Gen. 38:1-30

1. Locate the passage

This passage seems to interrupt the Joseph narrative. It reminds us that the focus has not left Jacob and his family (Gen. 37:2). Here, we see another picture of deceit in Jacob’s family. The passage provides additional insight into Judah’s character, it highlights one aspect of the Jewish law, and ultimately is another picture of the sexual dysfunction of Jacob’s family that juxtaposes Joseph’s response to sexual temptation in the next chapter.

2. Genre

The passage is narrative and includes conversations between Judah and Tamar twice before their sexual encounter (but not after), then the people and Judah after Tamar is found to be with child by Judah. It also records the conversation between the midwife and Tamar at the birth of her twins.

3. Determine the structure of the passage

4. Exegete the passage

Meanwhile … back to the rest of Jacob’s family. Joseph has been sold into slavery by his brothers and Judah and the rest move on with their lives.

This passage vividly contrasts the innocent of Joseph with the guilt of his brothers, here represented by Judah.

• Judah
  • Judah separates from his family
  • Marries outside the community of faith
    • Has children continued his family’s history of sexual dysfunction
  • Lies to his daughter-in-law
  • Disrespects the law
  • Seeks to have sex with a prostitute after the death of his wife who he believed to be a pagan temple prostitute
  • Consents to punish Tamar for committing the same sin for which he was guilty
• Joseph
  • Was faithful even in prison
  • The hand of the Lord was with him
  • Was faithful to his master
  • Was faithful in sexual temptation
  • Continued to be faithful even when falsely accused and thrown into a worse prison
  • Refused to hold his brothers’ sin against them.

The irony of Er, despite the fact that his name spelled backwards in Hebrew ( עֵֽרand רַע) means, “Evil” and the obvious connection of his name in English to “error,” is that his name in Hebrew means, “protector” (HALOT). An act he clearly did not live up to with Tamar.

38:1 – A great deal is contained in the phrase, “Judah departed from his brothers”

• The phrase, “at that time” connects the events of Genesis 38 with Genesis 37 and 39.
• Judah left the confines of his family
• The word “departed” renders the Hb. “yarad,” which means, “went down”
  • The word is an obvious connection with Gen. 39:1 where Joseph “yarad” to Egypt.
• The fact that he went away from his brothers explains the bad decisions that ensued.
  • Believers tend to make bad decisions when they are not where they are supposed to be and doing what they are not supposed to be doing.
  • Judah left his brothers and “saw” a Canaanite woman.

38:2 – Sexual miscontrol continues to plague in Jacob’s (Abraham’s) family

• Judah is tempted by what he “saw” and acts out of lust
• That the woman is unnamed in the story (she is known only by her nationality [Canaanite] and her father’s name [Shua]) demonstrates that the story is more about Judah’s wandering then her significance to the plot.

38:3-5 – The unnamed woman bore Judah 3 sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah

• Judah’s 3 sons are given Hebrew names though the woman who bore them was Canaanite.
• He was in “Chezib”
  • The Hebrew text … implies that only Shelah was born in Chezib, while the LXX implies (“when she bore them”) that there she bore all of the sons—Er, Onan, and Shelah. ^[1]Dale W. Manor, “Chezib (Place),” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 904.

38:6-7 – Judah procures a wife for his son, Er.

• Nothing is said of Tamar’s background. The text is silent as to whether she was a Canaanite or an Israelite. The identification of Judah’s wife as a Canaanite (38:2) and the lack of an identification here may be significant. Though, Judah would certainly have no right to insist that his children marry Israelite women, since he did not.
  • The text says in 38:11 that she went to live in her father’s house, yet the subsequent events (i.e. 38:14 – “she saw”) suggest that she is living in proximity.
  • The irony is that though little is known of her, she is the one considered “righteous” in the end.
• Er is only in the story for a short time. He was killed by the Lord because he was “wicked.”
  • The Hb. “ra” means, “evil.” No specifics are given as to his sin (s).

38:8-10 – Judah gave Er’s widow to Onan

• The practice of Levirate marriage is indicated here.
  • This suggests that the sin or Er was different from the sin of Onan, since Onan was specifically instructed to raise an heir to his brother.
  • The specific instructions on Levirate marriage are not given until the law is declared (Deut. 25:5-10).
  • It is unclear if this practice was regularly followed prior to this time, or if Judah is mandating something on his son that he has adopted from other cultures.
• Onan’s sin was his disobedience to his father and his selfish attempt to avoid rearing children in his brother’s name.
  • The Lord saw the act for what it was – evil
  • The Hb. “ra’a” means, “evil” suggests that what Onan did was “evil” as was his brother’s act (38:7) where the same word is used.

38:11 – Judah promised something to Tamar that the text is not clear that he intends to fulfil

• He promises to give Shelah to Tamar when he is grown (Hb. “gadal” means “great” or “grown.”)
• Yet, the phrase, “lest he also die like his brothers” suggests that he did not intend to give Shelah to her because he was afraid that the same fate would befall him as did his brothers.
• Tamar is left destitute and a victim of Judah’s sin and that of his sons. But, Judah, does not give her permission to remarry, but disingenuously promises his only remaining son to her. Thus, like he did with Joseph, Judah is content to resign Tamar to a destitute life – and he doesn’t seem to give the matter any further thought. She is simply another victim of his rash acts and deception.

38:12 – After a long time

• The phrase suggests that Tamar came to understand that Judah was not going to be faithful to his promise to her to give her to Shelah.

38:13-16 – It was told Tamar

• It’s not clear if Tamar is simply being given information or a suggestion
• Tamar seems to have an idea about Judah’s proclivity to sexual temptation
  • The fact that his wife has just died could make him more vulnerable to temptation
  • However, though Tamar positioned herself to meet Judah, the text indicates the Judah initiated the conversation with her.
  • Like Jacob was deceived into having sexual relations with someone that he did not anticipate, so Jacob was “tricked” into having sexual relations with his daughter-in-law.
• The “taking off” of her widow’s garments (14) and putting them back on (19) suggests that her commitment to Judah’s promise was more important to her than her temporarily subjecting herself to incest and to being suspected of prostitution.
  • The fact that Judah later commends her as “more righteous” than he was (26) suggests that he later came to understand this.

38:17-18 – Tamar requests items that would easily be identified as belonging to Judah. She had clearly thought through this plan.

• Though the plan hinged on two things: one, Judah would fall for the trap; and two, that she would get pregnant by him.

38:20-23 – Judah sought to fulfill his pledge to the roadside “harlot.”

• That she was not “found” appears three times in text (20, 22, 23)
• Judah asked for the whereabouts of the “qedesa,” (as opposed to a “zona” or “prostitute) which typically referred to a “Temple prostitute.”
  • Thus, Judah suspected that Tamar not only was a prostitute, but a prostitute at a pagan temple. This suggests that his sexual temptations were such that even a violation of his faith did not cause him pause.
  • This is a different word than Dinah’s brothers used in Gen. 34:31.
• It is significant that he was concerned of being “shamed.”
  • It is not clear if he is afraid of people finding out that he had sex with a prostitute or if a prostitute outsmarted him.

38:24 – When it was discovered that Tamar was pregnant, she was accused of “zona,” not “qedesa.”

• That Tamar was still considered Judah’s “daughter-in-law,” even though at the moment she was not technically married to any of his sons recalls his commitment to her to give her to his son.
• Judah does not make the obvious connection and piously and hypocritically pronounces a death sentence upon her.

38:25 – Tamar was paraded in front of her father-in-law, but instead of her being shamed, the tables are turned, when she publically announces the identity of the father of her child.

• Since the staff, ring, and cord are easily identified as belonging to Judah.

38:26 – It is clear that Judah immediately knows two things:

• Tamar is more righteous than he
• See 1 Sam. 24:17 – Saul made a similar pronouncement regarding David
• He failed in his promise to her to give her to Shelah

38:27-30 – Tamar gave birth to twins

• See Gen. 25:24 for the same expression
• When the first son was about to be born, his hand came out first and the midwife tied a scarlet thread to identify him as the firstborn. However, he withdrew his hand and his brother actually was born first.
  • Thus, the almost (and perhaps arguably) firstborn son was named, “breach,” or “breakthrough” to identify his fumbled firstborn status.
  • The actual firstborn son was named, “zerah” or “rising; dusk.” The name may be a shortened form of zĕraḥyāh or zĕraḥʾēl, “Yahweh [God] has risen [like the morning-sun].” ^[2]Ernst Axel Knauf, “Zerah (Person),” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1080.
  • See Josh 7:1 when Achan, a descendant of Zerah was condemned and ultimately destroyed for violating the Lord’s command not to take things under the ban.
  • See Ruth 4:12 as a blessing was pronounced on Ruth and Boaz that their house would be like the house of Perez, the son of Tamar.

5. Let the structure of the text drive the sermon

• We tend to make bad decisions when we get away from the community of faith
  Exp. The decisions we may say a lot about who we are
  Exp. When we are where we should not be, doing what we should not be doing, we should not be surprised when we find ourselves vulnerable to temptation.
  • Judah was where he should not have been
    Exp. Note in 38:1 that he left his brothers. Now, his brothers were not stellar exemplars of faith, but in leaving him, he also left the land where the Lord instructed his family to dwell. Moreover, he entered into Canaanite territory. Was he looking for a Canaanite wife? We don’t know. We just know that when he was where he should not have been, the bad decisions came more easily.
  • Judah was doing what he should not have been doing
    Exp. Judah married someone he should not have married
    Exp. He should have seen this one coming (Abraham, Ishmael, Esau). His family had been given clear instructions to marry within the family.
  • Judah was unfaithful to his promise
    Exp. Judah made a commitment to his word and was intentionally unfaithful. When he was confronted with his sin with Tamar, he immediately knew (38:26) that her actions resulted from his unfaithfulness to his word.
  • Judah was hypocritical in condemning someone else’s sin which was the same as his own
    Exp. It’s always easier to identify everyone else’s sin
    Exp. Even while condemning Tamar for the identical sin for which he was  guilty, Judah didn’t make the connection until she pointed it out to    him.
    Ill. Jesus said something about this in Matt. 7:3

• Our character says a lot about our faith
  • How did Tamar know that Judah would be tempted by her “prostitute” costume? Clearly she knew something about his character
  • Judah, in his mind, was not only sleeping with a prostitute, but a pagan prostitute.

• The consequences of our sin can have lasting impact
  • Two of his sons died; daughter-in-law forced to make a decision out of desperation; family affected; sons (twins) bore that identity for a lifetime
    • Judah was not responsible for the evil of Er and Onan, but his actions certainly negatively influenced them.
    • The fact that the death of Tamar’s husbands was by God’s hand suggests the significance that He places on our sin.

Theological Question: Does God condone deceit?

• Without question, Tamar’s actions, on their own, were wrong. However, in the text, Judah announces that she was “more righteous” than him. Moreover, in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. 1:3), she is one of only 5 women who are mentioned.
• Similar actions were also employed by Sarah, Leah, Rahab, Michal, Jael, and the woman who confronted David regarding Absalom. God accomplished His purpose in each of these accounts, as well.
• The first thing we learn about this passage is God’s grace. God can accomplish His purpose even through sinful people.
• The second thing that we learn from this passage is that God cares for those who have been mistreated.
• The third thing we learn from Tamar is the importance of trusting God’s plan. Tamar demonstrated commitment to Judah’s family. She “tricked” Judah into taking responsibility for his commitment. Whether or not Tamar knew the law of God or was even a person of faith herself is not clear in the text, but her actions remind us that following God’s plans instead of our own leads to accomplishing His purposes.

Application:

• God is a God of Grace and a God of Judgment
• Poor choices and inopportune places often lead to increased temptations
• Sin has consequences
• The dangers of sexual temptation
• Even despite our sin, God can accomplish His purpose. King David and eventually, God’s Messiah came through the line of Tamar and Judah