There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite: There means in Adullam, in the place he was living. Saw suggests that he came to know the woman, even if he only began by seeing her. In many languages it will be more natural to say, for example, “he became acquainted with.” Note Good News Translation “met.”

Whose name was Shua: the name of Judah’s wife is given in 1 Chr 2.3 as “Bathshua,” which means “daughter of Shua.” We may translate as in Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation, or say, for example, “met a Canaanite woman named Bathshua.”

It is important to recognize that in the case of Judah, in contrast with Abraham getting a wife for Isaac in 24.3, there is no objection to the father of the tribe of Judah marrying a Canaanite woman.

He married her and went in to her: for went in to see 29.23. Note that Good News Translation omits this, since “she bore him a son” in verse 3 clearly means that he had sexual relations with her.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .