Genesis 38
38 At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. 2 There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; 3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. 4 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. 5 She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.
6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.” 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.
11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelahgrows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.
12 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.
13 When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 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.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute,for she had covered her face. 16 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.
17 “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.
18 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. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.
20 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. 21 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.
22 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.’”
23 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.”
24 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!”
25 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.”
26 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.
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 28 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.” 29 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.[a] 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.[b]
This story is all about the blessing of Abraham continuing through the generations. The eldest son of Jacob was Reuben and he was disqualified from receiving the inheritance because he slept with his father’s concubine. The next two brothers, Simeon and Levi, lost their inheritance because they acted in revenge against Dinah’s rape. This leaves Judah as the brother in line for the inheritance of the blessing and his eldest son to follow.
Judah’s eldest son marries Tamar but he acts wickedly and dies without any heir. The tradition of the time was that a younger brother would stand in for his elder sibling and continue the line. The baby would be considered to be of the eldest son and would allow the line to continue. However, Er, decides that he would rather the blessing be passed on to his children and so he decides to take matters into his own hands.
God is angry with his plans. It is him who decides who will be blessed and his inheritance can not be stolen. He sees the wickedness in Er and he dies as well. Judah has now lost two sons and is worried about his youngest son, the last remaining heir, so he sends Tamar away to fend for herself.
Isn’t it strange how it is the brothers who were wicked and yet Judah sends the widow away. He seems to place all the blame for the sins of his sons on her and so, rather than accept or deal with their faults, he removes a vulnerable woman. There is no sense of care for her in this story at all. She is treated as property and abandoned when inconvenient.
However, Tamar does not allow her story to end this way. She knows that she is meant to be the mother of the heir of God’s blessings and that the legitimate way of doing (within the culture of the time) is to get pregnant by the youngest son.
Se dresses up and sets her plan in motion. However, it is the father that comes along the path. She decides to seduce him instead and finally gets pregnant. This baby would be considered legitimate and Judah now has an heir.
However, people have noticed her behaviour and, accused of prostitution, she is sentenced to death. It is here that Judah discovers her act and that she is praised as being righteous. She showed remarkable humility, boldness and cunning in contrast to the selfishness and cowardice of Judah and Er. This story is strange and confusing for us as we see so much sin in it. However, Tamar is a picture of a woman, surrounded by powerful and corrupt men, who fights for what she deserves and honours God by preserving his blessing upon the family. It is from her line that Jesus will eventually be born. Her courage and faith are inspiring.
