Judah and Tamar: Justice and Redemption

Genesis is full of stories of God's mercy, justice, and righteousness, but it also is smeared with stories of deception, murder, and incest. In chapter thirty-eight, we land amid yet another family marital conflict, placing the family lineage in danger. The story of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar interrupts Joseph's epic narrative and tells a tale of deceit and righteous justice. Today, we will examine the story in its context historically and attempt to analyze the literary and narrative implications. Redemption is the theme of the Bible, and this story, yet again, shows that no one is past redemption.

Our story begins with Judah marrying the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite woman; this is a problematic start; he is stepping away from the family and the covenant laws of succession and birthrights. Judah and the daughter of Shua then have three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah's firstborn, Er, marries Tamar. However, Er is evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord takes his life. As was the custom, Tamar is given to Onan to pass on the family line. Onan does not like carrying on his brother's seed and giving up his birthright. Onan then devised a plan to sleep with Tamar but spill his seed so the line would not be passed to her children. His actions displease the Lord, and Onan is killed. This turn of events frightens Judah; he worries that his third son, Shelah, will also be killed if he marries Tamar. He then sends Tamar back to her father to wait for Shelah to grow up.

Shortly after all this has transpired, Judah's wife passes away. After the appropriate mourning period, Judah takes a trip to go sheep shearing. On the way, he saw who he thought was a prostitute, and he went to her for the night. In the meantime, Tamar has been left at her father's house, and Shelah has grown up, but Judah has never given Tamar to him. Tamar is left with no husband and no future. Tamar hears about Judah's trip, removes her widow's clothes, covers herself with a veil, and waits for Judah on the road. When Judah came into Tamar, she requested his signet, cord, and staff as collateral until the proper payment could be made. However, when Judah sent his servant later to find the prostitute and pay her, she was nowhere to be found. Soon after, Tamar is found with a child, and Judah responds that she should be killed. Tamar then produces Judah's signet, and Judah declares Tamar to be "More righteous than he" and never sleeps with her again. The chapter ends with the birth of Tamar's twins. Zerah sticks his hand out first, and the midwife ties a red cord around his arm to declare him the firstborn. However, Perez was then born, followed by Zerah. This story parallels the birth of Jacob and Esau. Zerah is the firstborn, but Perez is the one who carries on the family line and ends up being the direct line of David.

Let us take a moment to look closer at the two main characters of this story. Judah is the fourth son of Leah, Jacob’s unwanted and unloved wife. His name is a shout of praise to the Lord; Leah hopes that with the birth of her fourth son, her husband will finally love her. Although Judah is fourth in line, his older three brothers jeopardize their place and birthright with their behavior.

The firstborn, Reuben, sleeps with Bilhah, Jacob's concubine, and defiles his father's bed(Genesis 35:12, 49:4). The next two, Simeon and Levi, lose their place in line because of the massacre of Shechem and his household. They are declared violent and cruel(Genesis 34, 49:5-7). These events leave Judah as the next in line. By right, it is possible that if this story had turned out differently and Judah had not changed, or he never gave justice to Tamar, God may have also passed him up and gone to the next rightful brother. It is also interesting to mention that the line is passed through Leah's sons and not the sons of Rachel, the loved wife. Joseph is still abundantly blessed, but he does not receive the blessing of his heritage.

The first individual interaction seen with Judah is when he suggests that Joseph be sold. Reuben had stopped the brothers from killing Joseph, and he was thrown into a pit. Nevertheless, Judah sees the Ishmaelites and sees a way to keep from killing the boy and make some profit. The narrative of chapter thirty-eight is a turning point in Judah's character. From here on out, he is portrayed as the spokesperson for the brothers. He also takes responsibility for the safety of Benjamin when the brothers return to Egypt and even offers his children as payment if anything happens. His interaction with Tamar, time, and age seem to help to mature and ground Judah as a character. When the family moves to Egypt, and the genealogies are listed, Judah is the only one of the twelve brothers whose grandsons are included (Genesis 46:12). His last appearance is in Jacob's blessings in Chapter forty-nine. Here the imagery used is similar to that of Christ, along with the prophetic declaration of his royal lineage.

"Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's sons shall bow down to you. "Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? "The scepter shall not depart from Judah" (Genesis 49:8-10a)

Tamar's story is kept in this one short chapter of Genesis thirty-eight. However, she is also mentioned in the genealogies of the Judaic/Davidic lines. Tamar is a feisty character who takes her fate into her own hands and risks her life to ensure she is not overlooked.

Interestingly, Tamar seems to act alone in her plot; no one has advised her of the law or customs, implying that she knows the law. She also seems to know her father-in-law enough to know that he may visit a prostitute on his trip to Timnah. It is not determined whether this was a norm or if Tamar only hoped that her deception would work. She comes across as a clever and resourceful woman who is unwilling to stand for her injustice. She is one of the four women mentioned in the lineage of Jesus, alongside Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheeba. Each of these women has a problematic past; they have come from the wrong place, the wrong line of work, or the wrong relationship. However, each of these women's stories is about a time when God used the “wrong” person for His righteous acts of faith or judgment. She is also, by proxy, the daughter-in-law of Leah, Jacob's unwanted and overlooked wife. Tamar is followed by much death and injustice. However, her line and name are among those preserved as righteous and full of faith.

This story begins with Judah moving away from many of the traditions of the covenant lifestyle. He first departs from his family and finds a Canaanite wife. This action can be seen as severe as stepping away from God and the faith. Judah's participation in this marriage can then be seen as a catalyst that leads to the death of two sons and his improper relationship with his daughter-in-law.

Additionally, his participation in the supposed act of cult prostitute after the death of his wife also implies his carnal nature and lack of care for the laws of the covenant people. Furthermore, this may also be why Tamar knew where to find her father-in-law. In all these things, Judah acts and reacts and does not seem to see the weight of his actions until the end of the story. He blames Tammar for the deaths of his sons. He possibly regularly participates in cult ritual prostitution but then wants to burn Tamar the second he suspects she is with a child. This is also interesting because stoning is the usual punishment for her crime; however, he wants to inflict a more severe punishment reserved for harsher crimes.

Historically, the practice of Levirate marriage was common throughout many Canaanite and Hittite cultures and was later outlined for the Jewish culture in Deuteronomy 25. (Arnold 326) This ceremony of Levirate marriage, the Yibbum, was meant to keep the purity of family lines and keep a line from dying out. The Brother-in-Law was to take his deceased brother's widow and bear an heir. This heir was not the second brother's child but the deceased's son and would inherit the birthright. There was also the ceremony of the Kinsman Redeemer; this was a process to help take care of the family property to ensure that the family that was left behind would not be destitute and that the inheritance would remain in the family. This process, at times, could include a widow, and a Levirate marriage could be a part of this arrangement. There was also a ceremony, the Halizah (Deuteronomy 25:5-10), that freed the brother of his obligations and let the widow marry whomever she pleased. This ceremony was, however, considered a rather shameful way to deal with the death of a brother.

“Then his brother’s widow shall come up to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall declare, ‘This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house! And in Israel his family shall be called by the name, ‘The house of him whose sandal was removed.” (Deuteronomy 25:9-10)

For Judah's family, this could have been a feasible option for Shelah. It would have benefited Tamar as she would be free to remarry whomever she liked. However, in this case, Judah is fearful that death is following Tamar; it was a common assumption that if a woman was several times a widow, she could be involved in witchcraft (Walton). It could also have been that Judah did not want any scandal or shame brought on the family, so he thought it best just to send her back to her father's house. It is also worth mentioning that in the Levirate tradition, if the brother-in-law dies, the father-in-law is to take the widow and produce the heir. This is typically in the case where there are no more sons left alive.

From a literary perspective, this story is an interruption of the Joseph narrative and helps to build Judah as one of the main characters of Genesis. This story also shows the growth and redemption of Judah. With the downfall of Reuben and the violence of Simeon and Levi, Judah is next to maintain the purity of the line and help fulfill the blessing of Abraham.

This story also has a theme of God's justice. They set precedence to draw from when the law is later written down. Tamar's situation is used later as a case study reference for the necessity of righteousness. Laws protecting the birthright lines and widows are later recorded in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. This also makes this story feel similar to the story of Ruth and Boaz. However, in that case, Boaz willingly steps in and goes through the proper legal process to redeem the line Mahlon. Interestingly enough, when Obed is born, he is still listed as Boaz's son in the line of David. According to the Levirate marriage, the first newborn child will belong to the line of the deceased. However, Boaz is kept in the line, reiterating the recurring theme of redemption.

At first glance, this story seems to be in a long line of the disgraceful ancestry of Christ. Nevertheless, that element of redemption that the story of Judah brings is a running theme throughout all scripture. Judah recognizes the need for justice by the story's end and that Tamar's act is righteous. Judah begins this chapter by separating himself from the family and the covenant. However, shortly after this interaction, he is back with his family, working within his birthright and taking responsibility for the well-being of everyone. Judah does not learn any lesson quickly. He loses two sons and his wife in the process. Nevertheless, no one is past the point of redemption.

The story of Judah and Tamar is complex; culture, tradition, and social norms set the stage for egregious injustice to take place to a young woman. This situation also becomes an opportunity for Judah to reshape his character. He turns back from his abandonment of his family and faith and eventually takes his place in the family line. However, God does not stop there; He uses Judah and Tamar as beautiful examples of righteous justice. It is fascinating how God can use a widow tossed to the side and the fourth son of an unwanted and unloved wife to show the vastness of His redemptive power.

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