Er (Biblical name)
Encyclopedia
In the Biblical
Book of Genesis, Er ( "awake; roused"; ) was the eldest son of Judah
, and is described as marrying Tamar; According to the text, Yahweh
killed Er because he was wicked, although it doesn't give any further details. In Hebrew 'Er' spelled backwards spells 'evil.' According to Rashi
and other rabbis, he, like Onan, purposely tried to keep Tamar from conceiving, in his case because he was afraid of spoiling her beauty. In the text, Er is portrayed as the brother of Onan
and Shelah; the Book of Chronicles lists an Er as being one of Shelah's sons.
According to biblical scholars
, the description of Er is an eponym
ous aetiological myth concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the tribe of Judah
, with the abrupt death of Er reflecting the dying out of a clan; the presence of an Er as a descendant of Shelah, in the Book of Chronicles, suggests that Er was in reality the name of a clan that was originally equal in status to the Shelah clan, but was later subsumed by it. The brother - Onan - may represent an Edom
ite clan named Onam, who are mentioned in an Edomite genealogy in Genesis.
Scholars have argued that the Tamar narrative, of which the description of Er is a part, secondarily aims to either assert the institution of levirate marriage
, or present an aetiological myth for its origin; Er's role in the narrative would thus be as the background to the main plot, his death being the reason for levirite marriage to become an issue. Emerton
regards the evidence for this as inconclusive, though classical rabbinical writers argued that this narrative concerns the origin of levirate marriage.
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
Book of Genesis, Er ( "awake; roused"; ) was the eldest son of Judah
Judah (Biblical figure)
Judah was, according to the Book of Genesis, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Judah. Biblical scholars, such as J. A...
, and is described as marrying Tamar; According to the text, Yahweh
Yahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
killed Er because he was wicked, although it doesn't give any further details. In Hebrew 'Er' spelled backwards spells 'evil.' According to Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
and other rabbis, he, like Onan, purposely tried to keep Tamar from conceiving, in his case because he was afraid of spoiling her beauty. In the text, Er is portrayed as the brother of Onan
Onan
Onan is a minor biblical person in the Book of Genesis , who was the second son of Judah. Just like his older brother, Er, Onan died prematurely by YHWH's will for being wicked....
and Shelah; the Book of Chronicles lists an Er as being one of Shelah's sons.
According to biblical scholars
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of Biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work...
, the description of Er is an eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous aetiological myth concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the tribe of Judah
Tribe of Judah
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
, with the abrupt death of Er reflecting the dying out of a clan; the presence of an Er as a descendant of Shelah, in the Book of Chronicles, suggests that Er was in reality the name of a clan that was originally equal in status to the Shelah clan, but was later subsumed by it. The brother - Onan - may represent an Edom
Edom
Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...
ite clan named Onam, who are mentioned in an Edomite genealogy in Genesis.
Scholars have argued that the Tamar narrative, of which the description of Er is a part, secondarily aims to either assert the institution of levirate marriage
Levirate marriage
Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obligated to marry his brother's widow, and the widow is obligated to marry her deceased husband's brother....
, or present an aetiological myth for its origin; Er's role in the narrative would thus be as the background to the main plot, his death being the reason for levirite marriage to become an issue. Emerton
Regius Professor of Hebrew
The Regius Professorship of Hebrew, founded by Henry VIII, is a professorship at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities.- List of Regius Professors of Hebrew at Cambridge :...
regards the evidence for this as inconclusive, though classical rabbinical writers argued that this narrative concerns the origin of levirate marriage.