Genesis 38:1: By contrast to the righteous Joseph (Gen 37; 39), Judah voluntarily leaves his family, and then goes to live with the Canaanites. Unlike Joseph, he chooses association with the “world”, and this is the beginning of all his problems.
V 2: Then he marries a Canaanite, just as his uncle Esau had done. Like Esau, he seemingly despises his “birthright”. (Notice: there is no conversion story for his wife, she apparently remains outside the Abrahamic covenant.)
V 6: Now Tamar enters the story. She is married to Judah’s son Er. She certainly seems to be a Canaanite also (since these were the people Judah was living among: vv 1,2).
Vv 7-9: The wicked Er dies. Then his brother Onan lies with Tamar to raise up seed to his dead brother. Here is the Levirate law: Deuteronomy 25:5-10, the first time it’s invoked (see Appendix: The “Gaal”, or “kinsman-redeemer”). He avoids giving her the “seed” by which she could conceive. He disregards his father, his brother, and Tamar (treating her as an object for his lust, and nothing else).
V. 10 Onan also dies, the object of God’s wrath.
For Tamar, there is the sorrow of bereavement twice, at an early age, but it seems that her character is developed through trials.
Then she realizes that she is being neglected, or ignored, by Judah her father-in-law: ‘Why has he forgotten me?’
V. 11 Judah is now afraid to give his third son (Shelah) to Tamar, according to the Law. Sending her to her father’s house for a long time (“until my son grows up”) seems to be equivalent to dismissing her altogether: ‘I want nothing to do with you at all!’ Thus Judah neglected the need to perpetuate Abraham’s “seed”.
Here is a key to understanding: Tamar the Canaanitess is much more concerned about the covenant-seed (and thus, evidently, about the covenant promises) than is Judah the son of Jacob!
V. 12 “After a long time Judah’s wife… died.” The “long time” means Judah has no intention of giving his third son to Tamar, and now his wife has died (so it seems there are no more children either).
Vv 13-15: In a second case of “hidden identity” in the family history of Abraham (cp. the Leah-Rachel switch in Gen 29), Tamar “plays the part of a harlot”. It is not in her nature to do such a thing; she forces herself. Nevertheless, she risks being treated as a prostitute (and thus she puts her own life on the line) in order, secretly, to perpetuate the family line of the Promised Seed.
Tamar takes upon herself the shame of presumed sin. What an example for us.
And, especially, what an example for Jesus too, when he looks back to contemplate the stories of his ancestors.
V 16a: What a contrast! Judah seeks to satisfy himself in sin; but Tamar is seeking a promised seed.
Vv 16b-18a: Tamar has the foresight to ask for a pledge (a means of identifying herself, and Judah, later). The pledge consists of a signet ring, a bracelet (“cord”: NIV), and a staff. These would be the ancient Mideast equivalent of all a person’s identification and major credit cards.
- The signet ring was the means by which a wealthy man gave his guarantee, i.e., a seal in soft wax that would harden, and mark a paper or letter as coming from him.
- The staff might have had an insignia or other mark by which Judah himself could be identified.
- And especially, there were the “bracelets” or “cord”, from a Hebrew root word “pathal”, meaning to entwine or wrap around. (This will become very significant later.)
In giving up his “identity” to the “prostitute”, Judah is like Esau, who sold his birthright for a meager supper (a porridge of lentils, according to tradition).
V 18b: “So Judah slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.”
Vv 19-23: Right after this, the woman disappears. Let us call it “The Mystery of the Vanishing Prostitute”.
V 24: Several months later, when Judah finds out that Tamar is pregnant, he (now, it would seem, all “righteous”) wants to see her killed for disgracing his family.
Vv 25,26: Who is righteous, and who isn’t? Tamar uses Judah’s own property to prove he is the father of her children. Judah’s sin is unmasked, and her righteous (if rather unorthodox) plan — to preserve and perpetuate the royal lineage of Abraham through Judah — is revealed. Judah can only confess, “She is more righteous than I.”
Vv 27-30: The midwife took a scarlet “cord, or thread” (cp. v 18: the “cord” of Judah!) to mark the firstborn. Quite possibly, this was the same “cord” Judah had given her nine months earlier, and an emblem by which the royal family of Judah could be identified.
Here are the first mentions of “the scarlet thread” of the house of Judah. It will be seen again, and hinted at again and again, as we continue through the story of this family of Jesus. It seems to signify the legitimacy of one’s ancestry, and one’s claim to property and other rights of inheritance. It is even possible that, like a Scottish clan tartan, the pattern and scarlet color became part of a fabric, a flag or ensign, or a special garment. These would mark out the family of Judah ever after. This is not the last we shall see of the “scarlet thread” of Judah…
Though the story is brief, Tamar comes across as a righteous and far-sighted woman. Even though a Gentile, she sees the promises afar off, is persuaded by them, and embraces them (Heb 11:13). She does whatever it takes to associate herself with them. By her faith in action she shares in Judah’s inheritance, although he concedes it rather reluctantly at first. Here, the Gentile is clearly seen to have greater faith than the Jew.
Judah’s loss of two of his three sons is restored by the birth of twins through the Gentile Tamar. Thus, in the future, the loss of two thirds of Israel in the last great tribulation (see Zec 13:8) will be made up by Christ’s Gentile bride.
This incident seems to change Judah’s attitude and conduct toward his brother Joseph. Where earlier Judah had been foremost in selling Joseph into slavery (Gen 37:26-28), he now begins to see that Joseph (as well as Tamar) is more righteous than he. In his later dealings with Joseph, Judah seems to take the lead again, but this time in confessing and seeking Joseph’s forgiveness for himself and for his brothers (Gen 44:14-16).
Also, it may be that Tamar is the means by which Judah is reminded of the wonderful inheritance he has in the promises to Abraham! And so he is prepared to repent and seek for protection from Joseph, who becomes his “kinsman-redeemer”!
As for Tamar, there is perhaps a little New Testament echo of her firmness of faith, and resolve, and refusal to be turned aside from claiming her inheritance in Abraham, in Matthew 15:22-28:
“A Canaanite woman [like Tamar!]… came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.’ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, ‘Send her away [like Judah sent Tamar away], for she keeps crying out after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.’ [And you… why, you are just a Canaanite!] The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said. He replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread [the inheritance of Abraham] and toss it to their [Gentile] dogs.’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said, ‘but even the dogs [such as I] eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered, ‘Woman, you have great faith! [Greater than that of these Jews here!] Your request is granted…’ ”
Gentiles we may be — and women (many of us) — but like Tamar (and like this other Canaanite woman) we know that even the “bread crumbs” of Abraham’s inheritance are worth more, to Jew and Gentile, male and female, than the greatest banquet the “world” can provide.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One