Why this story matters

(commentary on Genesis 38)

(Page 3 of 4)

A more up to date view of masturbation

Thankfully, modern science has demonstrated that such religiously inspired assumptions about the harm caused by masturbation are nonsense. However, there remains a question of whether or not masturbation is a sin and this is still a hot issue amongst conservative Christians. Even a cursory Internet search will produce sermons by many pastors condemning the practice. So how do pastors claim masturbation is sinful in light of current medical knowledge? Well, in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is quoted as saying if you so much as think impure thoughts about a woman you're not married to you have committed adultery (Matthew 5:28). In fact, Jesus considered this to be so serious that he advised his followers to pluck their own eyes out if they could not control their thoughts: "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away" (Matthew 5:29).  So, for those opposed to masturbation today, the thought process goes like this. When people masturbate, they often use mental images to heighten the excitement. And if you're thinking of someone you're not married to, this would be considered adultery.

But Onan wasn't committing adultery so he can't have been killed for that. And if masturbation doesn't have all the deleterious effects on the body that moral zealots imagined, why would Yahweh kill Onan for masturbating? Even most Christians today would find this extremely harsh. Therefore, many pastors take the view that Onan wasn't punished for masturbating at all. In fact, many modern pastors acknowledge that masturbation is natural and that having sexual fantasies is normal and healthy. Some even adopt the view that masturbation can have positive effects in that it can curb the sexual desires of unmarried people, thereby preventing them from having sex outside of marriage.

But if Onan wasn't killed because he masturbated, why was he killed? We're now left with two options: practicing birth control, or failing to fulfill a cultural obligation. We'll deal with the issue of the cultural obligation first.

The sin of breaking the levirate law

Some analysts suggest that Onan was killed because he broke a solemn law. This is the so called levirate law (levirate means literally a husband's brother). Under this law, if a man died without giving his wife children, the principle measure of worth for a woman of that time, his next eldest brother was obligated to provide the service. Not only did Onan break this law, he did it purely out of economic self interest. Normally the eldest son received two portions of his father's inheritance and the others one each. When Er died, that meant Onan would now get the first two portions. However, if Tamar had a son by Onan, this son would also get a portion, leaving Onan with less. Therefore, Onan was being selfish. But there are problems with this view.

First, this had not actually been written into law yet. Admittedly there was a cultural imperative, but a law was not broken. Second, when the practice was eventually codified into law, part of the law allowed for refusal without serious penalty:

“If he persists in saying, "I do not want to marry her," his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, "This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's family line." That man's line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled (Deuteronomy 25: 8-10).”

Being labeled "unsandaled" may be offensive in that culture, but there is clearly no death penalty. If there was no death penalty attached to this when the law was finally written down, it's unlikely it carried the death penalty earlier.

The second problem involves Judah and Shelah. Judah should have given his third son, Shelah, to Tamar. He refused for selfish reasons. He was afraid of losing his only remaining son. However, neither Judah nor Shelah was punished at all for leaving Tamar without children. Why would Yahweh kill Onan, but allow Judah or Shelah to get off scot-free? Therefore,  it's hard to argue that this was the main sin. That leaves us with birth control. Let's turn to that now.

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