Genesis 38.1-30

Judah and Tamar

Judah and Tamar: Genesis 38.1-30

The bible is full of quirks. Example: For the previous 37 chapters, it has been considered bad to intermarry. Sarai, Rebekah and Rachel all come from the same family, which is the same as Abraham’s. But here in chapter 38 is a story that condones intermarriage. And prostitution. But that’s okay if you’re not married…right?

Judah heads down to Canaan and settles near an Adullamite named Hirah. He marries the daughter of a man named Shua and has a son with her, whom he names Er. She conceives two more times, bearing Onan and Shelah. Judah gave a woman named Tamar to his son Er as a wife.

Er’ is wicked, so the Lord puts him to death. Judah tells Onan to fulfill the duty of brother-in-law by providing an heir to the dead Er. To do this, naturally, he must sleep with Shua and help raise the child. Onan knows that the offspring would not be “his,” so “he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother’s wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother” (Gen. 38.9). The Lord is angered over Onan’s wicked disregard for sexual and familial duty, so Onan is killed also. Fearing Tamar would die as well, Judah tells Tamar to return to her home, when Shelah can honor Er by producing a child with Tamar.

Judah’s wife dies, and after he finishes mourning, he goes up to Timnah to his sheepshearers. Tamar is told this, and decides to remove her garments of widowhood, put on a veil, and wrap herself up, and sit on the road outside the city. Judah sees her and picks her up, thinking she is a prostitute with her veiled face. He promises a kid from his flock in exchange for her services, but Tamar demands his signet and cord and staff as a pledge until the kid arrives. After the act is done, she returns to wearing her garments of widowhood.

Judah sends a friend with the kid, but the friend cannot find the “temple prostitute” (the most polite way of saying it). Judah tells his friend they should keep this to themselves so that they are not made fun of.

Three months later…surprise! Tamar has “played the whore” and is pregnant (Gen. 38.24). Judah demands she be brought to him, so that she can be burned. She sends word to her father-in-law that it is the owner of a certain signet, cord and staff that made her pregnant. Oops, acknowledges Judah, “She is more in the right and I, singe I did not give her to my son Shelah” (Gen. 38.26). He does not sleep with her again.

Judah’s wife delivers twin sons. During labor, one puts out a hand, and the midwife ties a crimson thread around it to identify the son. But the infant draws back his hand, and his brother comes out first. This one (the one without the thread) is named Perez (a breach). The brother with the crimson thread is called Zerah (brightness).

So here is the deal: Don’t be wicked, be sure to fulfill your brotherly duty, don’t sleep with the woman your son is supposed to fulfill his brotherly duty with, and always keep a deposit when the check’s in the mail.