Onan

Onan (Hebrew: אונן, ʼŌnān; "Name means::strong") (Born::Abib 2267 AM—Died::Tammuz 2281 AM) was the second-born son of Judah by an unknown Canaanitish woman.

Genealogy

grandson of::Jacob

grandson of::Leah

son of::Judah

Unknown

brother of::Er

husband of::Tamar

Onan

Shelah

Narrative

Onan's older brother Er had married Tamar, behaved wickedly, and died at the hand of God. So Judah ordered Onan to marry Tamar and engender a son, to satisfy the levirate obligation to her. Onan did not want to do this, so he practiced a form of contraception that involved withdrawing from the woman to prevent fertilization. For this God put him to death as well. (Genesis 38:8-10 )

Onan's wicked act was an act of fraud against his wife, and demonstrates one evil of self-gratification: the disconnection of the sexual act from its intended purpose, hence an interruption of the divinely-ordained order.

References

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