Tamar really was more righteous than Judah

The story of Judah and Tamar is one that causes cringing and apologies:  we know this is a Patriarch/Matriarch narrative, but how do we cope with a Matriarch who poses as a prostitute to get her father-in-law to impregnate her, who then blackmails her father-in-law?   Why, on being blackmailed, does her father-in-law then say she is more righteous than he? The answer is simple:  because she was.  A lot of scholarly ink has been spilled on this odd tale, which appears ex nihilo in the Joseph narrative.  It has been incorrectly identified as a story of Levirate marriage.  The marriage in the narrative is not Levirate: it is a contract the exact nature of which has been misidentified.  Discussion redeeming Tamar has focused incorrectly on the matters of the zona and the qedesha, as if specifics of prostitution would redeem theoretically wanton behavior.  Attention has been paid to specifics of prostitution in the ancient world.  None of that is relevant to the narrative. The story of Judah and Tamar is not a story of a Levirate marriage, nor is it a story outlining the difference between religiously sanctioned prostitution and whoredom.  It is a story of abuse of power.

            The traditional synopsis of the Tamar/Judah narrative would be:  Judah had three sons:  Er, Onan and Shelah.  Er marries Tamar.  Er dies.  Onan marries Tamar in a Levirate marriage.  Onan refuses to have sex with Tamar.  God kills Onan.  Judah does not want to give Shelah to Tamar.  Instead, he sends her back to her father’s house.  Tamar hears that Judah is shearing sheep.  She goes out and poses as a prostitute. Judah, believing she is a prostitute, has sex with her.  She demands a payment, and asks for something to keep until he can send payment.  She demands his ring, his cord and the staff in his hand.  He gives them to her.  He has sex with her. She goes back to her father’s house.  A short while later, Judah is told she is pregnant. Judah wants her burned.  She sends him the ring, the cord and the staff to prove he is the father of her.  He says she is more righteous than he because he would not give her his youngest son.  

            That is the story we know.  That is neither the whole story, nor is it the real story.  

The story as it appears in the text is this:  

Gen 38:1 And it happened in this time when Judah went down from his brothers, and turned in to a man of the Adullamites, his name was Hirah.

Gen 38:2 And there Judah saw the daughter of a man of the Caananites, his name was Shua.  And he took her and he went to her. 

(The daughter of Shua is so unimportant to the story that she is not named.  The verb ויקחה [he took her] tells us that Judah made the contract to take the daughter of Shua for himself.  The phrase אליה ויבא tells us that Judah consummated that contract himself.)

Gen 38:3 And she was pure and gave birth to a son, and he called him Er.

(The phrase ותהר  is usually translated “and she conceived.”  However, the phrase  ותהר means “and she was pure.”  Num 5:28 says, “and if the woman is not contaminated and is pure, she will be free and will conceive and will bear seed.”  From this, we are to infer that because she was pure, the daughter of Shua got pregnant.

While the daughter of Shua produced the child, Judah named him.  The yod prefix of the verb קרא [called] used for naming the son, indicates that the verb is in the third person masculine singular atid (imperfect):  “And he called,” which indicates that Judah named this first son.  If the nikudot for ער  were other than they are, this first son’s name would be “light.”)

Gen 38:4 And she was pure again and gave birth to a son and she called him Onan.

(The daughter of Shua produced an heir and a spare.  From the verse, we infer that “pure” does not mean virginal.  While the verse describes her as “pure,” because the daughter of Shua had already produced a child, we know she was not a virgin.  However, the daughter of Shua had more involvement with this second son than just producing him.   The verb for his naming is קרא   The tav prefix tells us that the verb is in the third person feminine atid (imperfect): “she called.” The daughter of Shua named this second son. Judah is absent in this verse.   In the prceding verse, he was only present for the naming as we discern from the yod prefix to the verb קרא.  If the nikud for אונן were other than they are, the second son’s name could be translated as “complaint,” or “lamentation.”  It is possible to understand from these two verses that Judah saw his first son as a light, and the daughter of Shua saw her situation with Judah as a lamentation.)

Gen 38:5 And she added another, and she gave birth to a son and she called his name Shelah.  And he was in Chezib when she gave birth to him.

(The verse tells us that she “added” a son.  Having produced an heir and a spare, her purity is no longer an issue.  We are also told, “she named him.”  As with the second son, Judah is not present for this birth. This suggests to us that the first son was the most important to Judah.  Neither of the other two sons was accorded the honor of being named by their father.  The verse also tells us that “he was in Chezib” at the time she gave birth.  The daughter of Shua names her third son Shelah.  The word “shelah” means “calm, tranquil, at ease.”  It is conjecturable that Shelah’s mother feels calm and tranquil because Judah was in Chezib at the time of the birth.)

Gen 38:6 And Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.  

(Judah took the daughter of Shua as his own wife.  He took [יקח] Tamar as the wife of his firstborn son.  The noun בכור “firstborn” is from the verb רבכ which means “choose.”  Er was his father’s chosen son.  Judah took a wife for this chosen firstborn son.  The son did not take his own wife.)

Gen 38:7 And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in God’s eyes, and God killed him.

(God kills Er because Er “was evil in God’s eyes.”  If Er had not been evil in God’s eyes, God would not have killed him, and we would have no narrative.  God extinguished Judah’s light.)

Gen 38:8 And Judah said to Onan, “Go onto your brother’s wife and יבם  her, and raise seed for your brother.

(This verse has caused a lot of trouble. This makes Tamar’s second marriage seem like a Levirate marriage.  It is not.  We know of Levirate marriage from Deut 25:5-6: 

When brothers live together and one of them dies, and he has no son, to ensure that the dead man’s wife will not belong to a foreigner who will impregnate her, one of his brothers will go and take her as a wife and impregnate her, and that offspring will be the firstborn who is born and who will raise the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be erased from Israel.”

Part of the reason for the misunderstanding is that the Deuteronomic verse is the only other place where we see the verb בםי.   Because it is the only other place we find that verb, we do not have sufficient contextual evidence to deduce its exact meaning. The traditional translation of this verb is “do a brother-in-law’s duty.”  But in truth, we don’t know what this verb means. 

The other reason Tamar’s second marriage is presumed to be a Levirate marriage is the fact that both her story and the Deuteronomic verse involve the marriage of one woman to multiple brothers.  However, Deuteronomy 25:5-6 says, “one of the brothers will go…” It does not say, “and the father of the dead man will command one of the dead man’s brothers to go.” Judah married [took] the daughter of Shua as his wife.  However, Er did not marry Tamar.  Judah took Tamar as a wife for Er. That is a subtle but significant distinction.  Tamar’s contract to provide offspring for Er was not with Er, but with Judah. Because Tamar’s contract was with Judah, she was subject to Judah’s command.  Because Onan was Judah’s son, he was also subject to Judah’s command.)

Gen 38:9-10 But Onan knew that the seed was not his if he went on his brother’s wife so he spilled [his seed] on the ground lest he give seed to his brother’s wife.  What he did was evil in the eyes of God, so God killed him, too.

(This verse has been used to prohibit masturbation, on the erroneous supposition that Onan had been playing with himself, rather than refusing to fulfill a command of his father’s, a command which would result in the creation of a line of heredity that would be attributed to his brother, rather than to him.  Onan knew that the child would not be his, so he refused to make it.  It was for this refusal that God kills Onan.  Onan was not killed for playing with himself.  He was killed for refusing to honor a command given to him by his father:  he was killed for refusal to perform cavod av.  The complaint is silenced.)

 Gen 38:11 Then Judah said to his bride Tamar, “Return to your father’s house a widow, until my son Shelah has grown up.  Because,” he said, “he might die too, like his brothers.”  And Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

(If we were assuming that this was a Levirate marriage, there is no provision in Deuteronomy for the wife of a dead man to return to her father’s house as a widow as long as there is a brother around who could impregnate her on behalf of his dead brother.  But the text gives us a clue that this is not a Levirate marriage.  The word כלתו “his bride.”  The “his” refers to Judah, not to Er, the dead son.  How was Tamar Judah’s bride?  Judah was the one who “took” her as a wife.  Therefore, she was his bride, not his son’s bride.  Her contract to produce offspring was with him.  That contract called for her to be given to Judah’s son to produce offspring for Judah’s line through his “chosen,” his firstborn son, Er.  Tamar was Judah’s property to command.  So when Judah “asked” Tamar to return to her father’s house and pretend to be a widow until Shelah had grown up, that “asking” had the force of command, because Judah owned Tamar.)

Gen 38:12   Many days passed and Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died, and he was comforted.  Then Judah went up to Timnah with his friend Hirah the Adullamite to shear his flock.

             
(The text tells us that Judah’s wife died:  Judah had no one with whom to produce more offspring.  The text also tells us, “he was comforted.”  It does not tell us how he was comforted, or by whom.  The text then tells us that Judah went with his friend Hirah to Timnah to shear his flock.  His wife was dead.   The woman with whom he had contracted to produce offspring for himself was gone.  Judah went off to shear his flock. He did not summon Tamar back to give her to Shelah, to ensure that his line would continue.)

Gen 38:13 It was told to Tamar:  “Look, your חמיך is going up to Timnah to sheer his sheep.”

(The text does not tell us who gave this news to Tamar.  The person gave her the news is not important.  What is important is that the news did not come from Judah himself.

  
We do not know what the word חמיך means.  There are only two places we find the word חמיך: this text and 1 Sam 4:19.  In that 1 Sam 4:19, the word refers to Eli, the father-in-law of Pinehas’ wife.  With only two references, we cannot know for sure exactly what the word means.   It could mean “father-in-law.”  It could also mean “the one who holds your contract to produce offspring,” which is not quite the same thing as a father-in-law.  There is another word for “father-in-law,” חתן, which is used to describe Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law.  The word has the same shoresh as התן, the word for “bridegroom.”  Presumably, the difference in those words relate to the different statuses of the participation in the contract to provide offspring.)

Gen 38:14   She removed the widow’s clothing from herself, and went up there and covered her face with a veil and wrapped herself up, and sat in plain view which is on the way to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah had grown and she had not been given to him as a wife. 

(Judah had commanded her to return to her father’s house as a widow, when she was still “his bride,” under contract to him to produce offspring for his son Er.  He told her to remain there until his son Shelah was grown.  She did what she was told:  she returned to her father’s house.  Shelah had grown.   But Judah did not keep his word and give her to Shelah.  Tamar’s life was on hold because Judah refused to honor the contract he had entered into:  he was free as he pleased; she was required to wait for him to summon her to complete that contract.)

Gen 38:15 Judah saw her and thought she was a whore because she covered her face. 

(There is debate over the distinction between זונה and קדשה, all of which is irrelevant to the story.  What is relevant is that Judah, who did not give her to his youngest son when that son had grown, whose wife is dead, noticed a whore.)

Gen 38:16 He turned to her on the road and said “Come, please, I will come onto you.”  Because he did not know she was his bride.  She said, “What will you give me so you can come onto me?”

(He did not know who she was, but he turned to her on the road. Judah’s wife died.  Judah was without a woman.  But Tamar was his כלתו, his bride.  She was still under contract to him.   Because she had hidden her face, Judah did not recognize her.  He believed her to be a whore.  Because be believed her to be a whore, he asked for her service.  Yet Tamar was still under contract to him.  The significance of that cannot be minimized:  He was without a woman of his own.  Except that he still legally possesses Tamar, who he “took” as a wife for his chosen, his firstborn son.  Tamar was Judah’s property, not Er’s.  Yet rather than turn to Tamar as herself, as the woman he had taken to provide an heir for his line, he turned to a Tamar when he believed her to be a whore. 

Tamar asked Judah what he would give her as payment for her sexual services.  She knew that he wanted to use her for sex.  She also knew that he did not recognize her, the woman he “took” to give as a wife to two of his sons.  She knew he promised to give her to his youngest son when that youngest son had grown.  She knew that youngest son has, in fact, grown.  Judah had already “taken” her as a wife for his chosen, his firstborn son. He had already paid for her sexual services.  But, he refused to summon her to complete that contract.  However, believing her to be a whore, he was ready to pay her to perform the same service for which he has already paid her.)

Gen 38:17 He said, “I will send a kid goat from the flock.”  And she said, “Give me a pledge until you send it.”   

(He told her he would pay her for sex.   He believed that she was an unknown woman and a prostitute.  She, because he had already demonstrated to her that he could not keep his word, having failed to give her to his youngest son, distrusted him and asked for him to give her something by which he could be identified.)

Gen 38:18 He said, ‘what pledge should I give you?’  She said, ‘Your seal, and your cord and the staff that is in your hand.’  And he gave them to her and he came up to her, and she was pure to him.” 

(Believing her to be a stranger and a whore, he negotiated with her for a service for which he had already paid her.   Once he gave her the pledge she requested, items by which he could be identified, she kept her word.  And, in keeping her word, she completed the act by which her contract with him was fulfilled.  The text tells us “she was pure to him.”  We have seen this as a euphemism for  “she conceived a child.”  This child would continue his line.)

Gen 38:19 And she stood, and went, and removed her veil from around her, and put on her widow’s clothing.

(She did what she set out to do.  She proved that Judah was willing to have sex with anyone but the known and recognized Tamar.  She proved that he was even wiling to pay for it.  And she got pregnant.  Having done all of this, Tamar returned to the life to which Judah commanded her.) 

Gen 38:20 And Judah sent a kid goat by his friend the Adullamite to take the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.”  

(Judah was willing to pay a woman he believed he did not know, a woman he believed to be a whore, for his pleasure.   He kept his word to a woman he believed he does not know, a woman he believed to be a whore.  He did not keep his word to the known Tamar.)

Gen 38:21-22 He asked the men of the place, saying, “where is the prostitute who was plain view, by the road?”  They said, “There has been no prostitute.”  And he returned to Judah, and said he could not find her and the men even said there was no prostitute.

(Focus has been given to the distinction between זונה and קדשה as if a difference in status between whoring and prostituting makes a significant difference to the understanding of this tale.  The difference in status between whore and prostitute makes no difference at all to understanding the tale, except as it indicates that Hirah and “the men of the place” chose to use the word קדשה rather than the word זִנה.  The presumed difference in status is irrelevant to the matter at hand:  that Judah the widower, was willing to pay a woman he believed he did not know for sex, while deliberately keeping the known Tamar in an unfulfilled contract for exactly the same function.)

Gen 38:23 So Judah said, ‘keep it, otherwise I will become a laughingstock.  Behold, I sent her a kid and you didn’t find her.’”  

(Judah was not concerned about recovering the items he had given the woman he believed he did not know.  He was afraid of losing face because he was willing to pay a woman whom the locals have declared did not exist for pleasure, when he already possessed a perfectly good woman, who was at her father’s house playing widow in accordance with his orders.)

Gen 38:24 Three months later, Judah was informed and told, “your bride Tamar has been whoring, and behold this also, she is pregnant by whoring.”  And Judah said “bring her and burn her.”

(It would seem from this verse that it was common knowledge that Tamar’s contract is with Judah.  Judah wanted Tamar burned, not because she had fun while she was supposed to be a grieving widow, and not because her pregnancy was an embarrassment to him.  The ancient Hebrew world saw pregnancy as the ripening of seed that was implanted by a male.  The seed was the property of the male who implanted it, not the property of the woman in whom it ripened, and who produced the offspring. Because Tamar was pregnant, and Judah knew he had not given her to Shelah for Shelah to impregnate to carry on the family name, Judah believed that the only way Tamar could have gotten pregnant was by a stranger.  In getting pregnant by someone who was not of Judah’s family (i.e. not party to the contract he had cut to acquire Tamar) her pregnancy constituted both the theft of that stranger’s seed, and the fraud of attempting to pass a stranger’s seed off as the seed of the family of Judah.  Since Judah knew he had not given Tamar to Shelah, Judah believed that Tamar was committing two very serious crimes.)

Gen 38:25 And she was brought, and she sent to her father-in-law saying, “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.”  And she said, “examine them please, whose are this ring and these cords and this staff.”  

(Tamar exonerated herself of the charges of committing theft of the seed of a man who is not party to the contract Judah cut to acquire her, and of fraud in attempting to pass that seed off as the property of Judah’s family.  She proved that she had not violated her contract with him to produce offspring for his line.)

Gen 38: 26 And Judah recognized them and said, “she is more righteous than I, because I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again. 

(Judah admitted that he failed to comply with the contract he made to acquire Tamar to produce offspring for his family.  He admitted that in getting him to impregnate her, she completed that contract despite his attempts to circumvent it.)

Since the contract to acquire Tamar had been cut with Judah, the disposition of her sexual services was at his command.  He did not give her as a wife to Shelah, so her contract could be completed.  In failing to give her to Shelah, he kept her confined in that contract.  Her contract was to provide offspring to Judah’s line through Er.  In posing as a prostitute and getting Judah to impregnate her, Tamar was simply turning to the only person who was lawfully permitted to complete the contract:  the man who had cut it.  In creating a situation where it was Judah himself who impregnated her, she went directly to the source.  That is why he said she was more righteous than he:  he attempted to keep her confined in a contract he himself had cut.  She created a situation where he himself freed her from it, and at the same time satisfied the terms of the contract.