Kejadian 43:34

43:34 He gave them portions of the food set before him, ¹  but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk. ² 

Kejadian 38:9

38:9 But Onan knew that the child ³  would not be considered his. ⁴  So whenever ⁵  he had sexual relations with ⁶  his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely ⁷  so as not to give his brother a descendant.

[43:34]  ¹ tn Heb “and he lifted up portions from before his face to them.”

[43:34]  ² tn Heb “and they drank and were intoxicated with him” (cf. NIV “drank freely with him”; NEB “grew merry”; NRSV “were merry”). The brothers were apparently relaxed and set at ease, despite Joseph’s obvious favoritism toward Benjamin.

[38:9]  ³ tn Heb “offspring.”

[38:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “would not be his,” that is, legally speaking. Under the levirate system the child would be legally considered the child of his deceased brother.

[38:9]  ⁵ tn The construction shows that this was a repeated practice and not merely one action.

[38:9]  sn The text makes it clear that the purpose of the custom was to produce an heir for the deceased brother. Onan had no intention of doing that. But he would have sex with the girl as much as he wished. He was willing to use the law to gratify his desires, but was not willing to do the responsible thing.

[38:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “he went to.” This expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[38:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “he spoiled [his semen] to the ground.” Onan withdrew prematurely and ejaculated on the ground to prevent his brother’s widow from becoming pregnant.