Sin of Onan?

[Yahu]

Gen 38:6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
7 And Er, Judahs firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brothers wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brothers wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

I have heard many false teachings on this passage based on the ignorance of the teachers. Obviously those teachers don't understand Hebrew inheritance law. They equate the sin of Onan as masturbation when that wasn't even involved.

The question is WHY did Onan spill his seed and why did that anger Yah?

[JehovahsWitness]

The question is WHY did Onan spill his seed and why did that anger Yah?

Onan didn't want to father children for his brother's name. Any children he fathered with Tamar would take his brother's inheritance. God rightly viewed this as unloving and disrespectful towards Tamar exploiting her sexually but not giving her what she rightfully due. Dishonrable towards the wishes of his father who wished to preserve his dead brother's name, dishonest to the terms of their marriage and unloving to the memory of this dead brother.




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SEX ,MARRIAGE, BABIES & CHILDREN

[Yahu]

The question is WHY did Onan spill his seed and why did that anger Yah?

Onan didn't want to father children for his brother's name. Any children he fathered with Tamar would take his brother's inheritance. God rightly viewed this as unloving and disrespectful towards Tamar exploiting her sexually but not giving her what she rightfully due. Dishonrable towards the wishes of his father who wished to preserve his dead brother's name, dishonest to the terms of their marriage and unloving to the memory of this dead brother.

Correct. Onan wanted the double portion of the inheritance which he would not receive if Tamar had a son by him. That son would gain the double portion due the eldest son. That inheritance would maintain Tamar for the rest of her life. He was attempting to steal from her under the terms of her marriage contract.

Onan as the 2nd of 3 sons was entitled to 25% of Judah's wealth, with 50% going to Er (or his heir) and the other 25% to the younger brother. If only 2 sons (or heirs) remained, he would get the double portion or 66.6% of Judah's wealth with his younger brother getting 33.3%.

Onan's sin was GREED for the larger inheritance which motivated him to dishonor and attempt theft. Add on top of that, he used his sister-in-law for sex but denied her the right to a child as a levirite wife. The ONLY reason he was to have sexual relations with her was to get her pregnant to produce an heir for his dead brother of the line of Judah so that heir could inherit.

This was the same situation Ruth was in. As a wife, she could not inherit what was due her dead husband without a child of the correct bloodline.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 3 by Yahu]

Yes I would agree.

[Yahu]

The story of Ruth is a similar situation of a Levirate widow and equated to Tamar.

Naom tells Ruth to wait for Boaz to feast and drink then sleep then go have intercourse with him. She wanted Ruth to get the Levirate right of a child to inherit her husband's inheritance. The family had sold their family land BUT it was to be returned on the next Jubilee year. Land was never sold but leased out until the next Jubilee. Without a son of the correct bloodline, they could not regain the family land. Ruth's son would regain all the land that had been Naom's husbands land.

Boaz went the extra mile and took her as a full wife and restored the family land right away.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 5 by Yahu]

Yes that is true.

[Yahu]

[Replying to post 5 by Yahu]

Yes that is true.

So going to Boaz to have sex was lawful even though she was not his wife. It was Boaz that had the option to make her a full wife and did so.

Sex is NOT limited to a marriage ceremony sanction by man.

[bluethread]

[Replying to post 5 by Yahu]

Yes that is true.

So going to Boaz to have sex was lawful even though she was not his wife. It was Boaz that had the option to make her a full wife and did so.

Sex is NOT limited to a marriage ceremony sanction by man.

Civil marriage is a form of licensing, i.e. government approval of what one can do without the help of government.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 5 by Yahu]

Yes that is true.

So going to Boaz to have sex was lawful even though she was not his wife. It was Boaz that had the option to make her a full wife and did so.

Sex is NOT limited to a marriage ceremony sanction by man.

It doesn't surprise me that you desperately try and attribute immorality to Ruth and Boaz, but your interpretation may rather be born from a desire to justify sex outside of marriage rather than the factual accounts; In any case Ruth did not go for sex, neither does the account say they had sex.

You are welcome to your interpretation, but I respectfully disagree with it.


JW

[Yahu]

It doesn't surprise me that you desperately try and attribute immorality to Ruth and Boaz, but your interpretation may rather be born from a desire to justify sex outside of marriage rather than the factual accounts; In any case Ruth did not go for sex, neither does the account say they had sex.

You are welcome to your interpretation, but I respectfully disagree with it.
JW

My point is there was no sexual immorality. It was a special situation that was allowable by the law whereas sexual immorality is in violation of the law.

The law stipulates she had a right to an heir of her husband's bloodline to satisfy her marriage contract. She went to Boaz to claim that right just as Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute and tricked Judah into giving her a child of the correct bloodline. Tamar wasn't in sin.

There was no sexual sin involved in gaining those children. The sexual sin involved in the story was Onan's when he used Tamar for sex but denied her the child. Any sex to produce a valid heir is not a satisfying of lust for pleasure but a following of Yah's first commandment to be fruitful and multiply.