Onan

Onan (Hebrew: אוֹנָן‎, Modern: ʾŌnan, Tiberian: ʾŌnān "Mourner"; Greek: Αὐνάν Aunan) is a minor biblical person in the Book of Genesis chapter 38,[1] who was the second son of Judah. Like his older brother Er, Onan was slain by God. Onan's death was retribution for being "evil in the sight of the Lord" and disobeying a direct order from the Lord by being unwilling to father a child by his widowed sister-in-law.[2]

For other uses, see Onan (disambiguation).

Biblical account

After God slew Onan's brother Er, Onan's father Judah told him to fulfill his duty to his brother by entering into a levirate marriage with his brother's widow Tamar to give her offspring. Religion professor Tikva Frymer-Kensky has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.[3]

When Onan had sex with Tamar, he withdrew before he ejaculated[4] and "spilled his seed on the ground", since any child born would not legally be considered his heir.[5] The next statement in the Bible says that Onan did evil and that God slew him.[6] Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation, when it was actually contraception through the withdrawal method.

Interpretation

The implication from the narrative is that Onan's act as described is what gave rise to divine displeasure. Still, even if that is the case, it is not clear whether his objectionable behaviour was the refusal to complete the levirate obligation of providing sperm for his brother's widow to continue his brother's name (and clan rights) or "shedding seed in vain", or even having sex with Tamar (who would normally be prohibited to him as a sister-in-law) outside the context of an overriding levirate obligation.

Early Jewish views

One opinion expressed in the Talmud argues that this was where the death penalty's imposition originated.[7] However, the Levitical regulations concerning ejaculation, whether as a result of sexual intercourse[8] or not,[9] merely prescribe a ritual washing, and remaining ritually impure until the next day began on the following evening.

Classical Christian views

Early Christian writers have sometimes focused on the spilling seed, and the sexual act being used for non-procreational purposes. This interpretation was held by several early Christian apologists. Jerome, for example, argued:

But I wonder why he the heretic Jovinianus set Judah and Tamar before us for an example, unless perchance even harlots give him pleasure; or Onan, who was slain because he begrudged his brother his seed. Does he imagine that we approve of any sexual intercourse except for the procreation of children?

— Jerome, Against Jovinian 1:19 (AD 393)

Epiphanius of Salamis wrote against heretics who used coitus interruptus, calling it the sin of Οnan:[10]

They soil their bodies, minds and souls with unchastity. Some of them masquerade as monastics, and their woman companions as female monastics. And they are physically corrupted because they satisfy their appetite but, to put it politely, by the act of Onan the son of Judah. For as Onan coupled with Tamar and satisfied his appetite but did not complete the act by planting his seed for the God-given [purpose of] procreation and did himself harm instead, thus, as [he] did the vile thing, so these people have used their supposed [female monastics], committing this infamy. For purity is not their concern, but a hypocritical purity in name. Their concern is limited to ensuring that the woman the seeming [ascetic] has seduced does not get pregnant—either so as not to cause child-bearing, or to escape detection, since they want to be honored for their supposed celibacy. In any case, this is what they do, but others endeavor to get this same filthy satisfaction not with women but by other means, and pollute themselves with their own hands. They too imitate the son of Judah, soil the ground with their forbidden practices and drops of filthy fluid and rub their emissions into the earth with their feet

— Epiphanius of Salamis, Boston, 2010, p. 131

Clement of Alexandria, while not making explicit reference to Onan, similarly reflects an early Christian view of the abhorrence of spilling seed:

Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted.

— Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor of Children 2:10:91:2 (AD 191)

To have coitus other than to procreate children is to do injury to nature.

— Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor of Children 2:10:95:3

Roman Catholic views

The papal encyclical Casti connubii (1930) invokes this Biblical text in support of the teaching of the Catholic Church against contracepted sex.

Early Protestant views

Making reference to Onan's offense to identify masturbation as sinful, in his Commentary on Genesis, John Calvin wrote that "the voluntary spilling of semen outside of intercourse between a man and a woman is a monstrous thing. Deliberately to withdraw from coitus in order that semen may fall on the ground is double monstrous."[11][12] Methodism founder John Wesley, according to Bryan C. Hodge, "believed that any waste of the semen in an unproductive sexual act, whether that should be in the form of masturbation or coitus interruptus, as in the case of Onan, destroyed the souls of the individuals who practice it".[13] He writes his Thoughts on the Sin of Onan (1767), which was reproduced as A Word to Whom it May Concern on 1779, as an attempt to censor a work by Samuel-Auguste Tissot.[14] In that writing, Wesley warns about "the dangers of self pollution", the bad physical and mental effects of masturbation,[15][14] writes many such cases along with the treatment recommendations.[16]

Disputes

According to some Bible critics who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an origin myth concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the tribe of Judah, with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a clan;[17][18] Er and Onan are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an Edomite clan named Onam,[18] mentioned by an Edomite genealogy in Genesis.[19]

Also, it has been suggested that God's anger was directed not at the sexual act but Onan's disobedience by refusing to impregnate his brother's widow.[20] By "closely analyzing the language used to describe Onan's offense", other scholars challenge that interpretation. They argue that Onan was punished both because of a perverted sexual act, i.e., "to waste his seed on the ground", and his refusal to provide an heir for his dead brother.[21] It is said that those who followed Onan's act break "the social bond with their 'criminal hands', wasting the precious fluid that had been designed to perpetuate the human race".[22]: 89 

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 a myth for its origin;[17] 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.[23]

John M. Riddle argues that "Epiphanius (fourth century) construed the sin of Onan as coitus interruptus".[24] John T. Noonan Jr. says that "St. Epiphanius gave a plain interpretation of the text as a condemnation of contraception, and he did so only in the context of his anti-Gnostic polemic".[25]

Modern Bible scholars maintained that the story does not refer to masturbation, but to coitus interruptus.[2][26][27] Modern Bible scholars even maintain that the Bible does not claim that masturbation would be sinful.[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Although the story of Onan does not involve masturbation, according to Peter Lewis Allen, theologians found "a common element" in both coitus interruptus (also known as onanism) and masturbation, as well as anal intercourse and other forms of nonmarital and nonvaginal sexual acts, which are considered wrongful acts.[22]: 81–82 

Onanism

The term onanism has come to refer to "masturbation" in many modern languages – for example Hebrew (אוננות, onanút), German (Onanie), Greek (αυνανισμός, avnanismós), Japanese (オナニー, onanī), and Swedish (onani) – based on an interpretation of the Onan story.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines onanism as "self-abuse, masturbation." Webster's Third New International Dictionary , on the other hand, defines it as

(1) coitus interruptus (2) masturbation (3) self-abuse. The second definition is more accurate because of its focus on birth control instead of masturbation.

References
  1. Chapter 38
  2. Dancy, J. The Divine Drama: the Old Testament as Literature (ISBN 0718829875, ISBN 978-0-7188-2987-2), 2002, p. 92
  3. Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. "Tamar: Bible", Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on August 6, 2014)
  4. Freedman, Myers & Beck. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (ISBN 0802824005, ISBN 978-0-8028-2400-4), 2000, p. 1273
  5. Dershowitz. The Genesis of Justice (ISBN 0446524794, ISBN 978-0-446-52479-7), 2000, ch. 9
  6. Genesis 38:8–10
  7. Niddah 13a.
  8. Leviticus 15:18
  9. Leviticus 15:16–17
  10. United States Congress Senate Committee on Government Operations Subcommittee on Foreign Aid Expenditures. Population Crisis: Hearings, Eighty-ninth Congress, Second Session. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966, p. 403–404
  11. Thatcher, Adrian (2011). God, Sex, and Gender: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 184–185. ISBN 978-1405193696.
  12. Reilly, Kevin (2014). "Masturbation". In Laderman, Gary; León, Luis (eds.). Religion and American Cultures: Tradition, Diversity, and Popular Expression (Second ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 770. ISBN 978-1610691109.
  13. Hodge, Bryan C. (2010). The Christian Case against Contraception: Making the Case from Historical, Biblical, Systematic, and Practical Theology & Ethics. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1621892199.
  14. Numbers, Ronald L.; Amundsen, Darrel W. (1986). Caring and Curing: Health and Medicine in the Western Religious Traditions. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 322. ISBN 0801857961.
  15. Madden, Deborah (2012). 'Inward & Outward Health': John Wesley's Holistic Concept of Medical Science, the Environment and Holy Living. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-1620321270.
  16. Coe, Bufford W. (1996). John Wesley and Marriage. Lehigh University Press. p. 64. ISBN 0934223394.
  17. J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar
  18. Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica
  19. Genesis 36:23
  20. Alan Dershowitz, The Genesis of Justice
  21. Lawler, Ronald David; Boyle, Joseph M.; May, William E. (1998). Catholic Sexual Ethics. Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 0879739525. This interpretation, although popular today, is sharply challenged by other scholars. Closely analyzing the language used to describe Onan's offense, they point out that God punished him both because of what Onan chose to do – to waste his seed on the ground was a perverse sexual act – and because he did this for a base purpose or end, namely, to deprive his dead brother of progeny.
  22. Allen, Peter Lewis (2002). The Wages of Sin: Sex and Disease, Past and Present. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226014614.
  23. Genesis Rabbah 85:6
  24. Riddle, John M. (1992). "1. Population and Sex". Contraception and abortion from the ancient world to the Renaissance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 4. ISBN 0-674-16875-5. OCLC 24428750.
  25. Noonan, Jr., John T. (2012). Contraception: A History of Its Treatment by the Catholic Theologians and Canonists (Enlarged ed.). Harvard University Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0674070264.
  26. Coogan, Michael (October 2010). God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says (1st ed.). New York; Boston: Twelve. Hachette Book Group. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-446-54525-9. OCLC 505927356. Retrieved May 5, 2011. Although Onan gives his name to onanism, usually a synonym for masturbation, Onan was not masturbating but practicing coitus interruptus.
  27. Ellens, J. Harold (2006). "6. Making Babies: Purposes of Sex". Sex in the Bible: a new consideration. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. p. 48. ISBN 0-275-98767-1. OCLC 65429579. He practiced coitus interruptus whenever he made love to Tamar.
  28. Patton, Michael S. (June 1985). "Masturbation from Judaism to Victorianism". Journal of Religion and Health. Springer Netherlands. 24 (2): 133–146. doi:10.1007/BF01532257. ISSN 0022-4197. PMID 24306073. S2CID 39066052. Social change in attitudes toward masturbation has occurred at the professional level only since 1960 and at the popular level since 1970. [133] ... onanism and masturbation erroneously became synonymous... [134] ... there is no legislation in the Bible pertaining to masturbation. [135]
  29. Kwee, Alex W.; David C. Hoover (2008). "Theologically-Informed Education about Masturbation: A Male Sexual Health Perspective" (PDF). Journal of Psychology and Theology. La Mirada, California: Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University. 36 (4): 258–269. doi:10.1177/009164710803600402. ISSN 0091-6471. S2CID 142040707. Retrieved 12 November 2011. The Bible presents no clear theological ethic on masturbation, leaving many young unmarried Christians with confusion and guilt around their sexuality.
  30. Nemesnyik Rashkow, Ilona (2000). "Sin and Sex, Sex and Sin: The Hebrew Bible and Human Sexuality". Taboo Or Not Taboo: Sexuality and Family in the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. p. 16. ISBN 9781451409871. OCLC 42603147. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2020-10-28. Since it is questionable whether masturbation is considered a category of "negative" sexual activity in the Hebrew Bible, I shall not discuss masturbation. (The sin of Onan [Genesis 38] is not necessarily that of masturbation; otherwise, oblique references to seminal emission, such as "a man, when an emission of semen comes out of him" [Lev 15:16], refer to the emission rather than its circumstances. Female masturbation is never mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.)
  31. Jones, Stanton; Jones, Brenna (2014). "CHAPTER 13: Developing Moral Discernment About Masturbation and Petting". How and When to Tell Your Kids About Sex: A Lifelong Approach to Shaping Your Child's Sexual Character. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, Tyndale House. p. 253. ISBN 9781612912301. OCLC 104623265. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2020-10-28. 1. We are aware of only one argument that attempts to draw directly from the Scripture to establish a basis for the acceptance of masturbation, found in J. Johnson, "Toward a Biblical Approach to Masturbation, Journal of Psychology and Theology 10 (1982): 137-146. Johnson suggests that Leviticus 15:16-18 should set the tone for our dealing with masturbation. Verses 16 and 17 say that a man who has an emission of semen should wash and be ceremonially unclean until evening. Verse 18 goes on to say that if a man and woman have intercourse, the same cleanliness rules apply. By bringing up intercourse separately, the passage surely does imply that the emission of semen in verses 16 and 17 occurred for the man individually. The passage may be referring to a nocturnal emission, or wet dream, rather than masturbation, but the passage is not specific. Johnson suggests that this Leviticus passage is significant for treating a solitary sexual experience, whether wet dream or masturbation, as a purely ceremonial cleanliness issue and not as a matter of morality. The passage also puts no more disapproval on the solitary experience than it does on intercourse. Since Christians today commonly view the Old Testament ceremonial law as no longer valid, this author suggests that masturbation is not in itself a moral concern from a biblical perspective and is no longer a ceremonial concern either.
  32. Wray, Tina J. (2011). "Chapter 7. Should We or Shouldn't We? A Brief Exploration of Sexuality and Gender". What the Bible Really Tells Us: The Essential Guide to Biblical Literacy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 142–143. ISBN 9781442212930. OCLC 707329261. Returning to the Levitical list of sexual taboos, curiously missing from the list is any mention of masturbation. Many people assume that this, too, is forbidden, but the truth is, the word masturbation is never specifically mentioned in the Bible, though some argue that it is implied (and also condemned) in several places. The story cited most often is found in Genesis 38...For centuries this obscure passage has been used as an indictment against masturbation though it is not masturbation at all...But if Onan's story is not about masturbation, then where in the Bible is the practice forbidden? Some commentators conclude that the word porneia—a word already discussed in the first two assumptions—is a catchall term to include all forms of unchastity, including masturbation, but others vehemently disagree. In the book of Leviticus, there is explicit mention of purity regulations regarding semen that seem to emanate from either masturbation or possibly nocturnal emission: [Bible quote Lev 15:16-17] None of this, however, represent a clear condemnation of masturbation.
  33. Jech, Carl L. (2013). "CHAPTER 2. Beyond Heaven and Hell". Religion as Art Form: Reclaiming Spirituality Without Supernatural Beliefs. Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 97. ISBN 9781621896708. OCLC 853272981. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2020-10-28. (Masturbation is never mentioned in the Bible.)
  34. Malan, Mark Kim; Bullough, Vern (Fall 2005). "Historical development of new masturbation attitudes in Mormon culture: secular conformity, counterrevolution, and emerging reform" (PDF). Sexuality & Culture. 9 (4): 80–127. doi:10.1007/s12119-005-1003-z. ISSN 1095-5143. S2CID 145480822. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2015-06-26. While nowhere in the Bible is there a clear unchallenged reference to masturbation, Jewish tradition was always seriously concerned about the loss of semen. The Book of Leviticus, for example states: [Bible quote Lev 14:16-18]...Although masturbation is not mentioned in the Bible or Book of Mormon, absence of scriptural authority on the matter, Kimball said, is irrelevant: "Let no one rationalize their sins on the excuse that a particular sin of his is not mentioned nor forbidden in scripture" (p.25).
  35. Vines, Matthew (2014). "4. The Real Sin of Sodom". God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. New York, NY: Doubleday Religious Publishing Group. p. 72. ISBN 9781601425171. OCLC 869801284. Archived from the original on 2021-08-15. Retrieved 2020-10-28. Most Christians today understand that masturbation was not the sin of Onan. What's more, many also recognize that masturbation is not inherently sinful.
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