Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 38:12

"And in process of time Shua`s daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite." — Genesis 38:12 (ASV)

Timnath. — There were two places with this name (Joshua 15:10; Joshua 15:57). One was a short distance west of Bethlehem; the other was on the Philistine border, beyond Bethshemesh. However, since it lay only about seven miles beyond Adullam, and the flocks there were Judah’s private property (Genesis 38:13) and under Hirah’s charge, this more distant place, now called Tibneh, is probably the Timnath meant, because the pastures at Bethlehem were occupied by his father. (See also Genesis 38:14.)

For the sheep-shearing, see Genesis 31:19. Instead of “his friend Hirah,” the Septuagint and Vulgate render it his shepherd Hirah. This would require changing only the vowels, not the consonants. Most other authorities agree with the Authorised Version; even so, there was most probably some partnership between Judah and Hirah in these flocks, and they would therefore have been under Hirah’s charge whenever Judah was absent tending to his father’s flocks.