TAMAR TRICKS JUDAH INTO FATHERING HER CHILD, THUS BECOMING A DIRECT FORBEAR OF BOTH KING DAVID AND JESUS CHRIST

 

Genesis 38 > Exodus

WARNING: Masturbation, Murder, Adultery, Prostitution
CONTEXT: ~ 1765 BCE This abrupt interjection into the Joseph cycle takes place just after he has been sold into slavery by this brothers

Judah is Abraham’s great grandson. YHWH kills Judah’s firstborn son Er and in short order he also kills also his younger brother Onan. We don’t know why or how he kills Er, but we do know that Onan was offed because he masturbated away his seed rather than fulfilling his duty to impregnate Er’s widow Tamar.¹

It is clear from scripture that Onan was not only punished for flogging the dolphin: he was killed for not fulfilling his breeding responsibility to his sister-in-law.² After Er and Onan are murdered by God, Judah has one son remaining, but hesitates to put him in the levirate saddle with Tamar. Considering the fate of the first two sons, this is entirely understandable. 

“Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did.” – Gen 38:11 [ KJV]

The tribal chieftain continues to put Tamar off.

Upon hearing that Judah is planning a sheep shearing road trip with a Canaanite buddy and concluding that the clan boss is not going to willingly provide her with a mate, Tamar hatches a plan. Posing as a temple prostitute, she entices her father-in-law into her tent as he passes on the way to the sheep shindig.³ Not recognizing his veiled daughter-in-law, Judah agrees on a kid goat sex fee and unknowingly takes his pleasure with his sons’ widow. He promises to send her the goat payment later and provides surety by leaving his signet ring, staff and bracelets. Rookie mistake! The latter are emblematic of his official position as tribal ruler. 

Upon returning from the sheepfest, Judah is true to his word. He has his friend take a kid goat and go pay the prostitute, but no such person can be found. Judah is puzzled, but moves on.

But unlike his hapless son, Judah did not spill his seed. Tamar becomes pregnant with a child who will be a forebear of the Messiah, although this is not even slightly clear to the general reader. Three months later, the mean girls in Judah’s camp see observe the Canaanite widow is showing and report her sinful condition to Judah. As chief of the clan, Judah is enforcer of the law, although no law has yet been been given by El or YHWH. Judah gets on his high horse and commands that Tamar be burned for violating tribal morality standards. He sends for her and prepares to execute her for being an unwed mother. But in an excellent plot twist, Tamar produces the personal items Judah had pledged during their amorous encounter. 

“As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” – Gen 38:25. [ESV]

Awkward.

Judah quickly reconsiders the death sentence and does a little soul searching. In due course, Tamar gives birth to twins: Perez and some other guy. We are not told what happens to Shelah (Judah’s remaining son), but based on the scriptural account all descendants of the tribe of Judah are borne by Tamar. Of particular interest is the relationship between the illegitimate birth of Jesus and his forebear Perez, who is the offspring of Judah and an unwed Canaanite woman. These bible facts are never mentioned in Sunday School lessons.

Judah’s family tree is picked up again in 1 Chronicles with the chain of holy lineage passing through the following individuals: Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon and Salman. In later scriptural accounts, Judah’s dalliance with Tamar is semantically glossed over:

“Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.” – Gospel of Matthew 1:3-5 [NLT]

Shelah’s descendants are noted in Number and 1 Chronicles, so he managed to find a wife who would not get him killed by the Lord. However, according to the genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew, the Savior’s blood line runs directly through Judah and his Canaanite daughter-in-law and not through any of his sons.

 

 

“David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.”

– Matthew 1:6

 

NOTES:

1. Look up “onanism” in the dictionary.
2. Extra biblical sources tell us that this obligation is stipulated by levirate law, yet levirate law is first encountered in Deuteronomy and will not be given to Moses for many hundreds of years after Genesis. So Onan is punished for breaking a law of the future
3.  A “qedeshah” or “shrine prostitute” was a legitimate female role in ancient Near Eastern fertility cults. The moral behavior of both characters in the story can be interpreted as one sees fit. If Tamar is posing as a “sacred prostitute,” his actions may be seen as less immoral than simply whoring about. The narrative takes some pains to make sure Judah’s wife has dies, so he is not committing adultery.
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