Person Old Testament
Bath-shua
Also known as daughter, Bath, -shua =ESV; daughter of, Shua =NIV, KJV; daughter of, Shuah =KJV
Bath-shua, a Canaanite woman, was Judah's wife and the mother of his first three sons. Mentioned in 2 verses across 2 books, first at Genesis 38:2.
Why it matters. Judah's Canaanite wife; mother of Er, Onan, and Shelah.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Bath-shua
Bath-shua is mentioned in 1Ch.2.3 as the Canaanite wife of Judah, son of Israel (or 'Jacob'). She gave birth to Judah's first three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. This brief genealogical note is the only information provided about Bath-shua in the Bible. Her Canaanite origin is significant, as it shows that Judah married outside of his own people, which was not in line with the patriarchs' practice of seeking wives from their own kinsmen. The mention of Bath-shua's sons is also important, as the narrative in Genesis 38 reveals that Er and Onan died due to their wickedness, leaving Judah without an heir until the birth of his twins, Perez and Zerah, through his daughter-in-law Tamar. Bath-shua's inclusion in the genealogy highlights the complex family dynamics and the importance of Judah's lineage in the history of Israel.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 2 verses across 2 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.