The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ … and Judah the father of Perez … by Tamar … and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born… Matthew 1:1a, 3a & 16 ESV1
Read Genesis 38:1-30
Although they played just as vital a role as the men, there are only five women named in Matthew’s record of Jesus’ genealogy. We are familiar with Mary and her valuable role as Jesus’ mother. But what about these other women? What is so important about each of them that their names are specifically mentioned? Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
We meet Tamar, Jesus’ 34th Great Grandmother, in Genesis 38:6 when “Judah [one of the 12 sons of Jacob, aka Israel] took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.” This marriage didn’t last long, though, because “Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death” (Genesis 38:7). The LORD put him to death! Imagine the horrors of being married, even for a short time, to a man who was so evil that God decided to eliminate him.
After the death of Er, as was the custom of the day, Tamar was then given to Er’s younger brother, Onan, as a wife, so that there would be a child in Er’s name. “Judah said to Onan, ‘Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.’ But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So, whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and He put him to death also” (Genesis 38:8-10). Talk about bad luck in the husband department–being married to two men so wicked God put both of them to death.
The LORD may have spared Tamar some pain by getting Er and Onan out of the picture, but having two husbands killed by God, left Tamar with a bad reputation. Judah had another son, Shelah. “Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ‘Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up’ –for he feared that he [Shelah] would die, like his brothers” (Genesis 38:11). Judah lied to Tamar and sent her home to live with her parents promising to give her to Shelah when he was old enough to marry. Tamar lived as a widow for a long time.
When it became evident that Judah was never going to allow the marriage between Shelah and Tamar, Tamar took things into her own hands. She saw her opportunity when the newly widowed Judah came to her home town with a friend for sheep shearing. “When Tamar was told, ‘Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,’ she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah … When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He turned to her at the roadside and said, ‘Come let me come in to you,’ … She said, ‘What will you give me’” (Genesis 38:13-16)? Judah had nothing with which to pay Tamar, so Tamar took, as a security deposit, Judah’s signet and his cord and his staff; these things served as Judah’s identification,
Later, when Judah sent his friend with the payment in an attempt to retrieve Judah’s identification, Tamar couldn’t be found. Judah’s friend “returned to Judah and said, ‘I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’ Judah replied, ‘Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at’” (Genesis 38:22-23).
It wasn’t long, though, before it became obvious that Tamar, the woman who was supposed to be living in celibate widowhood, was pregnant. Judah was told. His very uncompassionate response was, “Bring her out and let her be burned” (Genesis 38:24). Tamar, in her wisdom, said, “‘By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant … Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff’” (Genesis 38:25). Judah identified them as his own and said, “She is more righteous than I since I did not give her to my son Shelah” (Genesis 38:26).
Judah took Tamar home and cared for her but never slept with her again. Neither did anyone else. Tamar never knew the love of a good and godly man. In a male-dominated society, she was used and abused and neglected. She was the single mom living off of the welfare system of her time. She was probably judged and gossiped about by those who were more fortunate and thought they were better than she was.
Don’t we do the same thing today–judge people when we have little idea what their story might be? God knew Tamar’s story. Whether she was right or wrong, He honored Tamar’s life by allowing her to be an important part of the salvation of all humans. Can we honor others enough to choose to not listen to gossip and not judge them until we really know their stories?
To be continued…
See the other articles in this series:
The Colorful Past of Jesus’ Female Ancestor, Rahab; The Colorful Past of Jesus’ Female Ancestor, Ruth; and The Colorful Past of Jesus’ Female Ancestor, Bathsheba.
1Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are from the ESV. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.