Person Old Testament
Onan
Onan was the second son of Judah, who was punished by God for his wicked actions. Mentioned in 6 verses across 3 books, first at Genesis 38:4.
Why it matters. Son of Judah
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Onan
Onan was the second son of Judah and his Canaanite wife, the daughter of Shua (Gen.38.4; 1Ch.2.3). After the death of his older brother Er, Judah instructed Onan to marry Er's widow, Tamar, and produce an heir for his brother (Gen.38.8). However, Onan, knowing that the child would not be his own, practiced coitus interruptus to avoid providing an heir for his brother (Gen.38.9). This act was displeasing to the Lord, and as a result, God put Onan to death (Gen.38.10). Onan's death left Tamar without an heir and set the stage for the unusual events that followed, which ultimately led to the birth of Perez and Zerah, twin sons of Judah and Tamar (Gen.38.27-30). Onan is also mentioned in the genealogies of Judah (Gen.46.12; Num.26.19; 1Ch.2.3).
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
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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 6 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.