According to the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
, Shelah/Shela () was the youngest brother among
Judah's first three sons, and was born at
Chezib.
Biblical narrative
In the text, God had killed Shelah's two older brothers,
Er and
Onan. Judah was unwilling to allow
Tamar, who had been successively Er's and Onan's wife, to be married to Shelah. Judah's concern was that Tamar might be
curse
A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particula ...
d and Shelah might die if married to her. So Judah told her to wait until Shelah had grown up. When Shelah came of age, Judah neglected to marry him to Tamar. In the
Book of Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third se ...
, ''Shelah'' is identified as the name of a clan, containing a subclan named ''Er.''
The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were:
#Er, the father of Lecah
#Laadah, the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of the linen workers of the house of Ashbea
#Jokim, the men of Chozeba
#Joash
#Saraph, who ruled in Moab
#Jashubi-Lehem
"These were the potters and those who dwell at Netaim and Gederah; there they dwelt with the king for his work."
According to
biblical scholars
Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 For ...
, the description of ''Shelah'' is an
eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
ous
aetiological myth concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the
tribe of Judah
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was the first tribe to take its place in the Land of Israel, occupying the southern ...
, with ''Shelah'' representing the newest clan to become part of the tribe.
[J. A. Emerton, ''Judah And Tamar''] The Book of Chronicles' description of ''Er'' as a descendant of Shelah, 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.
Scholars have argued that the Tamar narrative, of which the description of Shelah is a part, secondarily aims to either assert the institution of
levirate marriage
Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obliged to marry his brother's widow. Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage (i.e. marriage ou ...
, or present an aetiological myth for its origin;
Shelah's role in the narrative would thus be as the example of a brother refusing to perform levirate marriage.
regards the evidence for this as inconclusive, though
classical rabbinical writers argued that this narrative concerns the origin of levirate marriage.
['']Genesis Rabbah
Genesis Rabbah (Hebrew: , ''B'reshith Rabba'') is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical inter ...
'' 85:6
Family Tree
Notes and citations
{{reflist
Book of Genesis people
Tribe of Judah