Genesis 38:12-30 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 38:12-30. Let’s go!
Genesis 38:12-16a (NIV)
12 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.
13 When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
14 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.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
16 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.”…
On verses 12-16a: According to the custom of levirate marriage, Judah was supposed to give the closest male relative – i.e. his son Shelah – to Tamar in marriage (v11), but for fear of losing Shelah like he did his other two sons, Judah refused to give Shelah to Tamar, even though Shelah was already fully grown. So Tamar decides to take matters into her own hands. Knowing that her father-in-law Judah is traveling to Timnah, Tamar veils her face and sits on the road to Timnah. Judah, who had earlier lost his wife, takes Tamar for a prostitute and solicits her services, not knowing that it’s his daughter-in-law!
Genesis 38:16b-18 (NIV)
…”And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
17 “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.
18 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.
On verses 16b-18: As payment for her services, Judah promised to give a young goat. To secure his promise, Tamar asks for Judah’s seal, its cord and his staff. A seal was a person’s official instrument used to enter into legal transactions. To protect it and keep it close to themselves, some scholars surmise that the owner of the seal would attach a cord to the seal and wear the seal and cord around their neck like a necklace. The staff was either a walking staff or a staff denoting that person’s position. Notice that Tamar asks for items that pointed to Judah’s identity and authority. It goes to show that when you give into sexual immorality, you’re throwing away your identity (who you really are) and your authority (your ability to lead others), all for a moment of pleasure. It’s like Esau in Genesis 25 giving away his birthright for a bowl of stew.
Genesis 38:19 (NIV)
19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.
On verse 19: Tamar had to take off her widow’s clothes and put on a veil in order to engage in prostitution, after which she put her widow’s clothes back on again. To me it’s a powerful picture of how women who ply in the sex trade have to pretend to be someone they are not. Yet at the same time they give away one of the most precious things they have.
Genesis 38:20-23 (NIV)
20 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.
21 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.
22 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.'”
23 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.”
On verses 20-23: It is ironic that Judah was very diligent about fulfilling his end of the bargain with a prostitute, but was slow to fulfill his obligation to give his son Shelah to his daughter-in-law Tamar. Even more ironic is the fact that the prostitute and Tamar were the same person! How sad it is when we treat people outside of our home better than we treat those who are supposed to be the closest and most important to us. Let it be a reminder that the way we deal with people outside our home and inside our home should both be marked by integrity and a sense of responsibility.
Genesis 38:24 (NIV)
24 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!”
On verse 24: Often times we can be the most openly judgmental toward people who struggle with the very sins that we ourselves struggle with. As Pastor Jon Courson says, “It’s amazing how bad my sin looks on someone else.”
Genesis 38:25-26 (NIV)
25 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.”
26 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.
On verses 25-26: Tamar tells Judah that she became pregnant by the owner of this particular seal, cord and staff, at which point Judah realizes that it was he who impregnated Tamar. He acknowledges his guilt and repents. For all of Judah’s faults, at the very least Judah was willing to acknowledge his sin. For all of our faults, the least we can do is acknowledge our sin, for just in that alone God makes His forgiveness available to us. As Psalm 32:5 says, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”– and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Genesis 38:27-30 (NIV)
27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.
28 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.”
29 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.
30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out and he was given the name Zerah.
On verses 27-30: Tamar gives birth to twins, Perez and Zerah. According to Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1, Jesus would come through Perez’s family line. The fact that Tamar became pregnant and gave birth from this one encounter with Judah suggests that God somehow superintended these events. That is by no means to say that God approved of what Tamar or Judah did. Rather, God was using even the gravest mistakes people make to write a greater story than anyone could imagine. God still does that today.
Heavenly Father, thank You that You can take even the gravest mistakes people make and use them to write a greater story than we could write ourselves.
