Introduction
We may be forgiven for wondering why Moses goes on to speak about Judah and his descendants, when he’s in the middle of telling us the story of Joseph.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is clear enough that the episode of this chapter is a vital link in the Toledoth (descendants) of Jacob’.
Willis, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Although Joseph is the chief character in these chapters, Genesis 37-50, these chapters deal with the family of Jacob.
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This chapter is no interpolation, but an integral part of the history of Israel. This chapter deals with matters that cannot be the subject of social conversation, but they are honestly and plainly set forth.’
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The honesty and truthfulness of the historian are shown in his not concealing the dark spots in the history of Judah, whose descendants attained such greatness.’
JUDAH AND TAMAR
‘At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah. There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and made love to her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan. She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him. Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so, the LORD put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, ‘Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfil your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.’ But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so, whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so, the LORD put him to death also.’ Genesis 38:1-10
Here we find the record of Judah going out to the Canaanites, where he married a Canaanite woman. Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and through whom the Saviour of the world would come, Genesis 49:8-12 / Matthew 1:2-3.
Judah leaves his brothers and goes to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah, Genesis 38:1. Judah made a big mistake of taking Shua’s daughter without even asking Shua himself, he even went on to marry her, Genesis 38:2. After making love, she becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son named Er, Genesis 38:3.
Notice that Judah named his son Er, but it was his wife who named the other sons. The name ‘Er’ Genesis 38:3, means watcher, and the name ‘Onan’ Genesis 38:4, means strong, but we don’t know what the name ‘Shelah’ means, Genesis 38:5.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘None of these first three sons of Judah was destined to receive the birthright, in all probability, because of the pagan persuasion of their mother. There might have been a strong aversion on the part of the mother to Judah’s choice of Tamar, evidently a believer in God, as the bride for her sons. Certainly, there was some reason why neither Er nor Onan consented to have a child by Tamar’.
Remember, Judah went ahead and got married to this Canaanite woman, without asking for her parent’s permission, but he himself then chooses a wife for his son Er, her name was Tamar, Genesis 38:6, maybe he’s learning from his own mistake. Sadly, because of Er’s wicked behaviour, we’re not told what specific sins Er was committing, the Lord put him to death, Genesis 38:7 / Acts 5:1-11 / Acts 12:23 / Revelation 2:22.
Hobbs, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There could have been many ways in which he died, but, whatever the manner of death, the wrath of God lay behind it.’
Judah tells Onan to ‘sleep with his brother’s wife’, Genesis 38:8. This was practised to keep the family name going and to uphold the legacy of a brother who died before he had sons. If an older brother died, it was the duty of the next living brother to make love with the widow, the dead brother’s wife, and have children with her for the sake of continuing the future generations of the dead brother.
The children of the dead brother’s wife would then have all legal rights to the deceased’s property and be able to carry on the family lineage of the dead brother, Leviticus 21:9 / Deuteronomy 25:5 / Ruth 1:11-13 / Ruth 4:5-11. What we see happening in our text is Onan refusing to carry out his responsibility, Genesis 38:9, and as a result, God put him to death, Genesis 38:10.
Kidner, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The enormity of Onan’s sin is in its studied outrage against the family, against his brother’s widow and against his own body. The standard English versions fail to make clear that this was his persistent practice. When Genesis 38:9 should be translated ’whenever.’
MASTURBATION
Let’s discuss the ‘M-word’ for a moment, we have male masturbation, female masturbation, adolescent masturbation, and chronic masturbation. Is it a sin to masturbate? Most churches apparently are afraid to speak about the subject and so, they avoid the masturbation topic. This is a little ironic, to say the least when survey after survey reveals a majority of single Christians of all different ages, males, and females, have masturbated.
Personally, I can’t stand it when Christian teachers are so dogmatic on the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ of masturbatory activities because it’s such a complex issue, with many different topics connected to the practice. The Bible is silent on the issue of masturbation even though the vast majority of humankind is preoccupied with it.
The Roman Catholic Church, some Protestant denominations and even Webster’s Dictionary have attempted to equate ‘the sin of Onan’, Genesis 38:6-10, with masturbation, but a simple exegesis of these passages rules out this possibility.
When Onan refused out of selfishness, the Lord killed him. God didn’t whack Onan for masturbating, but rather for ‘spilling his seed’ Genesis 38:9, by ejaculating outside of his dead brother’s wife during sexual intercourse, Deuteronomy 25:5.
‘Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, ‘Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.’ For he thought, ‘He may die too, just like his brothers.’ So, Tamar went to live in her father’s household. After a long time, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him. When Tamar was told, ‘Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,’ she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, ‘Come now, let me sleep with you.’ ‘And what will you give me to sleep with you?’ she asked. ‘I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,’ he said. ‘Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?’ she asked. He said, ‘What pledge should I give you?’ ‘Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,’ she answered. So, he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again. Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. He asked the men who lived there, ‘Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?’ ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,’ they said. So, he went back to Judah and said, ‘I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’ Then Judah said, ‘Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.’ Genesis 38:11-23
When we think about Tamar, we can’t help but sympathise with her, she’s already been deceived by two husbands and now she’s going to be deceived by her father-in-law, Judah, because he had no intentions of marrying her to Shelah, Genesis 38:11. Judah’s wife dies, Genesis 38:12, and when he had recovered from his grief, he goes to Timnah, Joshua 15:57, to the sheep shearers, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him, Genesis 38:12.
When Tamar found out her father-in-law was on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep, Genesis 38:13, she takes her widow’s clothes off, disguises herself with a veil, and sits down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah, Genesis 38:14.
Willis, in his commentary, says the following.
‘According to Assyrian law, only a cult prostitute was to wear a veil.’
Tamar obviously wanted Shelah to be her husband in order to keep the family heritage of Er going, Genesis 38:14, but this wasn’t going to happen. And although she herself has been deceived time and time again, she will go on to do some deceiving herself, she comes up with a plan to lure Judah into having children for Er’s sake.
Tamar goes to great lengths to disguise herself with a veil and Judah thinks she’s a prostitute, Genesis 38:15. The word ‘prostitute’, here means someone who gives themselves in sex to honour a pagan god, but the word prostitute used in Genesis 38:21-22, means someone who stands in the street, offering sexual favours as a profession.
It’s well documented that prostitutes of any kind charge for their services, and it seems that Judah is more than willing to pay, Genesis 38:16. Judah suggests that a young goat should be enough to pay for her services, but Tamar asks for a pledge until she receives the young goat, Genesis 38:17. Judah asks what pledge can he give her, and asks for his seal and its cord, and the staff in his hand, Genesis 38:18.
We don’t really know the significance of the seal, the cord, and the staff, it’s possible that the seal and the cord had the name of their owner written on them. They may have been expensive but remember Tamar isn’t doing this for the money, she wants them to use against Judah later when she becomes pregnant so that she can continue in Er’s family heritage.
Judah gives her the items, sleeps with her and she becomes pheasant, Genesis 38:18, after which she leaves, takes off her veil and puts her widow’s clothes back on, Genesis 38:19. It appears that Judah is beginning to realise that sleeping with a prostitute was a mistake, he even sent a friend, with an offering to retrieve his pledge, Genesis 38:20, but he couldn’t find her because Tamar had removed her veil and put her widow clothes back on.
Adullamite asks some men where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim? And they tell him there hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here, Genesis 38:21. Adullamite goes back to Judah and tells him he didn’t find her and the men he met told him there hasn’t been any shrine prostitute there, Genesis 38:22.
Judah says to Adullamite, just let her keep what she has, or he will become a laughingstock. He did send her the young goat and you couldn’t find her, Genesis 38:22. It’s clear that Judah has become very confused when he realises there are no prostitute shrines anywhere near where he lives.
‘About three months later Judah was told, ‘Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result, she is now pregnant.’ Judah said, ‘Bring her out and have her burned to death!’ As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law. ‘I am pregnant by the man who owns these,’ she said. And she added, ‘See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.’ Judah recognized them and said, ‘She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.’ And he did not sleep with her again.’ Genesis 38:24-26
It took three months for word to get back to Judah that Tamar was pregnant because of prostitution and despite her being Judah’s daughter-in-law he has no hesitation in passing the death sentence, Genesis 38:24 / Leviticus 20:10. As she was being brought out, she sends a message to her father-in-law, telling him that she was pregnant by the man who owns the seal with the cord and the staff, Genesis 38:25.
Judah soon discovers that, Tamar, despite pretending to be a prostitute wasn’t the real problem, it was Judah himself. After being presented with the seal, cord and staff, Judah made the remarkable declaration that ‘she is more righteous than he is’ and as a result he didn’t sleep with her again, Genesis 38:26. Although Tamar isn’t innocent in all of this, Judah had neglected his legal responsibility in providing Shelah as a husband for Tamar in order for them to have children and carry forward Er’s heritage.
‘When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so, the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, ‘This one came out first.’ But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, ‘So this is how you have broken out!’ And he was named Perez. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah.’ Genesis 38:27-30
When the time came for her to give birth, there were two twin boys in her womb, Genesis 38:27. The only mothers in the Bible who bore twins were Rebekah, Genesis 25:24, and Tamar. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand and so, the midwife takes a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, this one came out first, Genesis 38:28.
The first one draws his hand back in and his brother came out first and the midwife says, so this is how you have broken out! Genesis 38:29. He was named Perez, Genesis 38:29, which means breaking out. His twin brother now comes out, the one who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, and he was named Zerah, Genesis 38:30, meaning scarlet.
Waltke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘A key to this story is the remarkable similarity between the births of Perez and Zerah and of Jacob and Esau. Both births involve twins; in both the younger thrusts ahead of the elder and displaces him; and in both the one who is naturally expected to get the birthright, but loses it, is associated with red: red stew in the case of Esau and a red string in the case of Zerah.’
Why did God allow this event to happen? Despite Tamar being deceived and deceiving others, she shows us that God loves all people, and He can use anyone to bring about His will. He used this Canaanite woman because she turned away from paganism and turned to the One true God.
This again reminds us of why these events were written in-between the story of Joseph, they remind us that through Perez would come, Boaz, then David, and eventually the Christ, 1 Chronicles 2:3-15 / Ruth 4:18-22 / Matthew 1:3-16 / Luke 3:23-33.