But Er, Judah’s first-born, was wicked in the sight of the LORD: Revised Standard Version gives a literal rendering of the Hebrew, which many versions understand to mean that Er displeased or offended the LORD. See Good News Translation. There is no way of knowing what Er did that was bad or displeasing to the LORD. We may translate, for example, “Er … behaved badly so that the LORD caused him to die” or “Er … displeased the LORD so much that the LORD took his life.”

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 .