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[Lion of Judah]

Can anyone here explain/justify the 'sin' of Onan? (Genesis 38: 8-10). I, a lifelong Christian just read about it on an atheist repost from a friend and was shocked to learn it was real. Wtf?

[jimwalton]

Children were necessarily to keep land in the family, to continue the inheritance of family possessions, and to perpetuate the family line. The ancient Abrahamites (along with many ancient cultures) had a law called levirate law, where if a husband died, the brother of the deceased was to impregnate the widow so the family line could continue on. A similar statute is found in Hittite Law #193.

Onan here is refusing to comply. God is judging him for failing to carry out his societal, familial, and procreative responsibility. Although the story is often distorted to mean that God is judging masturbation, nothing could be further from the truth. The large context shows why Onan was put to death: because God viewed his action as rebellious and selfish rather than considering the values of the sustenance of the community. He was a bigot, and deliberately cheating Tamar of her social and legal right to an heir. It was an outrage against his family, the clan, and the greater community.