1 And it happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
At this point we leave the story of Joseph for one chapter. I don’t know who would have written this account. Possibly Judah, though I find it more likely Moses added this story in to explain the genealogy records. This story would have been handed down to each generation, yet, for understandable reasons, it may very well have not been written down when the other stories of the family were.
With the life spans of the time, if Israel was only in Egypt for 200 years as some believe, remembering Judah's story would have been about the equivalent of us remembering our great-grandparent's story; totally reasonable.
2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and had sex with her.
Now why he is living away from his family, the Bible doesn’t say. Maybe the guilt of selling his brother out was too much to bear. Whatever the reason, you get into trouble when you move away from those who hold you accountable.
3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.
“Er” means “awake.” Most children are born with their eyes closed, opening right after birth. Occasionally one will be born looking around. Evidently Er was one of these.
4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
“Onan” means “strong.”
5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.
“Shelah” means “a petition.” He must have been asked for.
Many today believe that without birth control every woman would have a dozen children. This is simply not true. Here in ancient times we find many family accounts like this one that only list a few children. In a well fed society, the average family had between seven and eight children before birth control. With Jacob having thirteen and Benjamin having ten, it would be normal for several of the boys to have small families.
6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
The Bible doesn’t tell us what Er did that was so wicked; just that God couldn’t stand him to live any longer.
8 And Judah said unto Onan, “Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.”
This was the norm of the day. Without this custom, Tamar, the widow, would have been destitute and likely starved to death.
Her own family would only be able to care for her for a short time if at all. Remarriage would have been unlikely.
This custom of marrying your brother-in-law kept the woman in her husband’s family. They would then feed and care for her for the sake of the “dead brother’s child.” The child would get the dead brother’s inheritance and then care for his mother in her old age. This was Social Security for widows.
9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he had sex with his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore He slew him also.
Many use this scripture to prove that birth control is a sin. However, Onan was;
I think there was enough there to kill him over without even considering birth control. Since God killed many people throughout the Bible for cruelty, selfishness, and disobedience, and there are no other mentions of birth control in the entire Bible, I don’t think we can draw the conclusion that it is a sin.
However, since Paul tells us to have the same mind as Christ (Philippians 2:5), and we know Christ loved and welcomed children (Luke 18:6), and we are commanded to let Him guide us in EVERY area of our lives (Proverbs 3:5-8), I don’t think birth control is necessarily a good idea.
How many eternal souls you bring into this world should be a matter of a great deal of prayer and trust in God.
11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, “Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown:” for he said, “Lest peradventure he die also, as his brothers did.” And Tamar went and lived in her father's house.
Judah evidently secretly blames Tamar for the death of his children. He has no intention of ever marrying Shelah to her. He probably sent a large gift to the family at this time so they would be willing to take her back in.
12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah, Judah's wife, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
Judah is now a widower and all alone.
13 And it was told Tamar, saying, “Behold thy father in law goes up to Timnath to shear his sheep.”
14 And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
She figured out that her father-in-law had lied to her and was not going to take care of his duty to her by having his youngest son marry her. She probably knew of the death of his wife, and it is entirely possible that prostitutes were common around sheep shearing, making a profit from the party atmosphere that likely didn’t have wives around. And, of course, Tamar knew Judah. She evidently was pretty confident he would make use of the services of a prostitute at this time.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute; because she had covered her face.
When the man of the house sins, it often has a domino effect on the rest of the house. It may cause them to sin too.
In this case, Judah sinned by not taking care of his responsibility to Tamar. She figured she had no option but to deceive him to get what she needed.
Prostitutes covered their faces as a sign of pretended shame for their occupation. Also, it wasn’t unusual for a woman to be punished for this occupation by being burned on the face leaving an ugly scar. So Judah wouldn’t have suspected deception.
16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, “Go to, I pray thee, let me have sex with thee;" (for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law.) And she said, “What will thou give me, that thou may have sex with me?”
Standard price negotiations for her “services.” It does seem Judah is familiar with the process.
17 And he said, “I will send thee a kid from the flock.” And she said, “Will thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?”
The pledge is what she was really after, though the kid was probably worth more in dollars and cents.
18 And he said, “What pledge shall I give thee?” And she said, “Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand.” And he gave it her, and had sex with her, and she conceived by him.
A signet was a small carving that the owner would push into wax or clay to seal and “sign” a document. It would have been a one-of-a-kind item that definitely identified its owner. It was his official symbol. The resale value would have been low, but it would have been invaluable to the owner. The extra stuff would make it obvious she hadn’t bought the signet, though they were probably ornately carved and one-of-a-kind items also.
19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to get his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.
21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the prostitute, that was openly by the way side?” And they said, “There was no prostitute in this place.”
Prostitutes often staked out their “territory” and were commonly seen in just one place. This would make it easy for their customers to find them.
22 And he returned to Judah, and said, “I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no prostitute in this place.”
At this point it should have begun to soak into Judah’s head that something was up.
23 And Judah said, “Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou have not found her.”
He didn’t want to make a big deal about it because it is a sin to sleep with someone you aren’t married to. And the embarrassment of trying to explain it to other people just exactly why he was looking for this woman, well, he just told his friend to let it go.
24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, “Tamar thy daughter-in-law has played the prostitute; and also, behold, she is with child by prostitution.” And Judah said, “Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.”
He is possibly commanding her to be executed (which would pay her back for his son’s deaths) or he may have been wanting her to be scared like the custom was. Technically, she was betrothed to Shelah and this is adultery (since betrothal differed from marriage only in the consummation). Her being a prostitute would nullify the contract she had with his family. Judah’s probably pretty happy about this turn of events.
What hypocrisy! He appears to be quite familiar with the use of prostitutes, but is going to have her punished for being one.
25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man, whose these are, am I with child:” and she said, “Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.”
“Gottcha!”
26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, “She has been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son.” And he had sex with her again no more.
Judah had enough integrity to admit his sin of adultery as well as his sin of not taking care of her as he was supposed to. Now he is acting like a real man. Maybe he had a conversion at this point, since the next time he is mentioned he is back with his family and there are no more selfish, sinful events recorded for him.
27 And it came to pass in the time of her labor, that, behold, twins were in her womb.
28 And it came to pass, when she labored, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, “This came out first.”
In normal birth, the head is the first thing out. A hand being first is very unusual and would have been an incredibly difficult delivery for the mom.
29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, “How have thou broken forth? This breach be upon thee:" therefore his name was called Pharez.
Pharez means “Breach.”
30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.
Zarah means “rising.”
This story is important because Pharez is the ancestor of Christ. Tamar is one of the four women listed in Jesus’ genealogy. Of those four, three were not of Israelite descent. Only Mary was a descendant of Jacob.
At this point we leave the story of Joseph for one chapter. I don’t know who would have written this account. Possibly Judah, though I find it more likely Moses added this story in to explain the genealogy records. This story would have been handed down to each generation, yet, for understandable reasons, it may very well have not been written down when the other stories of the family were.
With the life spans of the time, if Israel was only in Egypt for 200 years as some believe, remembering Judah's story would have been about the equivalent of us remembering our great-grandparent's story; totally reasonable.
2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and had sex with her.
Now why he is living away from his family, the Bible doesn’t say. Maybe the guilt of selling his brother out was too much to bear. Whatever the reason, you get into trouble when you move away from those who hold you accountable.
3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.
“Er” means “awake.” Most children are born with their eyes closed, opening right after birth. Occasionally one will be born looking around. Evidently Er was one of these.
4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
“Onan” means “strong.”
5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.
“Shelah” means “a petition.” He must have been asked for.
Many today believe that without birth control every woman would have a dozen children. This is simply not true. Here in ancient times we find many family accounts like this one that only list a few children. In a well fed society, the average family had between seven and eight children before birth control. With Jacob having thirteen and Benjamin having ten, it would be normal for several of the boys to have small families.
6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.
7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
The Bible doesn’t tell us what Er did that was so wicked; just that God couldn’t stand him to live any longer.
8 And Judah said unto Onan, “Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.”
This was the norm of the day. Without this custom, Tamar, the widow, would have been destitute and likely starved to death.
Her own family would only be able to care for her for a short time if at all. Remarriage would have been unlikely.
This custom of marrying your brother-in-law kept the woman in her husband’s family. They would then feed and care for her for the sake of the “dead brother’s child.” The child would get the dead brother’s inheritance and then care for his mother in her old age. This was Social Security for widows.
9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he had sex with his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore He slew him also.
Many use this scripture to prove that birth control is a sin. However, Onan was;
- Cruel (sentencing Tamar to poverty at best, besides humiliating her this way),
- Selfish (he wanted to be the oldest child and get the birthright), and
- Disobedient (his dad told him to provide for the widow in the customary manner).
I think there was enough there to kill him over without even considering birth control. Since God killed many people throughout the Bible for cruelty, selfishness, and disobedience, and there are no other mentions of birth control in the entire Bible, I don’t think we can draw the conclusion that it is a sin.
However, since Paul tells us to have the same mind as Christ (Philippians 2:5), and we know Christ loved and welcomed children (Luke 18:6), and we are commanded to let Him guide us in EVERY area of our lives (Proverbs 3:5-8), I don’t think birth control is necessarily a good idea.
How many eternal souls you bring into this world should be a matter of a great deal of prayer and trust in God.
11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, “Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown:” for he said, “Lest peradventure he die also, as his brothers did.” And Tamar went and lived in her father's house.
Judah evidently secretly blames Tamar for the death of his children. He has no intention of ever marrying Shelah to her. He probably sent a large gift to the family at this time so they would be willing to take her back in.
12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah, Judah's wife, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
Judah is now a widower and all alone.
13 And it was told Tamar, saying, “Behold thy father in law goes up to Timnath to shear his sheep.”
14 And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
She figured out that her father-in-law had lied to her and was not going to take care of his duty to her by having his youngest son marry her. She probably knew of the death of his wife, and it is entirely possible that prostitutes were common around sheep shearing, making a profit from the party atmosphere that likely didn’t have wives around. And, of course, Tamar knew Judah. She evidently was pretty confident he would make use of the services of a prostitute at this time.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute; because she had covered her face.
When the man of the house sins, it often has a domino effect on the rest of the house. It may cause them to sin too.
In this case, Judah sinned by not taking care of his responsibility to Tamar. She figured she had no option but to deceive him to get what she needed.
Prostitutes covered their faces as a sign of pretended shame for their occupation. Also, it wasn’t unusual for a woman to be punished for this occupation by being burned on the face leaving an ugly scar. So Judah wouldn’t have suspected deception.
16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, “Go to, I pray thee, let me have sex with thee;" (for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law.) And she said, “What will thou give me, that thou may have sex with me?”
Standard price negotiations for her “services.” It does seem Judah is familiar with the process.
17 And he said, “I will send thee a kid from the flock.” And she said, “Will thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?”
The pledge is what she was really after, though the kid was probably worth more in dollars and cents.
18 And he said, “What pledge shall I give thee?” And she said, “Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand.” And he gave it her, and had sex with her, and she conceived by him.
A signet was a small carving that the owner would push into wax or clay to seal and “sign” a document. It would have been a one-of-a-kind item that definitely identified its owner. It was his official symbol. The resale value would have been low, but it would have been invaluable to the owner. The extra stuff would make it obvious she hadn’t bought the signet, though they were probably ornately carved and one-of-a-kind items also.
19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to get his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.
21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the prostitute, that was openly by the way side?” And they said, “There was no prostitute in this place.”
Prostitutes often staked out their “territory” and were commonly seen in just one place. This would make it easy for their customers to find them.
22 And he returned to Judah, and said, “I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no prostitute in this place.”
At this point it should have begun to soak into Judah’s head that something was up.
23 And Judah said, “Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou have not found her.”
He didn’t want to make a big deal about it because it is a sin to sleep with someone you aren’t married to. And the embarrassment of trying to explain it to other people just exactly why he was looking for this woman, well, he just told his friend to let it go.
24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, “Tamar thy daughter-in-law has played the prostitute; and also, behold, she is with child by prostitution.” And Judah said, “Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.”
He is possibly commanding her to be executed (which would pay her back for his son’s deaths) or he may have been wanting her to be scared like the custom was. Technically, she was betrothed to Shelah and this is adultery (since betrothal differed from marriage only in the consummation). Her being a prostitute would nullify the contract she had with his family. Judah’s probably pretty happy about this turn of events.
What hypocrisy! He appears to be quite familiar with the use of prostitutes, but is going to have her punished for being one.
25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man, whose these are, am I with child:” and she said, “Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.”
“Gottcha!”
26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, “She has been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son.” And he had sex with her again no more.
Judah had enough integrity to admit his sin of adultery as well as his sin of not taking care of her as he was supposed to. Now he is acting like a real man. Maybe he had a conversion at this point, since the next time he is mentioned he is back with his family and there are no more selfish, sinful events recorded for him.
27 And it came to pass in the time of her labor, that, behold, twins were in her womb.
28 And it came to pass, when she labored, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, “This came out first.”
In normal birth, the head is the first thing out. A hand being first is very unusual and would have been an incredibly difficult delivery for the mom.
29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, “How have thou broken forth? This breach be upon thee:" therefore his name was called Pharez.
Pharez means “Breach.”
30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.
Zarah means “rising.”
This story is important because Pharez is the ancestor of Christ. Tamar is one of the four women listed in Jesus’ genealogy. Of those four, three were not of Israelite descent. Only Mary was a descendant of Jacob.