Footnote

a God executed Onan for ‘wasting his semen on the earth.’ However, interrupted intercourse, not masturbation, was involved. Furthermore, the execution was because Onan selfishly failed to perform brother-in-law marriage in order to continue his deceased brother’s family line. (Genesis 38:1-10) The “emission of semen” mentioned at Leviticus 15:16-18 apparently refers, not to masturbation, but to a nocturnal emission as well as to marital sex relations.