Thursday, November 7, 2019

Genesis 38 - Judah and Tamar

Judah and Tamar  
https://chongsoonkim.blogspot.com/2019/06/genesis-38-almost-never-told-story.html

Summary https://marksbiblejourney.blogspot.com/2019/10/genesis.html
"Jacob's son Judah left his brothers at about the same time that Joseph was sold into slavery.  Judah settled near an Adullamite named Hirah.  There Judah takes the daughter of Shua to be his wife, and she has three sons:  Er, Onan, and Shelah.  Later on, Judah finds a wife, Tamar, for his first born son, Er.  Following this, Er dies because he was evil in the Lord's sight.  Judah tells his second born, Onan, to produce offspring with Tamar.  Onan sleeps with Tamar but does not impregnate her because he pulls out before ejaculation.  Onan did not want to produce offspring with his brother's wife.  What he did was evil in the Lord's sight, so God puts him to death also.  At that time, Tamar remains a widow at her father's house and she waits for Judah's youngest, Shelah, to grow up.  After a long time, Judah's wife dies.  Tamar dresses like a prostitute, and Judah sleeps with her not knowing that she is his daughter-in-law.  In exchange for sleeping with her, Judah promises to give her a young goat.  Tamar asks for collateral until she receives the goat.  Judah gives her his signet ring, cord, and staff.  Tamar gets pregnant by Judah.  It is later known that Tamar is pregnant.  Judah wants her to be burned to death for acting like a prostitute.  Before this happens, Tamar returns Judah's signet ring, cord, and staff.  Judah then realizes what he had done.  At this point, Judah says that she is in the right more than him because he did not give Shelah to her in marriage.  Judah does not sleep with her again.  Tamar has twins by Judah.  Their names are Perez and Zerah."

Reading from the Amplified Bible (AMP) version..

  • "Now at that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to [stay with] a certain Adullamite named Hirah. There Judah saw a daughter of Shua, a Canaanite, and he took her [as his wife] and lived with her. So she conceived and gave birth to a son and Judah named him Er. Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. Again she conceived and gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Chezib that she gave birth to him." v.1-5
  • "Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him [in judgment]." v.6-7
  • "Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow at your father’s house until Shelah my [youngest] son is grown”; [but he was deceiving her] for he thought that [if Shelah should marry her] he too might die like his brothers did. So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house." v.11
  • "So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself up [in disguise], and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife [as Judah had promised]. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a [temple] prostitute, for she had covered her face [as such women did]." v.14-15
  • "Judah recognized the articles, and said, “She has been more righteous [in this matter] than I, because I did not give her to my son Shelah [as I had promised].” v.26
  • "Now when the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one [baby] put out his hand, and the midwife took his hand and tied a scarlet thread on it, saying, “This one was born first.” But he pulled back his hand, and his brother was born first. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself [to be the firstborn]!” So he was named Perez (breach, break forth). Afterward his brother who had the scarlet [thread] on his hand was born and was named Zerah (brightness)." v.27-30

My personal observations and reflections...

Genesis 38 (briefly) focused on Judah's story, the 4th son of Leah and Jacob, before proceeding to Joseph's story at Egypt.
  • RELATIONS WITH CANAANITES. Judah, who may be around 20-21 y/o, moved away from his brothers and family, perhaps for the purpose of marriage. Just like his uncle Esau, Judah chose to marry a Canaanite woman (unnamed). She gave birth to 3 sons named Er, Onan and Shelah.
* Where and what is Adullam? https://www.gotquestions.org/cave-of-Adullam.html
* "The Canaanite neighbors were rapidly corrupting the family of Israel. Their future looked like a combination of corruption and assimilation. God had a plan to bring them out of Canaan." David Guzik
  • LEVIRATE MARRIAGE. Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar (probably a Canaanite). However, Er "was evil in the sight of the Lord", so his life was cutoff, leaving Tamar a childless widow.
* What could be Er's sins?
- Gill's Exposition (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/genesis/38.htm), "And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord,.... That is, exceedingly wicked, as this phrase signifies, Genesis 13:13, was guilty of some very heinous sin, but what is not mentioned; according to the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi, it was the same with his brother Onan's, Genesis 38:9, which it is suggested he committed, lest his wife should prove with child, and lose her beauty; but if it had been the same with his, it would have been expressed as well as his. An Arabic writer (p) says, that he cohabited with his wife not according to the course of nature, but in the "sodomitical" way"
- Barnes' Notes (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/genesis/38.htm), "Was evil in the eyes of the Lord." The God of covenant is obliged to cut off Er for his wickedness in the prime of life. We are not made acquainted with his crime; but it could scarcely be more vile and unnatural than that for which his brother Onan is also visited with death."

Judah had to obliged his 2nd son Onan to "perform his duty as a brother-in-law [under the levirate marriage custom], [be Tamar's husband and] raise children for [the name of] his brother." (v.8)

"Levirate marriage is one response to the challenges that arose when an Israelite man died leaving a widow but no children. What becomes of a widow with no children to care for her? What becomes of a man’s “name” and property in the absence of direct heirs? Levirate marriage, as described in Deut 25:5-10, offers a solution to both questions: Let the dead man’s brother marry the widow and let the children, or at least the first child of this union, be “accounted” to the deceased." https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/related-articles/levirate-marriage

However, Onan failed to do his duty. Because he "knew that the child (heir) would not be his [but his dead brother’s]" (v.9), he purposely avoided and prevented conception with Tamar. What Onan did was (also) displeasing in the sight of the Lord, so he died as well like his brother Er.

* "Onan pursued sex as only a pleasurable experience. If he really didn’t want to father a child by Tamar, he should never have had sex with her at all. He refused to fulfill his obligation to his dead brother and Tamar." David Guzik

It seems that marrying a Canaanite was never a good idea, because it was contrary to God's will, and it was what Abraham and Isaac and Jacob avoided in their lives, too. But we will still see God's goodness and faithfulness despite Judah's actions (sins). God will always make a way so that His great plans and purposes will prevail.

"Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”/Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 1 Corinthians 15:33
  • JUDAH'S DECEPTION. It seems to me, this sin is becoming a curse in Jacob's family. Judah have only one son now, Shelah, and he was still too young to take on the "levirate marriage" obligation. Judah promised that when Shelah has grown, Tamar can be married with him, but he was lying. Judah may have felt afraid that his son might die too. Maybe he knew that his sons were corrupted and sinful, or maybe he was in denial and he attributed his son's deaths as Tamar's fault. 
* "One can understand Judah’s hesitancy to give his last son as a husband to Tamar. God already judged two of her previous husbands. Judah essentially vowed he would not give Shelah as husband to Tamar as custom and righteousness commanded, but he would simply put her off on the issue." David Guzik

  • TAMAR'S DESPERATE MOVES. Some years have passed, Judah's wife died, and Tamar also "saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife [as Judah had promised]." (v.12)
Judah, the father of the house, had failed to do his duty to the widow Tamar. So, Tamar made an elaborate plan to make sure she will have sons, by lying intimately with Judah. She disguised herself as a prostitute; "she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself up [in disguise], and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah." (v.14). After all the negotiation, Tamar got what she wanted and she conceived.

* "Tamar did not want to face what would be a very difficult existence in that culture or in any culture: life with no husband or children." David Guzik

* "Tamar didn’t have the option of just finding another man to marry. She was under the headship of her father-in-law Judah, and he had to give her a husband. He determined whom and when she could marry." Dwelling in the Word

  • SURPRISE! After 3 months, Tamar was gossiped and accused of immorality, because of being pregnant despite being an unmarried widow. Because of the deposit that Judah gave her before (“Your seal and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand.” v.18), it was revealed that Judah, the father-in-law was the father.
* "Judah found it easy to pass judgment on someone who sinned just as he sinned, without passing the same judgment on himself. Tamar acted shrewdly and vindicated herself against the charge of harlotry. She made the logical appeal of noting that the man who hired her was just as guilty as she was." David Guzik

* "Filled with guilt, Judah recognized his sin and acknowledged his failure to provide for his daughter-in-law, confessing, “she is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah” (Genesis 38:26). In doing so, Judah became one of the first recorded examples of a public confession of personal sin." https://www.christianity.com/wiki/people/who-was-tamar-in-the-bible.html
 Ancient cylinder seal
"The seal, cord and staff had a person’s emblem carved on them, and were items of great personal worth."
  • TWINS! Baby twins run in the family of Abraham! And there was an amusing story of giving birth again, just like Esau and Jacob. While Tamar was in labor, one baby put out his hand, "so the midwife took his hand and tied a scarlet thread on it, saying, “This one was born first.” I think that a red, scarlet thread represents the blood of Jesus; just my opinion. However, he pulled back his hand, as if giving way to the other twin to be the firstborn. The other twin then emerges, and was born first. The midwife said “What a breach you have made for yourself [to be the firstborn]!” So he was named Perez (breach, break forth). (v.29) Isn't that a fitting name for the coming Messiah, Jesus? Who breached, break forth in the world just to save all of us from our sins. God's plans continues-- out of Perez's line, Jesus will one day be born. The other twin was named Zerah (brightness), another fitting name or description for our Savior, who is the Light of the world.
* "Tamar and Judah later bore twin boys named Perez and Zerah. Ironically, out of Perez’s line, both King David and later Jesus Christ, the Messiah, were born (Matthew 1:3). This is testament to God’s prevailing mercy. For even the most flawed and sinful of men can be used and blessed by God, not because of their merit, but because of His grace and the power of repentance." https://www.christianity.com/wiki/people/who-was-tamar-in-the-bible.html
Judah Genealogy pointing to Jesus

"This story in Genesis 38 gives us the background to how that worked out. We also know that Jesus was a descendant of David. Tamar was an ancestress of David as well. This story shows us God’s great sovereignty over history. It shows us that God’s plans worked out just as He foretold through the prophets. Tamar would be in the line of ancestry of the Lord Jesus along with several other Bible women – Sarah, Rebecca, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Rahab.

What can we learn from Tamar’s life? A woman in her place and time had very few options. We cannot just dismiss her as a terrible sinner. Judah did not. He said that she was more righteous than he was. He knew that his sin in not giving her Shelah as he had promised led her into desperate means. If not for Tamar, Judah’s line would not continue. It was his responsibility and he neglected it.

Another lesson for us is the incredible love and mercy of God. God did not reject Tamar either, making her an ancestress of the Savior, His Son. God works out good even from our mistakes (Romans 8:28). Let’s don’t presume on God, however and always strive to obey Him without sinning. While the method that Tamar used seems wrong, we live in a sinful world and we should not judge her too harshly. God blessed her!!" https://mylordkatie.wordpress.com/tag/tamar-and-judah/

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