Q.
154
What is the sin of Onan, and why is it bad?
Jason Boyett
Who is...
?
Jason Boyett
I have known my wife since we both were in preschool.A.
Onan was the son of Judah. When Onan’s brother died, Judah
asked him to procreate with his widowed sister-in-law in order to
produce an heir for the dead brother (this was to fulfi ll Levirite law
and was an accepted custom back then—see Deut. 25:5–6). But Onan didn’t
want to do it, so he would interrupt the intercourse and, according to Genesis
38:9, “[spill] his semen on the ground.” Genesis says this was wicked in God’s
sight, and the Lord put Onan to death.
This has long been referenced as a roundabout prohibition of masturba-
tion, which eventually became known as “onanism.” But Onan wasn’t killed for
masturbating, because that’s not what he was doing. He was practicing “coitus
interruptus.” Nor was he killed, as some think, for “wasting” his semen.
Leviticus 15:17 discusses ways to “clean up” semen, so wasting bodily
fl uids doesn’t seem to have been deserving of the death penalty. The sin of
Onan was most likely one of disobedience, dishonesty, and selfi shness. Onan
didn’t follow the rules or obey his family’s wishes, and God saw fi t to destroy
him for it.Becky Garrison
Who is...
?
Becky Garrison
After having been raised by hippie parents, I went all Alex P.
Keaton and joined the Young Republicans in my twenties.A.
The problem here is that Onan was being a jerk, not that he jerked
off. Had he done the right thing by Jewish law and married his
dead older brother Er’s widow, Tamar, maybe so many Jews and
Christians wouldn’t be screwed up sexually.