Genesis 38:18
New International Version
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.

New Living Translation
“What kind of guarantee do you want?” he replied. She answered, “Leave me your identification seal and its cord and the walking stick you are carrying.” So Judah gave them to her. Then he had intercourse with her, and she became pregnant.

English Standard Version
He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

Berean Standard Bible
“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

King James Bible
And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

New King James Version
Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” So she said, “Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

New American Standard Bible
He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had relations with her, and she conceived by him.

NASB 1995
He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

NASB 1977
And he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

Amplified Bible
He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She said, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and was intimate with her, and she conceived by him.

Christian Standard Bible
“What should I give you? ” he asked. She answered, “Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
What should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she got pregnant by him.

American Standard Version
And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet and thy cord, and thy staff that is in thy hand. And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he said, “What pledge shall I give to you?”, and she said, “Your ring and your robe and your staff that is in your hand”, and he gave them to her, and he went into her and she conceived from him.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he said, What is the earnest that I shall give thee? and she said, Thy ring, and thy bracelet, and the staff in thy hand; and he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

Contemporary English Version
"What do you want?" he asked in return. "The ring on that cord around your neck," was her reply. "I also want the special walking stick you have with you." He gave them to her, they slept together, and she became pregnant.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge ? She answered: Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therefore at one copulation conceived.

English Revised Version
And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet and thy cord, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"What should I give you as a deposit?" he asked. "Your signet ring, its cord, and the shepherd's staff that's in your hand," she answered. So he gave them to her. Then he slept with her, and she became pregnant.

Good News Translation
"What shall I give you as a pledge?" he asked. She answered, "Your seal with its cord and the walking stick you are carrying." He gave them to her. Then they had intercourse, and she became pregnant.

International Standard Version
Then he asked, "What pledge do you want me to give you?" "Your signet ring, cord, and the staff in your hand," she suggested. So he gave them to her, had sex with her, and she became pregnant by him.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he said: 'What pledge shall I give thee?' And she said: 'Thy signet and thy cord, and thy staff that is in thy hand.' And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

Literal Standard Version
And he says, “What [is] the pledge that I give to you?” And she says, “Your seal, and your ribbon, and your staff which [is] in your hand”; and he gives to her, and goes in to her, and she conceives to him;

Majority Standard Bible
“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

New American Bible
Judah asked, “What pledge should I leave you?” She answered, “Your seal and cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had intercourse with her, and she conceived by him.

NET Bible
He said, "What pledge should I give you?" She replied, "Your seal, your cord, and the staff that's in your hand." So he gave them to her and had sex with her. She became pregnant by him.

New Revised Standard Version
He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

New Heart English Bible
He said, "What kind of guarantee should I give you?" She replied, "Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand. "So he gave them to her, and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? and she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thy hand: and he gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him.

World English Bible
He said, “What pledge will I give you?” She said, “Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him.

Young's Literal Translation
and he saith, 'What is the pledge that I give to thee?' and she saith, 'Thy seal, and thy ribbon, and thy staff which is in thy hand;' and he giveth to her, and goeth in unto her, and she conceiveth to him;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judah and Tamar
17“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.” 18“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. 19Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.…

Cross References
Genesis 38:17
"I will send you a young goat from my flock," Judah answered. But she replied, "Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it."

Genesis 38:19
Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow's garments again.

Genesis 38:25
As she was being brought out, Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong." And she added, "Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?"

Genesis 41:42
Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph's finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.


Treasury of Scripture

And he said, What pledge shall I give you? And she said, Your signet, and your bracelets, and your staff that is in your hand. And he gave it her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him.

Thy signet.

Genesis 38:25
When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

Jeremiah 22:24
As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

Jeremiah 22:25,26
And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans…

Jeremiah 22:24
As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

Luke 15:22
But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

bracelets.

gave it her.

Genesis 38:25,26
When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff…

Hosea 4:11
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

Jump to Previous
Bracelets Child Conceived Conceiveth Cord Hand Lace Pledge Pregnant Ribbon Ring Seal Signet Slept Staff Stick
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Bracelets Child Conceived Conceiveth Cord Hand Lace Pledge Pregnant Ribbon Ring Seal Signet Slept Staff Stick
Genesis 38
1. Judah begets Er, Onan, and Shelah.
6. Er's marriage with Tamar, and death.
8. The trespass of Onan.
11. Tamar is reserved for Shelah.
12. Judah's wife dies.
13. Tamar deceives Judah.
27. She bears twins, Pharez and Zarah.














(18) Thy bracelets.--Heb., thy cord. The art of engraving was probably not advanced enough among these nomads to permit them to engrave gems small enough to wear in a ring. Judah evidently suspended his signet round his neck by a cord; and this custom still exists among the Arabs, of whom some wear signet rings, while others hang them round their necks. Probably each man of distinction had his emblem, and in Genesis 49 Jacob seems to refer to them. Thus Judah's emblem was a lion, Zebulun's a ship, Issachar's an ass, &c.

Thy staff.--The staff in ancient times was elaborately adorned. Herodotus (i. 195) describes the staves carried by the Babylonians, as having on them carvings of fruit, or of some flower or bird; and Homer perpetually makes mention of the "sceptres," that is, walking-sticks, of the kings, as carved so magnificently as to be worthy of being ascribed to Hephaestus, and handed down as emblems of authority from father to son. (See Iliad, ii. 101-107.) It is from these staves that the sceptres of kings, and the batons of field-marshals, &c, are derived.

Verse 18. - And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, - the chotham, or signet, was either worn on the finger, δακτυλίον (LXX.) or suspended round the neck by a pithil, or silk string. Its impression was a sign of property and a means of security (cf. Matthew 27:66; John 3:33; Ephesians 1:13, etc.). Among the ancient Babylonians it was customary for every one to wear such a ring (Herod., 1:195); and modern Arabians in towns wear a seal-ring on the finger, or fastened by a cord round the neck, the impression of which serves as a signature (Robinson, 1:52). The seals and signets that have been brought to light by the excavations in Assyria and Babylon (Layard, 'Nin. and Bab.,' 152-159, 602-608) are of various forms and materials. They show the art of engraving to have been of great antiquity; but whether Judah's signet was marked with alphabetical characters cannot be determined, though it may have been, since alphabetical writing was as old at least as the time of Abraham (vide Keil, 'Introd.,' Part I. sect. 1. Genesis 1. § 4) - and thy bracelets (rather, thy chain, pithil, ut supra), and thy staff (the mateh, or rod, was so called from the idea of stretching out, the root being natah, to stretch out or extend) that is in thine hand. This too every Baby-Ionian carried (Herod., 1:195). "It was necessarily adorned with some device carved upon it, and consisting in a flower or a fruit, a bird, or some other animal" (Kalisch). And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“What
מָ֣ה (māh)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

pledge
הָֽעֵרָבוֹן֮ (hā·‘ê·rā·ḇō·wn)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6162: A pledge

should I give you?”
אֶתֶּן־ (’et·ten-)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

he asked.
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

She answered,
וַתֹּ֗אמֶר (wat·tō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Your seal
חֹתָֽמְךָ֙ (ḥō·ṯā·mə·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 2368: A seal, signet ring

and your cord,
וּפְתִילֶ֔ךָ (ū·p̄ə·ṯî·le·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6616: Cord, thread

and the staff
וּמַטְּךָ֖ (ū·maṭ·ṭə·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 4294: A staff, rod, shaft, branch, a tribe

in your hand.”
בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ (bə·yā·ḏe·ḵā)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

So he gave
וַיִּתֶּן־ (way·yit·ten-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

them to her
לָּ֛הּ (lāh)
Preposition | third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew

and slept with
וַיָּבֹ֥א (way·yā·ḇō)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

her,
אֵלֶ֖יהָ (’ê·le·hā)
Preposition | third person feminine singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

and she became pregnant
וַתַּ֥הַר (wat·ta·har)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 2029: To conceive, become pregnant

by him.
לֽוֹ׃ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew


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OT Law: Genesis 38:18 He said What pledge will I give (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 38:17
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