10 FEBRUARY 1996, Page 24

No conception

Sir: Ian Hislop is clearly no biblical scholar (Television, 20 January). The sin of Onan was not masturbation. Onan, son of Judah, was required by the law of his time to marry his dead brother's wife, and to recognise a child of their union as his dead brother's offspring. Preferring to be childless rather than have his son carry his brother's name, Onan withdrew early, and the Lord slew him for this act of contraception (Genesis 38: 9). Ian Hislop's argument, based on the premise that onanism is masturbation, seems somewhat ill-conceived (as it were). Emma Rasiel

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