Genesis Chapter 38

¹ And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah…but because of God’s plans, he was not to be the descendant of a Canaanite. This excluded Judah’s wife Shuah.

³ And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

⁴ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

⁵ And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

⁷ And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.

⁸ And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

• Deuteronomy 25:5-6 ⁵ If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.⁶ And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.

⁹ And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

¹⁰ And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.

¹¹ Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

The death of his 2 other sons freaked Judah out a little and led to him not sending his son Shelah to Tamar as he promised. Meanwhile, Tamar was waiting, unable to marry and childless.

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.

This whole time since the death of her first husband, she has been in widow’s clothing waiting for Judah to fulfill his promise to her. At this point, she knew Shelah was old enough to marry and Judah hadn’t done what he said he was going to do.

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.

²⁴ And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

Upon reading this, these verses in Matthew 7:1-3 came to mind.

• Matthew 7 ¹ Judge not, that ye be not judged.² For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.³ And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

²⁵ When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

²⁶ And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

And another verse comes to mind…

• John 8 ⁴ They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.⁵ Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?⁶ This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.⁷ So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.⁸ And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.⁹ And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.¹⁰ When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

²⁷ And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

²⁸ And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

²⁹ And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.

³⁰ And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

The following is from Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange
“One can not help notice how the narrative of Judah and Tamar is nestled between the narratives of Joseph’s betrayal by his brethren and his entrance in to Egypt. But chapter 38 is of supreme importance because it narrates the continuance of the tribe of Judah, the tribe which the Christ would descend from. Due to the evil deeds by Tamar’s first two husbands (Judah’s first two sons), the Lord took their lives leaving only one son. Judah’s reluctance to give his last son in marriage to Tamar was actually a good thing. Without divine intervention, the line stemming from Judah would have been lost. Keep in mind that Judah’s wife Shuah was a Canaanite. And just as Abraham instructed Isaac not to marry women of the Canaanites, (Gen 28:1) the twelve tribes were to heed the same command. Although Judah’s intent to fornicate with a temple prostitute was sinful, God’s sovereignty preserved the line of Judah from Canaanite infusion.”