Genesis 38
Genesis
38: 6-7, NIV Judah got a wife for Er, his
firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord
put him to death.
What?!?!
Genesis 38 apparently jumps in time, leaving Joseph’s journey into slavery to
learn about his brother Judah’s marriage and children. Judah apparently left
his brothers shortly after Joseph was sold into slavery, and married a
Canaanite woman, having many children.
Judah
finds a wife for Er, but in the very next sentence, given above, he is killed
because God found him wicked. No reason is given.
I took a
look at the Torah to see how it compared.
Genesis
38, 607, JPS Judah got a wife for Er his
first-born; her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s first-born, was displeasing to the Lord, and the Lord
took his life.
This is
almost worse. Er simply displeased God, and was put to death for it.
After
Er’s death, Judah asks Onan to sleep with Tamar, to fulfill his duty as
brother-in-law by producing offspring for his now-deceased brother. This is
known as Levirate Law.
In
ancient Israelite society, a man was forbidden from marrying his brother’s
wife, with one exception. If his brother died without having a son, then that
man would be obligated to impregnate his widowed sister-in-law. If a son is
born, that child would be the deceased brother’s heir. This is the Levirate
Law.
Onan
refused, and “whenever he lay with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on
the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother” (Gen: 38:9). God
viewed this action as wicked, and put Onan to death. Randomly, many religious
conservatives have used this story to support their reasons for believing that
masturbation is a sin.
Time
passes, and we find Tamar casting off her widow’s clothes to pull a trick on
Judah. She dresses up as a prostitute, with her face covered, and he sleeps
with her. When, three months later, Judah is told that Tamar is guilty of
prostitution, he orders her to be burnt to death. Why is it okay for a man to
sleep with a prostitute, but the woman is the only one of the pair that must be
killed?
Luckily
for Tamar, she kept evidence of who she slept with, and Judah relents,
recognizing, “she is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son
Shelah.” Odd logic. She goes on to give birth to twins.
This is one
messed up family tree. And, as we will find out in the New Testament, one of these
twins, born via incest and prostitutions, has a well-known descendant. Named
Jesus.
