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The talmud explains that this is not directly because of either giving birth or being ritually impure. (Many things can cause ritual impurity, ranging from being in the same room as a dead human to having certain bodily emissions.) The sin-offering after birth is to atone for inappropriate things she might have said during the birth (remember, no drugs to ...

While researching my answer to Jon's question I came across the following rabbinic interpretation (Babylonian talmud, Yevamot 34b): [The source for] Onan's [guilt] may well be traced, for it is written in Scripture, That he spilt it on the ground; whence however, [that of] Er? -R. Nahman b. Isaac replied: It is written, And He slew him also, he also died ...

In the end, the focus is less on Er than it is on Judah and Tamar. Judah was stealing Tamar's rightful due, namely a sin and support mechanism. What Er did was irrelevant to the focus the author wished to place on Judah's bad behavior. For more on Tamar and Judah, check out: Why was Tamar more righteous than Judah Did God really kill Onan for masturbating? ...

I think Matthew Henry's Commentary answers your question best: It is not so much an abuse of the body as of somewhat else, as of wine by the drunkard, food by the glutton, etc. Nor does it give the power of the body to another person. Nor does it so much tend to the reproach of the body and render it vile. This sin is in a peculiar manner styled ...

From a Christian perspective prophets after the return from the Babylonian exile are often citing visions about the days of Messiah. However there is no evidence that ancient rabbinic sources understood Zechariah 5 as referring to the end times. Therefore, it seems purely a Christian view that equates this chapter to those times. Under that view, the woman ...

This prophecy concerns the problems encountered in rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is closely connected with the story in Ezra 4. The wicked woman in the "eiphah" measure (bushel or barrel) represents one or more of the enemies of Israel, primarily the Samaritans and the Edomites, who harassed the builders after being excluded from the rebuilding ...

The text is obviously ambiguous on this point and I agree with AffableGreek that Er isn't the focus of the story. However... Firstborns don't do well in the Pentateuch: Cain is made to be a wanderer (4:11) Ishmael is excluded from the Abrahamic covenant Esau is excluded from the Abrahamic covenant Reuven, Gad, and Menasheh, all firstborns, take up ...

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains the sin-offering of the new mother, and similarly that of the nazirite, as a sort of prophylactic offering: At the moment the woman (or the formar nazirite) re-enters ordinary human interactions, she brings this offering to symbolize her commitment to refrain from sin.