Verse Lens · Context pointer
Genesis 38:22 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 22. 22And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Hirah reports that he could not find the woman and that local people denied a qedesha had been there. The report confirms the failed retrieval but does not solve the identity question.
Read It With
- Genesis 38:1–30
Read verses 20–23. Judah sends the goat, Hirah asks locally, the search fails, and Judah decides not to pursue the pledge further because he fears contempt.
Why It Needs Context
This verse repeats the search result. Its importance lies in how Judah responds in verse 23, not in an independent doctrine about prostitution.
Read Genesis 38:20–23 together
Why these verses belong together: Hirah's goat delivery, qedesha inquiry, failed search, and Judah's shame-driven abandonment of the pledge form one retrieval episode.
Verse 20. 20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.
Verse 21. 21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.
Verse 22. 22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.
Verse 23. 23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 38:1–30 — Judah Recognizes His Failure and Tamar Secures the Family LineSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed text, recognition motif, Judah's later responsibility, and canonical Perez-Tamar connections.
Exact location: Genesis 38:1–30; 37:31–33; 43:8–10; 44:18–34; Ruth 4:12, 18–22; Matthew 1:3 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Brother-in-law verb, Tamar's waiting, location and veil, pledge objects, prostitution terms, sexual-promiscuity term, recognition, comparative righteousness, and Perez wordplay.
Exact location: WLC Genesis 38:1–30, especially vv. 8–9, 11, 14–15, 18, 21, 24–26, 29
Open source ↗