Genesis 38:9 (KJV)

What does Genesis 38:9 mean?

Genesis 38:9 describes Onan deliberately preventing his deceased brother’s wife from conceiving a child with him. Onan knew that a child born from their union would be counted as belonging to his brother’s family line, and he chose not to provide one.

After Judah’s instruction in verse 8, the narrator tells the reader what Onan knew and what he did. “Spilled it on the ground” describes Onan releasing his semen outside Tamar rather than inside her. The verse names his reason: he did not want to give his brother offspring.

The Hebrew behind Genesis 38:9

• “seed” — זֶרַע (zeraʿ): This word can mean seed or offspring. In the verse, it links the physical act with the child Onan was expected to provide for his brother’s family line.
• “spilled” — שָׁחַת (shachat): This word can carry the sense of destroying or wasting something. Here it describes what Onan did with his semen to prevent conception.

Why Genesis 38:9 matters

• The expectation concerned a dead brother’s family line, not simply Onan’s own desire for children. Judah had told Onan to “raise up seed” to his brother in verse 8.
• The narrator presents Onan’s action as deliberate. The phrase “lest that he should give seed to his brother” states the purpose behind it.
• The following verse gives the account’s judgment on Onan’s conduct: “the thing which he did displeased the LORD” (verse 10).