Onan (Hebrew: אוֹנָן, Modern Onan Tiberian ʼÔnān ; "Strong") is a minor biblical person in the Book of Genesis Chapter 38, who was the second son of Judah. Just like his older brother, Er, Onan died prematurely by YHWH's will for being wicked.[1]
After Onan's brother Er died, his father Judah told him to fulfill his duty as a brother-in-law to Tamar, by giving her offspring. Centuries later, in the days of Moses, this practice was formulated into a law of a Levirate marriage, where the brother of the deceased would provide offspring to the childless widow [2] to preserve the family line.[1]
However, when Onan had sex with Tamar, he disregarded this principle when he withdrew before climax[3] and "spilled his seed (or semen) on the ground", since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.[4] This he did several times,[5] disregarding the principle of a Levirate union, and was accordingly sentenced to death by Yahweh for this wickedness. (Genesis 38:8-10) This biblical story does not refer to masturbation, but to coitus interruptus.[6] The Bible does not claim that masturbation would be sinful.[7][8]
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According to some Bible critics who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an eponymous aetiological story concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the tribe of Judah, with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a clan;[9][10] Er and Onan are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an Edomite clan named Onam,[10] mentioned by an Edomite genealogy in Genesis.[11]
Also, it has been suggested that God's anger was directed not at the sexual act, but at Onan's disobedience by refusing to impregnate his brother's widow.[12]
The text emphasizes the social and legal situation, with Judah explaining what Onan must do and why. A plain reading of the text is that Onan was killed because he refused to follow instructions. Scholars have argued that the secondary purpose of the narrative about Onan and Tamar, of which the description of Onan is a part, was to either assert the institution of levirate marriage, or present an aetiological myth for its origin;[9] Onan's role in the narrative is, thus, as the brother abusing his obligations by agreeing to sexual intercourse with his dead brother's wife, but refusing to allow her to become pregnant as a result. Emerton regards the evidence for this to be inconclusive, although classical rabbinical writers argued that this narrative describes the origin of levirate marriage.[13]
Early writers have sometimes focused on the spilling seed, and the sexual act being used for non-procreational purposes. One opinion expressed in the Talmud argues that this was where the death penalty's imposition originated.[14] This interpretation was held by several early Christian apologists. Jerome, for example, argued:
Clement of Alexandria, while not making explicit reference to Onan, similarly reflects an early Christian view of the abhorrence of '"spilling seed'":
The view of wasted seed referring to masturbation, was upheld by many early rabbis. However, the Levitical regulations concerning ejaculation, whether as a result of heterosexual intercourse[18] or not,[19] merely prescribe a ritual washing, and remaining ritually impure until the next day began on the following evening.
The papal encyclical Casti Connubii (1930) invokes this Biblical text in support of the teaching of the Catholic Church against contracepted sex.
He smiled and thought: "I'll keep any oversupply of that for tomorrow. I'll need all of that there is tomorrow. There are no pine needles that need that now as I will need it tomorrow. Who was it cast his seed upon the ground in the Bible? Onan. How did Onan turn out?" he thought. "I don't remember ever hearing any more about Onan". He smiled in the dark.
"The sin of Onan. Spilling the old seed on the ground. Cuffing the camel. Dusting the donkey. Flogging the Pharisee. Onanism, a sin that requires hundreds of hours of practice to get right, or at least that's what I told myself."
Septimus [...] I am sorry that the seed fell on stony ground.
Thomasina That was the sin of Onan, wasn't it, Septimus?
Septimus Yes. He was giving his brother's wife a Latin lesson and she was hardly the wiser after it than before.[21]
It's barbaric, he's like Conan
Wish he'd do it on his Onan
Couldn't he make do with a cup of tea?