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'''Onan'''{{efn|{{Hebrew Name|אוֹנָן|ʾŌnan|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{langx|grc|Αὐνάν|Aunan}}.}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|38|HE|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)|Shelah]] as well. | '''Onan'''{{efn|{{Hebrew Name|אוֹנָן|ʾŌnan|ʾŌnān}} "Mourner"; {{langx|grc|Αὐνάν|Aunan}}.}} was a figure detailed in the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 38,<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|38|HE|Chapter 38}}</ref> as the second son of [[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]] who married the daughter of [[Shuah]] the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother [[Er (biblical person)|Er]] and a younger brother, [[Shelah (son of Judah)|Shelah]] as well. | ||
Onan was commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with Er's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)|Tamar]]. Onan refused to perform his duty as a levirate and instead "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1997 |isbn=978-0393316704 |edition=First |pages=218 |quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book | Onan was commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of [[levirate marriage]] with Er's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)|Tamar]]. Onan refused to perform his duty as a levirate and instead "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by [[Yahweh]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1997 |isbn=978-0393316704 |edition=First |pages=218 |quote=And Er his firstborn was evil in the eyes of the LORD. The nature of his moral failing remains unspecified, but given the insistent pattern of reversal of primogeniture in all these stories, it seems almost sufficient merely to be firstborn in order to incur God's displeasure: though the firstborn is not necessarily evil, he usually turns out to be obtuse, rash, wild, or otherwise disqualified from carrying on the heritage. It is noteworthy that Judah, who invented the lie that triggered his own father's mourning for a dead son, is bereaved of two sons in rapid sequence. In contrast to Jacob's extravagant grief, nothing is said about Judah's emotional response to the losses}}</ref> This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |editor-first1=David Noel|editor-last1=Freedman |isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 |location=New Haven, Conn. |oclc=237189110 |quote=The second son of Judah and Shua, a Canaanite woman (Gen 38:2–4). He was the brother of Er and Shelah. In the genealogical list of Judah‘s descendants, Onan is mentioned as the daughter of Bath-shua (1 Chr 2:3). Judah had arranged a marriage between his firstborn, Er, and a woman named Tamar. Er, however, died an early death, which was attributed to an act of Yahweh because of Er‘s unmentioned wickedness (Gen 36:7).}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=ONAN - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11708-onan |access-date=2022-06-20 |website=jewishencyclopedia.com |quote=A son of Judah; he refused to enter into a levirate marriage with his sister-in-law after the death of his elder brother Er, and it was for this reason that the Lord "slew him also" (Gen. xxxviii. 7-10).}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted as being [[masturbation]], but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing [[coitus interruptus]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Patton |first=Michael S. |date=1986 |title=Twentieth-Century Attitudes Toward Masturbation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27505893 |journal=Journal of Religion and Health |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=291–302 |doi=10.1007/BF01534067 |jstor=27505893 |pmid=24301692 |s2cid=2994906 |issn=0022-4197 |quote=The story of Onan in Genesis 38:7-10 has been the basis of the condemnation of masturbation by Jewish and Christian theologians. Biblical scholars universally agree that the Onan story is a gross misconception of masturbation, since Onan's sexual activity was not masturbation but coitus interruptus.|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last1=Carr |first1=David M. |title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha |date=2018 |editor-first1=Michael David|editor-last1=Coogan|editor-first2=Marc Zvi|editor-last2=Brettler|editor-first3=Carol A.|editor-last3=Newsom|editor-first4=Pheme|editor-last4=Perkins |isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 |edition=Fully revised fifth |location=New York, New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |oclc=1006596851 |quote=Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to perform this duty of impregnating Er's widow, Tamar, probably by coitus interruptus (rather than "onanism," masturbation).|page=65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UnpVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65}}</ref> | ||
==Biblical account== | ==Biblical account== | ||
After [[Yahweh]] slew Onan's oldest brother [[Er (biblical person)|Er]], Onan's father [[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]] told him to fulfill his duty<ref>{{Cite book | After [[Yahweh]] slew Onan's oldest brother [[Er (biblical person)|Er]], Onan's father [[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]] told him to fulfill his duty<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Jewish Study Bible |date=2014 |editor-first=Adele |editor-last=Berlin|editor-first2=Marc Zvi |editor-last2=Brettler|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 |edition=Second |location=Oxford |oclc=892869165 |quote=The duty in question, known in English as "levirate marriage" is spelled out in Deut. 25.5-10. If a man dies childless, his brother is obligated to marry his widow, and her first son is reckoned as the offspring of the deceased. In Deuteronomy, the surviving brother can decline and undergo a procedure that the Rabbis named "halitzah," but Gen. ch 38 presupposes a stage in the history of the law in which "haliztah" is still unknown.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Victor P. |title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 |date=1995 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co |isbn=0-8028-2309-2 |location=Grand Rapids, Mich. |oclc=31604392 |quote=Onan's responsibility is to fulfill his part in what is known as levirate marriage. He is to levirate, or perform the duty of a brother-in-law to (weyabbēm), Tamar. Later biblical law spells out the particulars of the levirate in Deut. 25:5-10, in which the root ybm (cf. yāḇām, "brother-in-law") appears six times (twice as a verb, vv. 5, 7; four times as a noun, vv. 5, 7 [twice], 9). These six occurrences of ybm account for all but two uses of the root in the OT (here and Ruth 1:15). The law states that if brothers live together, and if one of them is married but dies without children, one of the surviving brothers is to marry or take her as wife and father a child with her. The child born of this levirate relationship (levir is Latin for "brother-in-law") carries on the name of his deceased father and eventually inherits the family estate. Here Judah is clever enough to mention only producing a child for the brother. For obvious reasons he says nothing about the inheritance this child will one day receive.}}</ref> as a brother-in-law by entering into a [[levirate marriage]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=LEVIRATE MARRIAGE - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15085-yibbum |access-date=2022-06-20 |website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1997 |isbn=978-0393316704 |edition=1st |pages=218 |quote=8. do your duty as brother-in-law. In the Hebrew, this is a single verb, yabem, referring to the so-called levirate marriage. The legal obligation of yibum, which was a widespread practice in the ancient Near East, was incurred when a man died leaving his wife childless. His closest brother in order of birth was obliged to become his proxy, "raising up seed" for him by impregnating his widow. The dead brother would thus be provided a kind of biological continuity, and the widow would be able to produce progeny, which was a woman's chief avenue of fulfillment in this culture.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |editor-first1=David Noel|editor-last1=Freedman |isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 |location=New Haven, Conn. |oclc=237189110 |quote=The purpose of levirate marriage is expressed by Deut 25:6: ―that his name [the name of the dead brother] may not be blotted out of Israel.‖ Thus, in order to comply with the intent of the tradition, Judah commanded Onan to take the wife of his deceased brother in order to raise an offspring for his brother (Gen 38:8). Onan was not required to actually marry Tamar, for in levirate marriage the widow only had the right to a son to preserve her husband‘s name}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Collins |first=John J. |title=Introduction to the Hebrew Bible |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-5064-4605-9 |edition=Third |publisher=Fortress Press| location=Minneapolis |oclc=1031462523 |quote=The story begins with Judah's marriage to a Canaanite woman. This is not condemned in the text, but it goes against the practice of the patriarchs hitherto. When their son Er dies, his brother Onan is expected to "go in" to his widow, Tamar, to raise up offspring for him. (This is known as the levirate law. It is spelled out in Deut 25:5-10.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Oxford Bible commentary |date=2001 |editor-first=John |editor-last=Barton|editor-first2=John |editor-last2=Muddiman |isbn=0-19-875500-7 |location=Oxford |oclc=45879881 |quote=Tamar's second marriage, to Onan, conforms to the custom of levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5—6).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. |date=2015 |publisher=Abingdon Press |editor=Leander E. Keck |isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 |location=Nashville, Tennessee |oclc=892041536 |quote=Judah then directs his second son, Onan, to "perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her" (though marriage is not mentioned, consummation probably entails it; cf. v. 14)—namely, to raise up an heir to carry on the name and inheritance of the deceased brother (cf. Deut 25:5-10; Ruth 4).}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=The new Oxford annotated Bible : New Revised Standard version with the Apocrypha |date=2018 |editor-first=Michael David |editor-last=Coogan|editor-first2=Marc Zvi |editor-last2=Brettler|editor-first3=Carol A. |editor-last3=Newsom|editor-first4=Pheme |editor-last4=Perkins |isbn=978-0-19-027609-6 |edition=Fully revised fifth |location=New York, New York |oclc=1006596851 |quote=According to the ancient custom of levirate marriage (Deut 25.5–10), the duty of a brother-in-law of his brother's childless widow was to impregnate her and thus perpetuate his brother's name and inheritance through his widow's offspring.|page=65}}</ref> with his brother's widow [[Tamar (Genesis)|Tamar]] to give her offspring. Religion professor [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]] has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.<ref name="Frymer">Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/tamar-bible Tamar: Bible]", ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)</ref> | ||
When Onan had sex with Tamar, he withdrew before he ejaculated<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN|0802824005}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book | When Onan had sex with Tamar, he withdrew before he ejaculated<ref>Freedman, Myers & Beck. ''Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible'' ({{ISBN|0802824005}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8028-2400-4}}), 2000, p. 1273</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=The New interpreter's bible commentary. |date=2015 |publisher=Abingdon Press |editor=Leander E. Keck |isbn=978-1-4267-3912-5 |location=Nashville, Tennessee |oclc=892041536 |quote=Onan sabotages the intent of the relationship in order to gain Er's inheritance for himself upon Judah's death—the firstborn would receive a double share. He regularly uses Tamar for sex, but makes sure she does not become pregnant by not letting his semen enter her (coitus interruptus, not masturbation). He thereby formally fulfills his duty, lest the role be passed on to his other brother and he lose Er's inheritance in this way. This willful deception would be observable to Tamar, but God's observation leads to Onan's death (again, by unspecified means).}}</ref> and "spilled his [[semen|seed]] on the ground" thus committing ''[[Coitus interruptus|coitus interuptus]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1997 |isbn=978-0393316704 |edition=1st |pages=218 |quote=he would waste his seed on the ground. Despite the confusion engendered by the English term "onanism" that derives from this text, the activity referred to is almost certainly coitus interruptus—as Rashi vividly puts it, "threshing within, winnowing without."}}</ref> since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.<ref>Dershowitz. ''The Genesis of Justice'' ({{ISBN|0446524794}}, {{ISBN|978-0-446-52479-7}}), 2000, ch. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Alter |first=Robert |title=Genesis: Translation and Commentary |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1997 |isbn=978-0393316704 |edition=1st |pages=218 |quote=9. the seed would not be his. Evidently, Onan is troubled by the role of sexual proxy, which creates a situation in which the child he begets will be legally considered his dead brother's offspring.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Jewish Study Bible |date=2014 |editor-first=Adele |editor-last=Berlin|editor-first2=Marc Zvi |editor-last2=Brettler|isbn=978-0-19-997846-5 |edition=Second |location=Oxford |oclc=892869165 |quote=9:Onan would have to expend his own resources to support a child that is legally someone else's, and the child, as the heir to a first-born son, would displace Onan in the line of inheritance to boot.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Walton |first=John H. |title=Genesis : from biblical text ... to contemporary life |date=2001 |isbn=0-310-20617-0 |location=Grand Rapids, Mich |oclc=46872206 |quote=Onan's refusal is explained by his knowledge that the son will not be his (38:9). We need to recognize, then, that there is a birthright issue here. Er was the firstborn and entitled to the birthright. If he has no offspring, the birthright will transfer to Onan. If, however, Tamar bears a son that is considered Er's, the birthright will pass to that son.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mathews |first=K. A. |title=Genesis |date=1996–2005 |publisher=Broadman & Holman Publishers |isbn=0-8054-0101-6 |location=Nashville, Tenn. |oclc=33207787 |quote=Onan, however, refused to impregnate Tamar, ejaculating on the ground (coitus interruptus) because he did not want to reduce his share of the family inheritance.}}</ref> The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.<ref>{{bibleref|Genesis|38:8-10|HE}}</ref> Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus.''<ref name=":3"/><ref name=":4"/> | ||
However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse<ref>{{Cite web |title=ḤALIẒAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7105-halizah |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).<ref>{{Cite book | However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse<ref>{{Cite web |title=ḤALIẒAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7105-halizah |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |editor-first1=David Noel | editor-last1=Freedman |isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 |location=New Haven, Conn. |oclc=237189110}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> | ||
=== Family tree === | === Family tree === | ||
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{{blockquote|But I wonder why he the heretic [[Jovinianus]] set Judah and Tamar before us for an example, unless perchance even harlots give him pleasure; or Onan, who was slain because he begrudged his brother his seed. Does he imagine that we approve of any sexual intercourse except for the [[procreation]] of children?|Jerome, ''Against Jovinian'' 1:19 (AD 393)}} | {{blockquote|But I wonder why he the heretic [[Jovinianus]] set Judah and Tamar before us for an example, unless perchance even harlots give him pleasure; or Onan, who was slain because he begrudged his brother his seed. Does he imagine that we approve of any sexual intercourse except for the [[procreation]] of children?|Jerome, ''Against Jovinian'' 1:19 (AD 393)}} | ||
[[Epiphanius of Salamis]] wrote against heretics who used ''[[coitus interruptus]]'', calling it the sin of Οnan:<ref>United States Congress Senate Committee on Government Operations Subcommittee on Foreign Aid Expenditures. Population Crisis: Hearings, Eighty-ninth Congress, Second Session. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966, p. 403–404 | [[Epiphanius of Salamis]] wrote against heretics who used ''[[coitus interruptus]]'', calling it the sin of Οnan:<ref>United States Congress Senate Committee on Government Operations Subcommittee on Foreign Aid Expenditures. Population Crisis: Hearings, Eighty-ninth Congress, Second Session. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966, p. 403–404</ref> | ||
{{blockquote|They soil their bodies, minds and souls with unchastity. Some of them masquerade as monastics, and their woman companions as female monastics. And they are physically corrupted because they satisfy their appetite but, to put it politely, by the act of Onan the son of Judah. For as Onan coupled with Tamar and satisfied his appetite but did not complete the act by planting his seed for the God-given [purpose of] procreation and did himself harm instead, thus, as [he] did the vile thing, so these people have used their supposed [female monastics], committing this infamy. For purity is not their concern, but a hypocritical purity in name. Their concern is limited to ensuring that the woman the seeming [ascetic] has seduced does not get pregnant—either so as not to cause child-bearing, or to escape detection, since they want to be honored for their supposed celibacy. In any case, this is what they do, but others endeavor to get this same filthy satisfaction not with women but by other means, and pollute themselves with their own hands. They too imitate the son of Judah, soil the ground with their forbidden practices and drops of filthy fluid and rub their emissions into the earth with their feet|Epiphanius of Salamis, ''Boston'', 2010, p. 131}} | {{blockquote|They soil their bodies, minds and souls with unchastity. Some of them masquerade as monastics, and their woman companions as female monastics. And they are physically corrupted because they satisfy their appetite but, to put it politely, by the act of Onan the son of Judah. For as Onan coupled with Tamar and satisfied his appetite but did not complete the act by planting his seed for the God-given [purpose of] procreation and did himself harm instead, thus, as [he] did the vile thing, so these people have used their supposed [female monastics], committing this infamy. For purity is not their concern, but a hypocritical purity in name. Their concern is limited to ensuring that the woman the seeming [ascetic] has seduced does not get pregnant—either so as not to cause child-bearing, or to escape detection, since they want to be honored for their supposed celibacy. In any case, this is what they do, but others endeavor to get this same filthy satisfaction not with women but by other means, and pollute themselves with their own hands. They too imitate the son of Judah, soil the ground with their forbidden practices and drops of filthy fluid and rub their emissions into the earth with their feet|Epiphanius of Salamis, ''Boston'', 2010, p. 131}} | ||
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According to some [[biblical criticism|Bible critics]] who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an [[aetiology|origin myth]] concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the [[tribe of Judah]], with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a [[clan]];<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar">{{cite book| first= J. A.| last= Emerton| title= Judah And Tamar| publisher= | year= | page= }}</ref><ref name= "ReferenceA">Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> ''Er'' and ''Onan'' are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an [[Edom]]ite clan named Onam,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> mentioned by an Edomite [[genealogy]] in Genesis.<ref>Genesis 36:23</ref> | According to some [[biblical criticism|Bible critics]] who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an [[aetiology|origin myth]] concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the [[tribe of Judah]], with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a [[clan]];<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar">{{cite book| first= J. A.| last= Emerton| title= Judah And Tamar| publisher= | year= | page= }}</ref><ref name= "ReferenceA">Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> ''Er'' and ''Onan'' are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an [[Edom]]ite clan named Onam,<ref name="ReferenceA"/> mentioned by an Edomite [[genealogy]] in Genesis.<ref>Genesis 36:23</ref> | ||
Biblical scholars universally agree that the biblical story of Onan is not about masturbation nor about contraception per se or the "wasting of semen" but his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate-marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus''.<ref>{{Cite book | Biblical scholars universally agree that the biblical story of Onan is not about masturbation nor about contraception per se or the "wasting of semen" but his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate-marriage with Tamar by committing ''coitus interruptus''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Oxford guide to people & places of the Bible |first=Carl S.|last=Ehrlich |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-first1=Bruce M.|editor-last1=Metzger|editor-first2=Michael David |editor-last2=Coogan |chapter=Onan |isbn=0-19-514641-7 |location=Oxford, New York |oclc=45439956 |page=222 |quote=Although Onan did cohabit with Tamar, "he spilled his seed on the ground"; for this he was put to death by God. Onan's effort to avoid impregnating his sister-in-law has given rise to the term "onanism," a synonym for masturbation. This passage is then employed by some to indicate divine condemnation of autoeroticism. This interpretation, however, completely misses the point of the passage. Onan's sin was not sexual. Rather, it was his refusal to fulfill the obligation of levirate marriage, according to which a man was obligated to impregnate the wife of his brother if his brother had died without an heir, thus ensuring the continuation of his brothers line and inheritance. That fulfilling this obligation often raised additional questions regarding the apportioning of the familial inheritance is indicated by passages in Deuteronomy and Ruth. Thus Onan's sexual act, most probably coitus interruptus, was the means whereby he avoided his fraternal duty, in spite of the fact that he seemed to be fulfilling it by cohabiting with Tamar. For this deception he was punished.}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Anchor Yale Bible dictionary |date=2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Onan (PERSON) |editor-first1=David Noel |editor-last1=Freedman |first=Claude F. |last=Mariottini |isbn=978-0-300-14081-1 |location=New Haven, Conn. |oclc=237189110 |quote=This action of Onan probably was a reference to coitus interruptus, but Onan's conduct has produced the word "onanism," which has come to be a reference to masturbation. |volume=5|pages=20–21}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Satlow |first=Michael L. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvzpv5s5 |title=Tasting the Dish: Rabbinic Rhetorics of Sexuality |date=2020 |publisher=Brown Judaic Studies |isbn=978-1-946527-53-0 |doi= 10.2307/j.ctvzpv5s5|jstor=j.ctvzpv5s5 |s2cid=241988511 }}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last= Satlow |first= Michael L. |date=1994 |title= 'Wasted Seed,' The History of a Rabbinic Idea |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23508531 |journal=Hebrew Union College Annual |volume=65 |pages=137–175 | publisher= [[Hebrew Union College]] |jstor=23508531 |issn=0360-9049}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Victor P. |title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 |date=1995 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co |isbn=0-8028-2309-2 |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |oclc=31604392 |quote=The levir in this case is to be Onan, the second born. But he refuses to accept his responsibility. Instead, he practices coitus interruptus with Tamar; that is, instead of impregnating her, he wasted his semen on the ground (lit., "he spoiled [it] groundward").This is clearly a reference to withdrawal to prevent conception, rather than a reference to masturbation.}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> | ||
The text emphasizes the social and legal situation, with Judah explaining what Onan must do and why. A plain reading of the text is that Onan was killed because he refused to follow instructions. Scholars have argued that the secondary purpose of the narrative about Onan and Tamar, of which the description of Onan is a part, was to either assert the institution of levirate marriage or present a myth for its origin;<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar"/> Onan's role in the narrative is, thus, as the brother abusing his obligations by agreeing to [[Human reproduction#Copulation|sexual intercourse]] with his dead brother's wife, but refusing to allow her to become pregnant as a result. [[John Emerton|Emerton]] regards the evidence for this to be inconclusive, although [[classical rabbinical literature|classical rabbinical writers]] argued that this narrative describes the origin of levirate marriage.<ref>''[[Genesis Rabbah]]'' 85:6</ref> | The text emphasizes the social and legal situation, with Judah explaining what Onan must do and why. A plain reading of the text is that Onan was killed because he refused to follow instructions. Scholars have argued that the secondary purpose of the narrative about Onan and Tamar, of which the description of Onan is a part, was to either assert the institution of levirate marriage or present a myth for its origin;<ref name="J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar"/> Onan's role in the narrative is, thus, as the brother abusing his obligations by agreeing to [[Human reproduction#Copulation|sexual intercourse]] with his dead brother's wife, but refusing to allow her to become pregnant as a result. [[John Emerton|Emerton]] regards the evidence for this to be inconclusive, although [[classical rabbinical literature|classical rabbinical writers]] argued that this narrative describes the origin of levirate marriage.<ref>''[[Genesis Rabbah]]'' 85:6</ref> | ||
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The term ''[[wikt:onanism|onanism]]'' has come to refer to "[[masturbation]]" in many modern languages – for example [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] (אוננות, ''onanút''), [[German language|German]] (''Onanie''), [[Greek language|Greek]] (αυνανισμός, ''avnanismós''), [[Japanese language|Japanese]] (オナニー, ''onanī''), and [[Swedish language|Swedish]] (''onani'') – based on an interpretation of the Onan story. | The term ''[[wikt:onanism|onanism]]'' has come to refer to "[[masturbation]]" in many modern languages – for example [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] (אוננות, ''onanút''), [[German language|German]] (''Onanie''), [[Greek language|Greek]] (αυνανισμός, ''avnanismós''), [[Japanese language|Japanese]] (オナニー, ''onanī''), and [[Swedish language|Swedish]] (''onani'') – based on an interpretation of the Onan story. | ||
The word ''onanism'' is not based on the biblical story of Onan itself but on an interpretation of that biblical story, nor is the word ''onanism'' found in any form in the biblical texts. Thus the etymological connection of onanism (in the sense of masturbation) with Onan's name is misleading.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Victor P. | The word ''onanism'' is not based on the biblical story of Onan itself but on an interpretation of that biblical story, nor is the word ''onanism'' found in any form in the biblical texts. Thus the etymological connection of onanism (in the sense of masturbation) with Onan's name is misleading.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Victor P. |title=The book of Genesis. Chapters 18-50 |date=1995 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co |isbn=0-8028-2309-2 |location=Grand Rapids, Mich. |oclc=31604392 |quote=This is clearly a reference to withdrawal to prevent conception, rather than a reference to masturbation.Thus the etymological connection of "onanism" (in the sense of masturbation) with Onan's name is misleading.}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> | ||
The ''[[Merriam-Webster]]'' online dictionary defines onanism as: | The ''[[Merriam-Webster]]'' online dictionary defines onanism as: | ||
Latest revision as of 15:15, 8 September 2025
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OnanTemplate:Efn was a figure detailed in the Book of Genesis chapter 38,[1] as the second son of Judah who married the daughter of Shuah the Canaanite. Onan had an older brother Er and a younger brother, Shelah as well.
Onan was commanded by his father, Judah, to perform his duty as a husband's brother according to the custom of levirate marriage with Er's widow Tamar. Onan refused to perform his duty as a levirate and instead "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by Yahweh.[2] This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".[3][4] Onan's crime is often misinterpreted as being masturbation, but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing coitus interruptus.[5][6]
Biblical account
After Yahweh slew Onan's oldest brother Er, Onan's father Judah told him to fulfill his duty[7][8] as a brother-in-law by entering into a levirate marriage[9][10][11][12][13][14][8][15] with his brother's widow Tamar to give her offspring. Religion professor Tikva Frymer-Kensky has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.[16]
When Onan had sex with Tamar, he withdrew before he ejaculated[17][18] and "spilled his seed on the ground" thus committing coitus interuptus,[19] since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.[20][21][22][23][24] The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him.[25] Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing coitus interruptus.[5][6]
However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse[26] his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).[27][4]
Family tree
Template:Judah and Tamar family tree
Interpretation
The implication from the narrative is that Onan's act as described is what gave rise to divine displeasure.
Early Jewish views
One opinion expressed in the Talmud argues that this was where the death penalty's imposition originated.[28]Template:Not in source The Talmud also likens emitting semen in vain to shedding blood.[28]
However, the regulations concerning ejaculation in the book of Leviticus, whether as a result of sexual intercourse or not,[29][30] merely prescribe a ritual washing and becoming ritually impure until the following evening.
Classical Christian views
Early Christian writers have sometimes focused on the spilling seed, and the sexual act being used for non-procreational purposes. This interpretation was held by several early Christian apologists. Jerome, for example, argued:
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But I wonder why he the heretic Jovinianus set Judah and Tamar before us for an example, unless perchance even harlots give him pleasure; or Onan, who was slain because he begrudged his brother his seed. Does he imagine that we approve of any sexual intercourse except for the procreation of children?
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Epiphanius of Salamis wrote against heretics who used coitus interruptus, calling it the sin of Οnan:[31]
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
They soil their bodies, minds and souls with unchastity. Some of them masquerade as monastics, and their woman companions as female monastics. And they are physically corrupted because they satisfy their appetite but, to put it politely, by the act of Onan the son of Judah. For as Onan coupled with Tamar and satisfied his appetite but did not complete the act by planting his seed for the God-given [purpose of] procreation and did himself harm instead, thus, as [he] did the vile thing, so these people have used their supposed [female monastics], committing this infamy. For purity is not their concern, but a hypocritical purity in name. Their concern is limited to ensuring that the woman the seeming [ascetic] has seduced does not get pregnant—either so as not to cause child-bearing, or to escape detection, since they want to be honored for their supposed celibacy. In any case, this is what they do, but others endeavor to get this same filthy satisfaction not with women but by other means, and pollute themselves with their own hands. They too imitate the son of Judah, soil the ground with their forbidden practices and drops of filthy fluid and rub their emissions into the earth with their feet
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Clement of Alexandria, while not making explicit reference to Onan, similarly reflects an early Christian view of the abhorrence of spilling seed:
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Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted.
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To have coitus other than to procreate children is to do injury to nature.
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Roman Catholic views
Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The papal encyclical Casti connubii (1930) invokes this Biblical text in support of the teaching of the Catholic Church against contracepted sex by quoting St. Augustine, "Intercourse even with one's legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where the conception of the offspring is prevented. Onan, the son of Juda [sic], did this and the Lord killed him for it."[32]
Early Protestant views
Making reference to Onan's offense to identify masturbation as sinful, in his Commentary on Genesis, John Calvin wrote that "the voluntary spilling of semen outside of intercourse between a man and a woman is a monstrous thing. Deliberately to withdraw from coitus in order that semen may fall on the ground is double monstrous."[33][34]
Methodism founder John Wesley, according to Bryan C. Hodge, "believed that any waste of the semen in an unproductive sexual act, whether that should be in the form of masturbation or coitus interruptus, as in the case of Onan, destroyed the souls of the individuals who practice it".[35] He wrote his Thoughts on the Sin of Onan (1767), which was reproduced as A Word to Whom it May Concern on 1779, as an attempt to censor a work by Samuel-Auguste Tissot.[36] In that writing, Wesley warned about "the dangers of self pollution", the bad physical and mental effects of masturbation,[37][36] writes many such cases along with the treatment recommendations.[38]
Disputes
According to some Bible critics who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an origin myth concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the tribe of Judah, with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a clan;[39][40] Er and Onan are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an Edomite clan named Onam,[40] mentioned by an Edomite genealogy in Genesis.[41]
Biblical scholars universally agree that the biblical story of Onan is not about masturbation nor about contraception per se or the "wasting of semen" but his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate-marriage with Tamar by committing coitus interruptus.[42][5][43][18][44][6][45][8][46][47]
The text emphasizes the social and legal situation, with Judah explaining what Onan must do and why. A plain reading of the text is that Onan was killed because he refused to follow instructions. Scholars have argued that the secondary purpose of the narrative about Onan and Tamar, of which the description of Onan is a part, was to either assert the institution of levirate marriage or present a myth for its origin;[39] Onan's role in the narrative is, thus, as the brother abusing his obligations by agreeing to sexual intercourse with his dead brother's wife, but refusing to allow her to become pregnant as a result. Emerton regards the evidence for this to be inconclusive, although classical rabbinical writers argued that this narrative describes the origin of levirate marriage.[48]
John M. Riddle argues that "Epiphanius (fourth century) construed the sin of Onan as coitus interruptus".[49] John T. Noonan Jr. says that "St. Epiphanius gave a plain interpretation of the text as a condemnation of contraception, and he did so only in the context of his anti-Gnostic polemic".[50]
Bible scholars maintained that the story does not refer to masturbation, but to coitus interruptus.[6][47][51][52] Bible scholars even maintain that the Bible does not claim that masturbation would be sinful.[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]
Although the story of Onan does not involve masturbation, according to Peter Lewis Allen, some theologians found "a common element" in both coitus interruptus (also known as onanism) and masturbation, as well as anal intercourse and other forms of nonmarital and nonvaginal sexual acts, which are considered wrongful acts.[61]Template:Rp
Onanism
The term onanism has come to refer to "masturbation" in many modern languages – for example Hebrew (אוננות, onanút), German (Onanie), Greek (αυνανισμός, avnanismós), Japanese (オナニー, onanī), and Swedish (onani) – based on an interpretation of the Onan story.
The word onanism is not based on the biblical story of Onan itself but on an interpretation of that biblical story, nor is the word onanism found in any form in the biblical texts. Thus the etymological connection of onanism (in the sense of masturbation) with Onan's name is misleading.[62][47]
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines onanism as:
- masturbation
- coitus interruptus
- self-gratification
Notes
References
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- ↑ Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "Tamar: Bible", Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)
- ↑ Freedman, Myers & Beck. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN), 2000, p. 1273
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Dershowitz. The Genesis of Justice (Template:ISBN, Template:ISBN), 2000, ch. 9
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ a b Niddah 13a.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".
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- ↑ United States Congress Senate Committee on Government Operations Subcommittee on Foreign Aid Expenditures. Population Crisis: Hearings, Eighty-ninth Congress, Second Session. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966, p. 403–404
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ a b Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica
- ↑ Genesis 36:23
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- ↑ Genesis Rabbah 85:6
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