to his widowed sister-in-law to father a child by her??
GE 38:9
2007-10-07 14:00:50 · 6 answers · asked by Page 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Just wondering ....
2007-10-07 14:01:10 · update #1
Must a been a really funny guy that only had so much seed to go around. Meanwhile, our testes say "spill all you want, we'll make more!"
A-course, in a ag-ri-cultural culture there'd be this thing about spilling actual plantin' seed since that would be a waste and since spillin' in would cause it to grow in unplanned places. So maybe the nitwits that think it's about masturbation got it wrong and what it really means is he fooled around and fathered some kids folks didn't want him fathering. Kinda like if some kid screwed around at 13 these days and got someone knocked up or got knocked up. Bad family plannin' an whatnot.
2007-10-07 14:05:18 · answer #1 · answered by urukorcs 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Selfishness/greed. He wanted only his son to inherit his wealth.
The ancient Israelites regarded as very important their law of levirate, or "brother-in-law" marriage; see Deut 25:5; Ruth 2:20. In the present story, it is primarily Onan's violation of this law, rather than the means he used to circumvent it, that brought on him God's displeasure (Genesis 38:9-10).
2007-10-07 14:09:51 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
ONAN
(O′nan) [from a root meaning “generative power; dynamic energy”].
A son of Judah, his second by the Canaanite daughter of Shua. (Ge 38:2-4; 1Ch 2:3) After Onan’s childless older brother Er was put to death by Jehovah for wrongdoing, Onan was told by Judah to perform brother-in-law marriage with Er’s widow Tamar. If a son was produced, he would not be the founder of Onan’s family, and the firstborn’s inheritance would belong to him as an heir to Er; whereas if no heir came, Onan would get the inheritance for himself. When Onan had relations with Tamar, he “wasted his semen on the earth” instead of giving it to her. This was not an act of masturbation on the part of Onan, for the account says “when he did have relations with his brother’s wife” he spilled his semen. Apparently it was a case of “coitus interruptus,” in which Onan purposely prevented ejaculation of his semen into Tamar’s genital tract. For his disobedience to his father, his covetousness, and his sin against the divine arrangement of marriage, not for self-abuse, Onan, himself also childless, was put to death by Jehovah.—Ge 38:6-10; 46:12; Nu 26:19.
2007-10-07 14:40:45 · answer #3 · answered by pugjw9896 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It was probably pride.
Under the Jewish Law, that child would not have been his, but his brothers. The child would carry on Onan's brother's name, not the name of Onan. I presume that this made Onan irate, and so he broke the law.
Just a speculation..
2007-10-07 14:06:18 · answer #4 · answered by soulinverse 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Because he was a moral guy, and didn't want to rape his dead brother's wife.
So God killed him.
2007-10-07 14:09:54 · answer #5 · answered by raleigh_jazz_fan 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Pre-mature ejaculation. He must have saw your pretty face.
2007-10-07 14:04:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋