Chris_R wrote:Who is Onan?
Onan was everyman. Just one of us blokes, but biblical.
His brother died and so, according to Jewish tradition, he was obliged by his dad, Judah, to 'lie' with his widowed sister-in-law. He was supposed to do the deed but at the last moment decided that he should make a tactical withdrawal and as the saying goes, "spilled his seed on the ground."
His name gave rise to 'Onanism' which has passed into English public school folklore as "the gravest of sins"
Interestingly, I recently met a fellow who was an expert on ancient Jewish law and he said Onan was a much maligned man as Onan was aware that if he made his sister-in-law pregnant any male offspring would deprive him of his inheritance.
Well, you did ask......
“Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people." Garrison Keillor