Genesis 38, Tamar

Jacob has been sold to Egypt.  We will return to his story but must first look at a strange event involving Judah.

This is a fascinating chapter of sex, children, struggles and conflicts over inheritance and progeny. It gives insight into the ancient mideast culture, a culture very different from our modern world. In it we follow the life of Judah, eventual father of an Israelite tribe that will include David and Jesus.

Genesis 38: 1-5, Judah marries a Canaanite woman

At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah.  There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and lay with her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.

In quick succession, this passage tells of three sons born to Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah.  This story covers several decades and so may include time prior to the trafficking of Joseph.

Recall that Rebekah was not happy that Ishmael married Canaanites, a people that were known for their idolatry.

Genesis 38: 6-10, Onan's sin

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the LORD's sight; so the LORD put him to death. 

Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother."

But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the LORD's sight; so he put him to death also.

We don't know the wickedness of Er, but the wickedness of Onan is to refuse responsibility for extending his older brother's lineage.  The church has long used this passage to condemn male masturbation but that completely ignores the text and context. Onan is practicing "coitus interruptus", not allowing his semen into Tamar. He has the pleasure and release of sex while avoiding the cultural responsibility that put him in Tamar's bed.

John Walton, in his commentary on Genesis, points out that Onan had much to lose by siring a son through Tamar.  Since Er was the firstborn, the birthright would go to Er and his descendants. (Recall Esau and Jacob's fight over the birthright!) But if Er has no sons, then the birthright passes on to Onan. However, any children of Tamar, Er's widow, fall in the line of Er and so the birthright would divert to them, not Onan.  By siring sons with Tamar, Onan loses the birthright.

Genesis 38:11, Dismissal of Tamar

Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Live as a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up." For he thought, "He may die too, just like his brothers." So Tamar went to live in her father's house.

Tamar stays with her own father and waits for a much later opportunity to have children and a lineage. Shelah is the youngest of the three sons and so expecting him to marry Tamar in time to give her a child seems a bit unreasonable.

Genesis 38:13-14, Death of Shua, scheme of Tamar

After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.

When Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep," she took off her widow's clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

Tamar learns that Judah has lost a wife and is headed off to sheep-shearing.  Alter suggests that the time of sheep-shearing would have included some feasting and some drunken partying.  Tamar sees an opportunity to intervene and have a child, to have descendants.  

Genesis 38:15-18, Judah impregnates Tamar

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, "Come now, let me sleep with you." 

"And what will you give me to sleep with you?" she asked.

"I'll send you a young goat from my flock," he said. 

"Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?" she asked.

He said, "What pledge should I give you?" 

"Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand," she answered. 

So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

Apparently a sign of prostitution, in that culture, was to wear a veil. The veil helps Tamar stay anonymous. Tamar is dressed this way for only Judah and they negotiate a price for her body.

Walton claims that in the surrounding Ugaritic culture, if the brother-in-law did not meet the requirements of siring a son with the widow, the father-in-law was obligated to step in.  This would not be the custom in later Israel, but it is possible that Tamar believes that that obligation falls to Judah.

Genesis 38:19-23, Tamar disappears

After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow's clothes again. Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. He asked the men who lived there, "Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?" 

"There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here," they said.

So he went back to Judah and said, "I didn't find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, `There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here.'"

Then Judah said, "Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn't find her."

Note the commonality of shrine prostitutes. Judah views this as just a negotiation poorly completed.

Genesis 38:24-25, Tamar reveals the father

About three months later Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant." 

Judah said, "Bring her out and have her burned to death!"

As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. "I am pregnant by the man who owns these," she said. And she added, "See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are."

What a cruel world for women!  Judah is willing to step aside for sex with a prostitute but, as the male in charge of Tamar's life, is willing to see her burned.

Genesis 38:26-30, Perez and Zerah
Judah recognized them and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah." And he did not sleep with her again.

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, "This one came out first."

 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, "So this is how you have broken out!" And he was named Perez. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out and he was given the name Zerah.

Here we learn that Judah never gave Tamar to his son Shelah. 

According to the NIV footnotes, "Perez" means "breaking out" and "Zerah" can mean "scarlet" or "brightness."  This birth echoes the battle of twins, Jacob and Esau in Rebekah's womb.

Judah is no model hero for the Israelites!  But, following the customs of the time, Perez, through Tamar, receives the birthright of Judah.  That birthright passes on to the descendants of Perez ... including Boaz, King David and the eventual Messiah, Jesus.