Er (son of Judah)

Biblical Account

Er was the firstborn son of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, by the daughter of Shuah, a Canaanite (Genesis 38:2-3). His younger brothers were Onan and Shelah. Judah took a woman named Tamar as a wife for his firstborn, Er (Genesis 38:6).

Genesis then states briefly, "And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him" (Genesis 38:7). Because Er died childless, Judah told his second son, Onan, to marry his brother's widow and raise up offspring for his brother. This custom is known as levirate marriage, an institution under which, when a man died without children, his brother married the widow so that descendants would be raised up in the deceased brother's name. The rest of the narrative centers on Onan and Tamar.

Er's death is mentioned again in the genealogies of Judah's descendants. Genesis 46:12 and Numbers 26:19 record that "Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan," and 1 Chronicles 2:3 records his death in words nearly identical to those of Genesis 38:7.

Significance Within Scripture

Er's story opens Genesis 38, a chapter set in the middle of the Joseph narrative (Genesis 37-50). The death of the firstborn without offspring threatens to cut off Judah's line, a crisis that ultimately leads to the birth of Perez and Zerah (KJV: Pharez and Zarah) through Tamar (Genesis 38:29-30). The line of Perez continues to David (Ruth 4:18-22), and Judah, Tamar, and Perez all appear in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:3.

The New Testament does not mention Er directly. A man with the same Greek name appears in the genealogy in Luke 3, but he is a different person from the son of Judah. The "Er" of 1 Chronicles 4:21, a son of Shelah, is likewise a different man of the same name.

Interpretation and Issues

• Er's sin: The text does not say what Er did wrong. Christian commentators generally go no further than stating that the specific nature of his sin is unknown. Some rabbinic writings reportedly preserve a tradition that Er, like Onan, avoided fathering children. This, however, is a later explanation not found in the biblical text.
• The statement that God himself slew him: This statement is generally read as a record demonstrating God's judgment and justice. No marked denominational differences in interpretation are known.
• Name: When the consonants of the Hebrew name Er are reversed, they form the word meaning "evil." Some scholars have suggested that this may be a deliberate wordplay in the text. However, explanations that interpret the name as meaning "watchful one" or the like are not settled.