Lives of Scripture

Shelah was the third son born to Judah and his Canaanite wife, Bath-shua, after Er and Onan (Genesis 38:3-5). Er, Judah's firstborn, died for wickedness the LORD saw in him, and Tamar, Er's widow, was given to Onan under the custom of levirate marriage, so he could raise up an heir for his dead brother -- but Onan deliberately refused to give Tamar a child and was likewise struck down by the LORD (38:6-10). Judah then told Tamar to remain a widow in her father's house "until my son Shelah grows up," privately fearing Shelah would die too, as his brothers had (38:11). When Shelah did grow up and Judah still had not given him to her, Tamar disguised herself and tricked Judah himself into fathering her children, exposing his broken promise and his own hypocrisy -- he had judged her for apparent immorality while withholding what he owed her (38:12-26). Shelah himself takes no recorded action in this account; he is the promise not kept, the reason Tamar acted as she did. He later married and had sons of his own, becoming the ancestor of the Shelanite clan within Judah's tribe (Numbers 26:20; 1 Chronicles 4:21-23), and is listed among Judah's descendants who went down to Egypt (Genesis 46:12).