And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. In patriarchal times fathers seem to have possessed the power of life and death over the members of their families. Tamar, being regarded as a wife, through her betrothal to Shelah, was an adulteress, and the crime of adultery was anciently punished in many places by burning (Leviticus 21:9; Judges 15:6; Jeremiah 29:22).