[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
“Thou shalt not drop the seed of thy fruit onto the ground”.[/quote]
That’s not actually in the Torah (or Bible – not sure about the Christian texts).
Anyway, that’s from the story of Onan. The issue was Jewish law imposes a duty on brother’s to take care of a brother’s widow. Said duty includes providing an heir to take care of said widow in her dotage if she was childless.
Onan just used the widow for sexual pleasure, then pulled out, denying her an heir. (And did other things of this sort ---- taking advantage of her vulnerability, instead of honoring his obligation to take care of her.)
In short, jack off all you want, as long as you are not denying someone an heir or screwing up your relationship with your wife.[/quote]
Gen. 38 - “6 Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judahâ??s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him. 8 And Judah said to Onan, â??Go in to your brotherâ??s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.â?? 9 But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brotherâ??s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.”
I think a common conclusion that pulling out here that is the problem as opposed to Onan’s disobedience to the command in v8. I hadn’t looked at this in a long time but you make a good point. He for sure went against the spirit of the command - period. The ‘how’ he did it is less important. Of course, we are zoomed in here pretty tight and there are lots of other sections to build on the power of the seed and it’s intended use that contribute to the former conclusion.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
“Thou shalt not drop the seed of thy fruit onto the ground”.[/quote]
That’s not actually in the Torah (or Bible – not sure about the Christian texts).
Anyway, that’s from the story of Onan. The issue was Jewish law imposes a duty on brother’s to take care of a brother’s widow. Said duty includes providing an heir to take care of said widow in her dotage if she was childless.
Onan just used the widow for sexual pleasure, then pulled out, denying her an heir. (And did other things of this sort ---- taking advantage of her vulnerability, instead of honoring his obligation to take care of her.)
In short, jack off all you want, as long as you are not denying someone an heir or screwing up your relationship with your wife.[/quote]
Gen. 38 - “6 Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judahâ??s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him. 8 And Judah said to Onan, â??Go in to your brotherâ??s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.â?? 9 But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brotherâ??s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.”
I think a common conclusion that pulling out here that is the problem as opposed to Onan’s disobedience to the command in v8. I hadn’t looked at this in a long time but you make a good point. He for sure went against the spirit of the command - period. The ‘how’ he did it is less important. Of course, we are zoomed in here pretty tight and there are lots of other sections to build on the power of the seed and it’s intended use that contribute to the former conclusion.[/quote]
Sheesh! I mention my dirty habit of spitting my watermelon seeds on the floor, and you guys turn it into a scriptural lesson on birth control!