, delivered in 45 minutes.