Judah's Dysfunctional Family

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.