Hirah

Biblical Record

Hirah appears only in Genesis 38. He is named in just two verses, Genesis 38:1 and 38:12. In 38:20-23 he is referred to without his name as "his friend the Adullamite," and the context indicates that this is the same person. Adullam was a town in the lowland (the Shephelah) of Judah. Joshua 15:35 lists it among the towns of the tribe of Judah, and the cave where David later hid (1 Samuel 22:1) is also associated with this place name.

• Meeting with Judah: Judah went down from his brothers and turned in to Hirah the Adullamite (38:1). There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite named Shuah and took her as his wife (38:2).
• Journey to Timnath: After the death of Judah's wife, Judah went up with his friend Hirah to his sheepshearers at Timnath (38:12). On the way, his daughter-in-law Tamar, having covered her face, met Judah.
• The errand with the young goat: Judah promised the woman a young goat and left his signet, bracelets, and staff with her as a pledge. Afterward he sent the young goat by Hirah in order to recover the pledge (38:20). Hirah asked the people of the place where the woman was, but he could not find her and returned to report this. Judah gave up the pledge, saying, "Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed" (38:21-23).

The text says nothing about Hirah's family, his faith, or his later life.

Significance Within the Bible

Hirah's presence illustrates the circumstances under which Judah left his brothers and came to live among the people of Canaan. Genesis 38 is inserted into the middle of the Joseph narrative. In this chapter Hirah appears as a supporting character who observes Judah's conduct at close range and carries out an errand for him. The New Testament does not mention Hirah. However, Tamar and her son Pharez from this chapter appear in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:3.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Ethnic origin: Hirah is often described as a Canaanite, but the text calls him only "the Adullamite." The view that he was a Canaanite is an inference drawn from the circumstances.
• Assessment of the friendship: Interpreters differ on the statement that Judah "went down" to Hirah. Some read it as depicting Judah's drift away from the covenant family, while others regard it simply as a record of relocation. The claim that Hirah was a bad influence on Judah is an interpretation that the text does not directly support.
• The words used for the woman: In the Hebrew text, the narrator uses the word zonah (harlot) in verse 15, whereas Hirah, in verse 21, asks about the woman using a different word, qedeshah. This distinction is not readily apparent in Korean translations. A long-standing interpretation takes qedeshah to refer to a woman associated with Canaanite religion, but scholars disagree about its precise meaning.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school lessons devoted solely to Hirah are relatively rare. He is usually mentioned only briefly, as Judah's friend, in sermons on the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38.