Genesis 38:18
וַיֹּאמֶר מָה הָֽעֵרָבוֹן אֲשֶׁר אֶתֶּן־לָּךְ וַתֹּאמֶר חֹתָֽמְךָ וּפְתִילֶךָ וּמַטְּךָ אֲשֶׁר בְּיָדֶךָ וַיִּתֶּן־לָּהּ וַיָּבֹא אֵלֶיהָ וַתַּהַר לֽוֹ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר מָ֣ה הָֽעֵרָבוֹן֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶתֶּן־לָּךְ֒ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר חֹתָֽמְךָ֙ וּפְתִילֶ֔ךָ וּמַטְּךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ וַיִּתֶּן־לָּ֛הּ וַיָּבֹ֥א אֵלֶ֖יהָ וַתַּ֥הַר לֽוֹ׃
ὁ δὲ εἶπεν τίνα τὸν ἀρραβῶνά σοι δώσω ; ἠ’ δὲ εἶπεν τὸν δακτύλιόν σου καὶ τὸν ὁρμίσκον καὶ τὴν ῥάβδον τὴν ἐν τῇ χειρί σου. καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῇ, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν πρὸς αὐτήν· καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔλαβεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Ait Judas: Quid tibi vis pro arrhabone dari? Respondit: Annulum tuum, et armillam, et baculum quem manu tenes. Ad unum igitur coitum mulier concepit,
“¿Qué prenda quieres que te dé?”, le preguntó Judá. “Tu sello, tu cordón y el bastón que llevas en la mano”, respondió ella. Él se los entregó y se acostó con ella, y ella quedó embarazada de él.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Entonces él dijo: ¿ Qué prenda te daré? Ella respondió: Tu anillo, y tu manto, y tu bordón que tienes en tu mano. Y él se los dió, y entró á ella, la cual concibió de él.
“ What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “ Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Judah asks Tamar what pledge ('eravon, H6162) he should give her, and she requests his seal, cord, and staff. He hands them over, has intercourse with her, and she conceives.
Key words
- 'eravon ("pledge", H6162) — a masculine singular noun with definite article (ha, H9009), the object of Judah's question about what surety to leave.
- choтame- ("seal", H2368) — masculine singular noun in construct form ("seal of..."), the first item Tamar names, bound to the following possessive suffix -kha ("your", H9021).
- petile- ("cord", H6616) — masculine singular construct noun, paired with choтame- by the conjunction u- (H9002), naming the second pledge item.
- matte- ("staff", H4294G) — masculine singular construct noun, the third item, again joined by u- and modified by the relative clause 'asher be-yade-kha ("which is in your hand").
- tahar ("she conceived", H2029) — qal narrative verb, third-person feminine, marking the immediate narrative consequence of the preceding actions, with the final lo ("to/for him", H9033) indicating the paternity.
What the text says
The verse is built as a rapid chain of narrative-vav clauses (va-yomer, va-tomer, va-yiten, va-yavo, va-tahar), each introduced by the narrative vav (H9001) that strings the actions in sequence: he said, she said, he gave, he came, she conceived. This chain structure gives the verse a fast, list-like pace typical of Biblical Hebrew narrative, moving through dialogue and action without additional connective elaboration.
Tamar's answer consists of three nouns in construct state — choтame-kha ("your seal"), u-fetile-kha ("and your cord"), u-matte-kha ("and your staff") — each bearing the second-person masculine singular suffix -kha (H9021), directly binding the items to Judah as owner. The third item, matte- ("staff"), is further specified by the relative clause 'asher be-yade-kha ("which is in your hand"), using the relative particle 'asher (H0834A) and the preposition be- ("in", H9003) with yade-kha ("your hand"). This clause narrows down which staff is meant — the one he is currently holding — rather than staffs in general.
The final clause, va-tahar lo ("and she conceived to/for him"), uses the preposition le- with the third-person masculine suffix -o (H9033) to indicate that the conception was specifically from him, completing the sequence initiated by the pledge exchange.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew names three items: choтame- ("seal"), petile- ("cord"), and matte- ("staff"). The LXX renders the second item as ὁρμίσκον ("necklace/chain"), differing from "cord," and translates matte- as ῥάβδον ("rod/staff"), close to the Hebrew. The Vulgate renders the second item as armillam ("bracelet"), also diverging from "cord," while keeping annulum ("ring") for the seal and baculum ("staff") for the third item.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.