Chapters 37-50 of Genesis tell the story of how two of Jacob's sons---Joseph and Judah---became leaders in the family. But the narrative does not start out well for either of them. In Gen 37, Joseph is sold into slavery and taken to Egypt. And in Gen 38, Judah experiences numerous setbacks in trying to build a family.
Living in the region that would later become the allotment of the tribe of Judah, Judah married the daughter of Shua and fathered three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er married a woman named Tamar, but before they had any children, Er was struck dead for wicked deeds not specified in the text (Gen 38:6-7).
According to the ancient custom of levirate marriage, it was then Onan's responsibility to continue Er's line through Tamar. Onan, however, refused to do so, and he too was struck dead for his refusal (vv. 8-10).
With two sons dead, Judah was unwilling to risk having Shelah marry Tamar, even though the deaths of Er and Onan had not been Tamar's fault. And then Judah's wife died as well. At this point it was not clear that there would ever be a tribe of Judah.
While he mourned his wife's death, Judah kept Tamar in a kind of limbo, not allowing her to marry Shelah and not releasing her from a commitment to his family. When Judah's time of mourning was over, Shelah decided to confront her father-in-law on the road to Timnah, where he would be traveling for a sheep shearing. It is worth noting that in some ancient law codes (e.g., the Hittite laws), the father-in law is next in line, after the dead man's brothers, to marry a childless widow.
We are not told what Tamar's intentions were when she waited for Judah at the entrance to Enaim (v 14). Was she planning to pose as a prostitute and seduce Judah, or did she simply take advantage of his proposition? In any case, she agreed to a liaison with Judah after Judah agreed to leave his signet, cord, and staff with her as a pledge toward full payment.
Judah was not able to find the mysterious prostitute who now had his ID. Meanwhile, Tamar's encounter with Judah had resulted in a pregnancy.
When Judah found out about Tamar's pregnancy, he intended to have her put to death (v 24). Tamar had the evidence that would exonerate herself, but she chose not to make public what Judah had done, Instead, she sent a messenger to Judah with the evidence (v 25), having faith that God would work things out in her favor.
This is a crucial point in the narrative. According to one midrash Satan stole the evidence from the messenger, but then the angel Gabriel took it back.
Tamar's message said, "Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff." The words parallel those of Gen 37:32, where Judah and his brothers presented Jacob with Joseph's bloody robe. What would Judah do now? Would he cover up his deeds or finally accept responsibility for his actions? He chose the latter course, and it was a turning point in his life.
By admitting that he was at fault, Judah saved three lives, since Tamar was pregnant with twins. One midrash says that because of Judah's actions, God later rescued Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from death (Dan 3).
In any case, Tamar gave birth to twin sons, Perez and Zerah, and Perez would prove to be an ancestor of Jesus the Messiah. After reading about Tamar's courage in Gen 38, we can understand why she is mentioned in Matt 1:3 in the genealogy of Jesus.
At Church of the Messiah on Dec 5, Kyle Kettering gave a sermon on this Seder.
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