This chapter is apparently the brief interlude in the Joseph story. Like a commercial for how to properly be a brother-in-law back in the day. It even came at the proper dramatic TV moment where Joseph had just been sold into slavery... (Insert Law & Order dun-dun noise here).
We launch immediately into Judah's family and offspring. Remember Judah? The brother that suggested they sell Joseph instead of just leaving him for dead. Well, God smites Judah's firstborn, Er, for being wicked, and then Er's brother Onan didn't fulfill his brother-in-law duties of sleeping with Er's widow Tamar... so Onan also feels the mortal wrath. Judah tells Tamar to go back and live with her father because, well, my footnote says it so brilliantly, "Judah effectively consigns Tamar to oblivion."
Then Judah's wife dies. This one's natural though, no smiting needed. After the appropriate time of mourning, Judah finally goes to shear his sheep. Yep. Anyways, when Tamar hears this, she takes off her widow's wear, puts on a fancy veil, and goes and sits along the road that Judah will be travelling to go...shear his sheep. When Judah happens across cloaked and veiled Tamar, he thinks she's a temple prostitute. Fans of the show Firefly would also call her a Companion. The Hebrew word for it literally translates to "sacred woman." Anyways, when he propositions her, and has no immediate payment, she suggests a few things she can hold for collateral until she gets her baby goat as payment, specifically his signet, cord, and staff. Time passes, sex is had, and Judah sends along that baby goat with someone to look for the "prostitute." Because Tamar was not actually a Companion, none can be found!
More time passes. Three months to be exact, and Judah is told that Tamar has been whoring and is preggers "as a result of her whoredom" (Gen 38:24). Clearly, this means she needs to get burned at the stake. Can I pause here to acknowledge again that the Bible uses the word "whoredom?" Okay. So at this point, Tamar brings out Judah's stuff, and he's all embarrassed that he slept with his daughter-in-law. It does, however, legitimize her pregnancy. Yay for not getting burned at the stake! Eventually, Tamar goes into labor and has twins. The firstborn actually ends up as the second born... it's a little weird. Either way, my footnotes tell me that this whole little interrupting story line is important because Tamar's son Perez (the eventual first born) begets the line of King David. If you don't already know: King David is kind of a big deal.
<3 Agnostic in the Pews
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