Tamar

So this post doesn't really have any crazy spiritual insights, but I felt like it was a necessary post for understanding. Tamar's story really never made sense. Thank heavens for Heather at Women in the Scriptures who mentioned this book: Women's Rights in the Old Testament by James R. Baker which you can read online here.

The Story

1. Judah marries a Canaanite woman (daughter of Shuah) who gives him three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. Genesis 38:2-5

2. Judah picks Tamar to marry Er. Genesis 38:6

3. Er is wicked and dies. Genesis 38:7

4. Judah tells Onan to marry Tamar, but Onan "knew that the seed should not be his" so he "spilled [his seed] on the ground" which for some reason the Lord didn't like so Onan dies too. Genesis 38:8-10

5. Judah can't give Shelah to Tamar as a husband because he's too young, so Tamar is told to wait in the household till Shelah grows up. Genesis 38:11

6. Judah's wife dies and he travels to some friends. Genesis 38:12

7. Tamar has been watching and notices that even though Shelah is of marrying age, Judah hasn't given him to her. She realizes that Judah never intends to give her another husband and follows after Judah and pretends to be a harlot. Genesis 38:14-15

8. Judah sees her and wants to lay with her. In payment for sex, he promises her some animals (which he doesn't have with him) and gives her his signet, bracelets, and staff to keep till he pays her. Genesis 38:16-18

9. Judah impregnates her and she goes back home before Judah pays her. Genesis 38:18-19

10. Judah sends the payment but obviously can't find the harlot. Genesis 38:20-23

11. Three months later, people start to notice Tamar's pregnant and knowing that she doesn't have a husband currently they tell Judah that she's had extramarital sex. Genesis 38:24

12. Judah says BURN HER! But when they bring her forward she shows Judah's signet, bracelets, and staff showing that the child is Judah's. Genesis 38:24-25

13. Judah drops the charges saying that Tamar has been "more righteous" than he was, but doesn't take her as a wife. Genesis 38:26

14. Tamar has twins and the story ends. Genesis 38:27-30

What's Confusing?

1. Why the heck are we just passing around the wife? So her husband died. Sorry for her, but don't we just support her and move on?

2. Why was the Lord angry that Omar didn't impregnate Tamar?

3. Why did Tamar want to have sex with her father-in-law and how is playing the harlot "righteous"?

4. Why didn't Judah marry Tamar to make up for committing adultery?

Explanation

So I read James Baker's chapter on Tamar and wow this makes so much more sense now! It's amazing that a little bit of cultural understanding makes such a big difference!

First of all, Tamar lost a very high position in the tribe when her husband died. As James Baker says:

"Er’s death shattered Tamar’s marital expectations and eliminated the status, support, and protection for which she had married. In early biblical times, a woman who married a firstborn son expected to bear a son who would take his father’s place in the family hierarchy as the chief heir of his father’s estate. Being the wife of a firstborn son or leader in a patriarchal community meant that she would be mother of a future community leader. Such position was both socially and economically prestigious. The wife of a patriarch or leader became a matriarch or chief wife and was leader in the extended family: as her husband was chief man, she was chief woman. Her husband inherited at least a double portion of his father’s estate, twice as much as any other heir. This inheritance assured him of added respect and family and community leadership and would have been appealing to some women."

Second of all, the leverite law would restore Tamar to that position. Under the leverite law, Tamar would marry another man in the family and the children from that marriage would be listed under her deceased husband thus maintaining the birthright. It's supposed that under this law, older brothers were preferred over younger brothers and brothers were preferred over the patriarch of the family. So it would be preferred for Tamar to marry Omar then Shelah then Judah himself. Women's Rights in Old Testament Times. Plus, Tamar's marital obligations to the family weren't over until both her husband and her father-in-law were dead. So she was stuck with the family and it was Judah's job to give her another husband.

So that answers my first question. They were passing the wife around in order to maintain the birthright and obey the law. 

Now, to answer my second question. Why was it bad that Omar didn't impregnate Tamar? So Omar didn't do it because if Tamar had a child, it would reduce his inheritance and standing in the tribe. Again quoting James Baker,

"Though it was considered honorable for the brother to impregnate his brother’s widow and thereby preserve his brother’s name, the death of Er had naturally increased Onan’s share of the family inheritance. Furthermore, Onan would now inherit the firstborn’s share, which was double that of the other sons. If Tamar bore a legal son for Er, then Onan, the biological though not the legal father (for purposes of the inheritance), would lose this doubled estate. . . . Knowing that he was next in line for the blessings of the firstborn, Onan did not openly defy his father, an act for which he could have been disinherited. Instead, he conspired to deceive Judah and defraud Tamar. During the connubial act, through coitus interruptus, he “spilled {his semen} on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother."

So I can see how the Lord wouldn't like those motives. 

As a little side note, apparently Shelah was really young! According to the law, the minimum marrying age for a man was 10. So Shelah had to be under 10 at the time! Yup . . . to young.

My third question is already partially answered. Tamar wanted to have sex with her father-in-law in order to provide an heir to the tribe, maintain her status in the tribe, bring honor to her husband, and maybe (and I just like to entertain this idea) because she had had revelation showing her line to be the line through which Christ would come. 

The second part of that question is a little bit more interesting. So apparently there were different classes of prostitutes and (remember that Judah is living among the Canaanites at the time so he's apparently adopted some of their customs and laws) some of those prostitutes were lawful and donated their proceeds to the temple. As James Baker says,

"Cultic prostitutes were women who offered their services to the public and donated the proceeds to the temple. In early times, according to Herodotus, sacral prostitution was expected of all Babylonian women at least once in their lifetime.32 The practice came from the myth of a male deity such as the Canaanite god Baal, the god of rain, fertilizing his lover or [p.152]wife/sister Anat, the earth goddess, which brought forth food."

In my search, I saw another site that talked about this. Apparently the word used in the bible, kedeshah, meant "sacred woman" and they were considered "sacred prostitutes" probably because all of their proceeds went to the temple. Weird, huh?

Anyway, so that's why Tamar was considered still righteous even though she was playing the harlot. First of all, she was playing the part of a "sacred" harlot and second of all, she only had sex with Judah which was already lawful for her under the leverite law. 

My last question has a short answer. Judah didn't commit adultery by having sex with Tamar because of the leverite law and he wasn't obligated to marry her afterward. Tamar's twins were considered the sons of Er, the firstborn, and she carried on Judah's tribe.

Summary

So, like I said. Not really any great spiritual insights, but at least this story isn't so confusing anymore. Actually, if you want to think about it, I really do think Tamar had some insight into Christ coming through her line. I bet she knew she had to perpetuate Judah's line in order to make that happen. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but I like to see Tamar as a powerful woman with an important title and responsibility who demonstrated a great amount of wit and laid a clever plot to complete her responsibility. Can we please at least recognize how brilliant she was in planning ahead in her little scheme. Yeah, I think I like Tamar . . . even if her story's a little bit weird when placed in our culture.