According to the Bible, Shelah/Shela (Hebrew: שֵׁלָה, Modern: Shela, Tiberian: Šēlā, meaning "petition"[1]) was the third son of Judah, and was born at Chezib,[2] which can be identified with an unknown town in the vicinity of Mareshah.
[9][11] Professor Aaron Demsky argues that the genealogy of Shelah is an allegory of the history of Shelanite clans in Shephelah (i.e. Judean foothills).
Remnants of the Er clan joined the Shelanites and founded the city of Lecah, which was the alternative name for Lachish.
[3] Scholars have argued that the Tamar and Shelah narrative has a secondary role in either promoting the institution of levirate marriage, or presenting an aetiological myth for its origin;[9] Shelah's role in the narrative would thus be as the example of a brother refusing to perform levirate marriage.
[9] John Emerton regards the evidence for this as inconclusive, though classical rabbinical writers argued that this narrative concerns the origin of levirate marriage.