Topical Bible: Judah: Son of Jacob: His Incest With his Daughter-In-Law

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Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, is a significant figure in biblical history, known for his leadership among the tribes of Israel and as an ancestor of King David and Jesus Christ. However, one of the more controversial episodes in Judah's life involves his relationship with his daughter-in-law, Tamar, as recorded in Genesis 38.

Background

Judah married a Canaanite woman named Shua, and they had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. Judah arranged for his firstborn, Er, to marry Tamar. However, Er was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death (Genesis 38:7). Following the custom of levirate marriage, Judah instructed his second son, Onan, to marry Tamar and raise offspring for his deceased brother. Onan, however, refused to fulfill this duty, and the LORD also put him to death (Genesis 38:9-10).

The Deception of Tamar

Judah promised Tamar that she could marry his third son, Shelah, when he came of age. However, fearing for Shelah's life, Judah delayed fulfilling this promise. Realizing that she was being denied her right to motherhood and the continuation of her deceased husband's line, Tamar took matters into her own hands.

When Judah's wife died, and after Judah had mourned, he went to Timnah to shear his sheep. Tamar, aware of his journey, disguised herself as a prostitute and positioned herself along his path. Judah, not recognizing her, solicited her services, promising a young goat from his flock as payment. As a pledge, Tamar requested his seal, cord, and staff (Genesis 38:14-18).

The Revelation

Tamar conceived by Judah and later revealed her pregnancy. When Judah was informed that Tamar was pregnant through harlotry, he initially ordered her to be burned. However, when Tamar presented Judah's seal, cord, and staff, he recognized them and declared, "She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah" (Genesis 38:26). Judah did not have further relations with her.

The Birth of Perez and Zerah

Tamar gave birth to twins, Perez and Zerah. During the birth, Zerah extended his hand, and the midwife tied a scarlet thread around it, indicating he was the firstborn. However, Perez emerged first, and thus he was considered the firstborn (Genesis 38:28-30). Perez became an ancestor of King David and, ultimately, Jesus Christ, as noted in the genealogies in the books of Ruth and Matthew.

Significance

This episode in Judah's life is a complex narrative that highlights themes of justice, righteousness, and the fulfillment of God's promises despite human failings. It underscores the importance of the levirate marriage custom in preserving family lines and the lengths to which individuals might go to ensure its observance. Despite the moral complexities, God's providence is evident in the continuation of the Messianic line through Perez.

Nave's Topical Index

Genesis 38:12-26
And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheep shearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
Nave's Topical Index

Library

Chapter xxxviii
... For the present, no matter how strongly Jacob's sons may have ... destined to be married
to the next son it may ... his daughter-in-law, we see that Judah surely would ...
/.../leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter xxxviii.htm

Faustus States his Objections to the Morality of the Law and the ...
... the field, ending sometimes in their hiring him from one another for the night;
[785] or, again, how his son Judah slept with ... Again, Jacob the son of Isaac ...
/.../faustus states his objections to.htm

The Immutability of God
... know one little thing?"that Hezekiah's son Manasseh, was ... to his couch and pollutes
it; Judah commits incest ... Never was man more tried than Jacob, all through ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 1 1855/the immutability of god.htm

Beginning at Jerusalem. --Luke xxiv. 47.
... made manifest in them, and that the Son of God ... Abraham, that was sometime an idolater,
and Jacob, that was ... lay with his father's concubine, and Judah that lay ...
/.../bunyan/jerusalem sinner saved/beginning at jerusalem luke xxiv 47.htm

The Jerusalem Sinner Saved;
... relation was to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob"however they ... for their murder committed
upon the Son of God ... ten tribes that worshipped devils, while Judah kept with ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the jerusalem sinner saved.htm