Genesis 38:14
וַתָּסַר בִּגְדֵי אַלְמְנוּתָהּ מֵֽעָלֶיהָ וַתְּכַס בַּצָּעִיף וַתִּתְעַלָּף וַתֵּשֶׁב בְּפֶתַח עֵינַיִם אֲשֶׁר עַל־דֶּרֶךְ תִּמְנָתָה כִּי רָאֲתָה כִּֽי־גָדַל שֵׁלָה וְהִוא לֹֽא־נִתְּנָה לוֹ לְאִשָּֽׁה׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַתָּסַר֩ בִּגְדֵ֨י אַלְמְנוּתָ֜הּ מֵֽעָלֶ֗יהָ וַתְּכַ֤ס בַּצָּעִיף֙ וַתִּתְעַלָּ֔ף וַתֵּ֙שֶׁב֙ בְּפֶ֣תַח עֵינַ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־דֶּ֣רֶךְ תִּמְנָ֑תָה כִּ֤י רָאֲתָה֙ כִּֽי־גָדַ֣ל שֵׁלָ֔ה וְהִ֕וא לֹֽא־נִתְּנָ֥ה ל֖וֹ לְאִשָּֽׁה׃
κα ὶ περιελομένη τὰ ἱμάτια τῆς χηρεύσεως ἀφ’ ἑαυτῆς περιεβάλετο θερίστρῳ καὶ ἐκαλλωπίσατο, καὶ ἐκάθισεν πρὸς ταῖς πύλαις Αἰνάν, ἥ ἐστιν ἐν παρόδῳ Θαμνά. ἴδεν γὰρ ὅτι μέγας γέγονεν Σηλὼμ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ, αὐτὸς δὲ οὐκ ἒδωκεν αὐτὴν αὐτῷ γυναῖκα.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Quæ, depositis viduitatis vestibus, assumpsit theristrum: et mutato habitu, sedit in bivio itineris, quod ducit Thamnam: eo quod crevisset Sela, et non eum accepisset maritum.
Como ella había visto que Selá ya había crecido y, sin embargo, no se la habían dado por esposa, se quitó la ropa de viuda, se cubrió el rostro con un velo para que no la reconocieran, y se sentó a la entrada de Enaim, en el camino que va hacia Timnat.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Entonces quitó ella de sobre sí los vestidos de su viudez, y cubrióse con un velo, y arrebozóse, y se puso á la puerta de las aguas que están junto al camino de Timnath; porque veía que había crecido Sela, y ella no era dada á él por mujer.
she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Tamar removes her widow's garments, covers herself with a veil, and sits at the entrance of Enaim, on the road to Timnah. The verse explains her motive: she had seen that Shelah had grown up and she had not been given to him as a wife.
Key words
- ta.Sar ("she removed", H5493G) — hiphil narrative form, causative in stem though the action is her own removal of clothing; opens the sequence of actions.
- 'al.me.nu.Ta ("widowhood", H0491) — feminine singular noun in construct with big.Dei ("clothes of", H0899B), forming the phrase "clothes of her widowhood."
- tit.'a.Laf ("she wrapped herself up", H5968) — hithpael (reflexive) stem, marking an action she performs upon/for herself, distinct from the piel te.Khas ("she covered", H3680) just before it.
- ra.'a.Tah ("she had seen", H7200G) — qal perfect, a completed action prior to the main narrative sequence, introduced by ki ("for/that", H3588A), giving the causal reason for her disguise.
- ni.te.Nah ("she had been given", H5414O) — niphal (passive) perfect, marking Tamar as the passive recipient of an action not performed by her — she "had not been given" to Shelah.
What the text says
The verse is built on a chain of four narrative verbs marked by the va ("and", H9001) prefix: ta.Sar ("she removed"), te.Khas ("she covered"), tit.'a.Laf ("she wrapped herself up"), and Te.shev ("she sat"). This chain presents four sequential, discrete actions rather than a single continuous gesture. The shift in verbal stems is notable: te.Khas is piel (intensive/resultative — "she covered [with]"), while tit.'a.Laf is hithpael (reflexive — "she wrapped/disguised herself"), suggesting two distinct acts: applying the veil, then arranging herself with it.
The location is given through a construct chain: Fe.tach ("entrance of", H6607) + 'ei.Na.yim ("Enaim", H5879G), further specified by a relative clause using 'a.Sher ("which", H0834A) that places Enaim on the De.rekh ("road of", H1870K) Tim.Na.ta ("Timnah", H8553G), with the directional he suffix (H9011) indicating movement "toward" Timnah.
The final clause supplies the rationale, introduced twice by ki (H3588A, "for.../that..."): first governing ra.'a.Tah ("she had seen", qal perfect, H7200G), then a subordinate ki clause with ga.Dal ("he had grown up", qal perfect, H1431). The sentence closes with the niphal ni.te.Nah ("she had been given", H5414O), which grammatically casts Tamar as the passive object of a decision — she "had not been given" to Shelah as a wife — rather than an agent in that outcome.
Differences between versions
The LXX adds ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ("his son") after "Shelah," a clarifying phrase not present in the Hebrew text. The LXX also renders tit.'a.Laf with ἐκαλλωπίσατο ("she adorned herself"), while the Vulgate's "mutato habitu" ("having changed her attire") and BSB's "to disguise herself" reflect different interpretive nuances of this reflexive verb, whose precise sense the Hebrew root leaves somewhat ambiguous.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.