What Does Genesis 38:4 Mean in the King James?

And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

Genesis 38:4 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The Hebrew word for “son,” ben (⁨בֵּן⁩, “son”), is bound to banah (⁨בָּנָה⁩, “build”), so this birth appears as part of a house being built.

THE MEANING

Here, life arrives through conception and birth, and naming gives it a distinct place in the family. The word for “son” also opens toward “build,” holding a person’s arrival within a wider structure of belonging. You are met as someone connected to what came before and what may be built afterward.

THE ROOT

בֵּן

ben

GROWS FROM

בנה

Build, build up, establish.

The word ben (⁨בֵּן⁩, “son”) is connected with banah (⁨בָּנָה⁩, “build”). English gives you a family role; Hebrew also lets you hear a person as part of what a household builds across generations.

ALSO GROWS

banah: Build, build up.

בָּנָה

This verb makes the connection between a son and the building of a household audible.

binyan: Building, structure.

בִּנְיָן

This branch makes the larger structure implicit in the word for son visible: a life belongs within something being built.

אוֹנָן

ʾOnan

GROWS FROM

און

ʾ-w-n

Vigor, strength, vitality.

Onan’s name is commonly connected with ʾôn (⁨אוֹן⁩, “vigor, strength”), though this verse does not explain its origin. Heard alongside ben (⁨בֵּן⁩, “son”), the name brings vitality into the image of a life entering a lineage.

ALSO GROWS

ʾôn: Vigor, strength.

אוֹן

This noun is the likely source of the name’s vitality resonance.

ʾônî: My vigor, my strength.

אוֹנִי

This possessive form appears in Genesis 49:3 and lets the name echo language of strength carried within a family line.

THE PATTERN

A life takes its place in a greater household or community, becoming part of what is being built.

And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

Genesis 16:2 · KJVThe Hebrew verb banah (⁨בָּנָה⁩, “build”) underlies “obtain children,” presenting offspring as part of how a household is built.

And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Beth-lehem:

Ruth 4:11 · KJVRachel and Leah are described as building the house of Israel, joining family life to the making of a people.

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:5 · KJVEach person is pictured as part of a house being built, extending the pattern from family lineage to a shared community.

THE THREAD

And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

Genesis 16:2 · KJV

The Hebrew behind “obtain children” uses banah (⁨בָּנָה⁩, “build”); Sarai’s words carry the sense of being built up. That same root is connected to ben (⁨בֵּן⁩, “son”) here, so the birth opens onto the image of a household being built.

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