And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
At that time. This form of speech, which is of frequent occurrence in Scripture, is used not to mark an exact date, nor to give any note of time, but only to indicate in a loose and general way a connection with the period in which the events in the course of being narrated took place. [In fact, baa`eet (H6256) hahiy' (H1931) is not to be interpreted in a literal sense, but taken as describing an approximate chronology.] Thus, in one instance (Deuteronomy 10:8), it is prefixed to the narrative of an occurrence which transpired over 38 years (Numbers 3:6) before the transactions with which the historian has associated it; and the analogous phrase, "in those days," is used by the evangelists in the same indefinite manner, sometimes to introduce the relation of a fact, between which and the stream of the current history a long series of other events intervened (Matthew 11:25; Matthew 12:1).
In like manner, the words "at that time," which stand at the beginning of this chapter, are not meant to fix an exact date for Judah's marriage, and the unhappy incidents which occurred in his family, but to show that they belonged to the memorable period of Joseph's captivity. The episode occupies a proper place; because it belongs to the Tholedoth of Jacob; and of all the matrimonial connections formed by his numerous sons, and their family registers, this alone has been put on record, from its indispensable importance in relating the origin of the three great branches of the royal tribe in Israel, and consequently in tracing the genealogical line of the Messiah. It is parenthetically inserted here, before the historian takes up the continuous thread of Joseph's life and experience in Egypt.
Judah went down from his brethren - i:e., from the mountain-pastures of Hebron, whither the brothers had returned (Gen. 38:32-35), to Adullam, a city in the lowlands of Judah (Joshua 15:35; Micah 1:15). But its site is unknown.
And turned in to a certain Adullamite, х wayeeT (H5186) `ad (H5704) 'iysh (H376)] - and pitched his tent near to a man of Adullam.