Genesis
38:12 ¶ 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. 13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy
father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. 14 And she put her widow’s garments off from
her, and covered her with a vail, 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. 15
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had
covered her face. 16 And he turned unto
her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he
knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give
me, that thou mayest come in unto me? 17
And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt
thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? 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
came in unto her, and she conceived by him. 19
And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail 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 receive 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 harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was
no harlot in this place. 22 And he
returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place
said, that there was no harlot in this place. 23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest
we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
Tamar, promised
Shelah, is ignored. This culture is rather bizarre to us but certain economic
factors should be considered, particularly the powerlessness of women. Tamar
concocted a plan to have a child, a plan which we find, at best, strange and
very objectionable morally. She disguised herself as a prostitute would look
and went to Timnath where Judah was shearing sheep. Covering her face, an
action that, in some modern cultures has come to mean severe modesty, signified
her then as a harlot. Notice how it was an act of modesty with Rebekah in
24:65.
When he negotiated
with her a price for her services she demanded of him some things that would
definitely be identified as belonging to him as a deposit until he could send
her a kid of his goats. After the deed was done she went back to being Tamar,
the widow of Onan and Er. Judah could not find her and witnesses denied there
ever was a prostitute there, a harlot. Judah then acknowledged that he had done
his part to make good on the deal and decided to leave things as they were.
Lest an
unbalanced, carnal, or wicked person think that this passage justifies men
going to prostitutes as being acceptable to God let us examine something
important. First, it is vital to a clear understanding of reality as explained
in the Bible that God permits man to do many things man wants to do that are
against God’s preferences and standards but that none of man’s moves can
prevent God’s ultimate will from being accomplished. Women had no political
power in this culture. A woman had to accomplish her wishes sometimes by being
clever or subtle or appealing to a man’s sense of ego or honor. Woman was no
longer Adam’s helper, worthy or meet to
be his partner or as would be said later, his fellow heir in the grace of life
as in 1Peter 3:7 or equal to him in God’s eyes as in Galatians 3:28. Woman had
become a servant, a pack animal, not much better than an oven in which to
create the next generation, preferably of men.
Finally, there are
enough admonitions about adultery that harlotry and prostitution are clearly
not acceptable behavior. Although God will use a harlot in His ministry of
reconciliation of man to Himself such as Rahab of Jericho (Joshua 2:1) the
behavior is proscribed as adultery and fornication are forbidden (for adultery
see Exodus 20:14).
Judah has had
sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, unknowingly, but things will become
even more complicated in a short time. Judah followed the impulses of his
culture in comforting himself with whom he thought was a harlot when his wife
died and Tamar did what she thought she must do to secure a child, hopefully a
son, lest she be a widow for the rest of her life in Judah’s household. We know
in life that human beings often do things that were better done differently and
yet God uses them anyway. This is one argument against both abortion and
suicide. No matter how you got here or what you are or have done God can and
will give you a special purpose in His plans.
This passage is a
warning to us to be careful of viewing cultural references or desperation as
doctrine or to think since it is reported must mean that it is approved by God
lest someone think this activity is acceptable behavior for a Christian. Just
because a preacher declares, “It’s Bible!” does not mean that something written
is doctrine or even good. Just look at the context.
As Miles Coverdale
wrote in the introduction to his Bible translation in the 1500s, “It will greatly
help you to understand scripture if you note – no only what is spoken and
written, but of whom and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what
intent, with what circumstances, considering what goes before and what follows."[1]
[1]
Miles
Coverdale, in his introduction to his Bible translation from George Pearson,
ed, 'Remains of Myles Coverdale, Bishop of Exeter,' (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press, 1846), 15. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6580147W/Remains_of_Myles_Coverdale_..._Containing_Prologues_to_the_translation_of_the_Bible
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