Tamar

In the Bible Tamar - תָּמָר "Date Palm", Standard Hebrew 'Tamar, was the daughter-in-law of Judah, the son of Jacob, and the foremother of the Jews. She was originally married to Judah's eldest son, Er, (Gen. 38:6). After Er's husband's death, she was married to Onan, his brother, who also died. Judah promised to her that his third son, Shelah, would become her husband. When this promise was not fulfilled, and Tamar disguised herself as a temple prostitute in the town of Timnah and offered herself to her father-in-law Judah. She claimed his staff and signet as pledge of payment. From this union, Tamar became pregnant. When Judah accused her of fornication, she produced the staff and signet and identified Judah himself as the father. Tamar had twin sons, Zarah and Pharez (Gen. 38:30). Tamar thus secured Judah's lineage. Among her descendants were King David, each of the kings of Judah, and — in the New Testament — Jesus Christ.

Tamar is one of only five women mentioned in Matthew's version of the genealogy of Jesus, the others being Ruth, Rahab, Bathsheba and Mary.

Details of Tamar's Story

Nothing is known for certain of Tamar's life other than what is written in the Bible. Her story appears as in interlude in the much longer saga of the patriarch Joseph, who has been sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers. Judah and the other sons of Joseph remain in Canaan with their father, and Judah arranges a marriage between his eldest son, Er, and Tamar.

Nothing is said of Er other than that "he was wicked in the Lord's sight; so the Lord put him to death." Anticipating the later "levirite" law by which a first-born Israelite who dies a son will be given children through his brothers, "so that his name might live," Judah commands his second son, Onan: "Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother."

Onan complies with the first half of the command and becomes Tamar's husband, but he refuses to father children through her on Er's behalf, opting instead to "spill his seed on the ground." Onan, too, soon dies, and Judah promptly promises to provide his third son, Shelah, as a husband for Tamar when he comes of age. However, fearing that Tamar is bad luck and that Shelah too will die if he becomes her husband, Judah does not fulfill his word to her.

Years later, with Judah's own wife now dead, Tamar's biological clock reaching a critical point and Judah showing no sign of providing a husband for her, Tamar decides on desperate measures. Hearing that Judah will attend the spring sheep-sheering festival at the nearby town of Timnah, she disguises herself as a sacred prostitute (probably honoring the goddess Ishtar/Astarte during a spring fertility festival) and, waiting at the town gate, lures Judah into a sexual relationship. Not knowing her true identify, he provides his staff and signet ring to her until such time as he can return with a young goat as payment for her services. She returns home with his possessions, having become pregnant.

Three months later, when Judah learns of Tamar's pregnancy, he naturally suspects her of adultery and commands that she be brought out to be burned alive as punishment. She defends herself dramatically by producing Judah's ring and staff, saying, "I am pregnant by the man who owns these. See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are." Judah admiting both his error in sleeping with her and in failing to fulfill his promise to provide a husband for he, replies: "She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah."

Tamar then has twin sons, called Perez and Zerah (also spelled Phares). Like her forerunner Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau, Tamar suffers immensely during her pregancy as her sons wrestle with each other for supremacy in her womb. Zerah's hand emerges first, and a midwife ties a red thread around his wrist. Miraculously, however, his hand is withdrawn, and the apparent second son, Perez, is born first.

Tamar's Royal Descendants

The lineage of Perez and Zerah, as well as three other sons of Judah, is detailed in the I Chronicles 2. The sons of Perez are listed as Hezron and Hamul. Hezron became the ancestor of King David and the other kings of Judah, thus:

Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,

Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,

Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

Uzziah the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah,

and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[a] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. (1 Chron. 2:3-11)

The New Testament preserves this list and also beyond it, in the following manner:

After the exile to Babylon:

Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,

Abiud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

Azor the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Akim,

Akim the father of Eliud,

Eliud the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob,

and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. (Mt. 1:12-16)

Significance of the story of Tamar

Judah gives his staff and signet ring to Tamar.

Most commentaries on Genesis 38, an episode that interrupts the larger story of Joseph being sold into Egypt, conclude that its main purpose is to contrast Joseph's righteousness with Judah's wickedness. While this is true, there seems to be another purpose. The story of Tamar depicts Judah's growth and repentance as he overcomes his past misdeeds and learns to take responsibility for his actions. Tamar plays a key role in his development, as evidenced by his statement in Gen. 38:26 NIV.

Judah showed a pattern of running away from his problems.

• After Reuben forbade his brothers to kill Joseph, Judah was the one who instigated them to sell Joseph to slavers (Gen. 36:26-27 NIV). Rather than confess to his father, he joined with his brothers in lying about Joseph having died. Furthermore, His remorse over the event may be what drove him to move away (Gen. 38:1 NIV).
• When his sons Er and Onan died, the levirate law of marriage required that Judah give Tamar to his third son, Shelah, since she was part of Judah's household now and needed a husband to care for her and conceive her children so she would be taken care of in her old age. Instead, Judah sent her back to her father's house, intending to never retrieve her and preferring instead to pass her care into the hands of another, her father. This was a shameful abdication of his responsibility as head of the household (Gen. 38:11 NIV).
• When Judah heard that Tamar was pregnant out of wedlock, he seized the opportunity to rid himself of the burden he saw her as, calling for her execution (Gen. 38:24 NIV).

Tamar, on the other hand, showed a pattern of forgiveness and discretion, not wanting to publicly shame Judah.

• Instead of publicly denouncing Judah for his irresponsibility in not providing her with a husband (and thus posterity), she privately went about the process of acquiring a child through Judah (albeit in a disreputable way) (Gen. 38:12-23 NIV).
• When Judah called for her execution, instead of openly announcing that he, too, was guilty of fornication, she carefully made clear to him that she knew his secret while at the same time not revealing it to onlookers (Gen. 38:25 NIV).

Judah realized that not only had he been avoiding his duties and reneging on his commitments, but that the person most hurt by his actions had bent over backwards to save him trouble and loss of reputation. His whole attitude changed at that moment, shown in several ways by Gen. 38:26.

• He praised Tamar, saying, "She hath been more righteous than I, because that I gave her not to Shelah my son." He admitted that whatever her faults and sins were, they were done out of desperation, while his sins were greater, being done out of negligence.
• "Judah acknowledged them," meaning the tokens that proved he was the father. Not only was he admitting his own sin, he was accepting the responsibility to care for the children Tamar bore. He did so, and they are mentioned as part of his family when they all move to Egypt (Gen. 46:12 NIV).
• "He knew her again no more." To some, this is evidence of the respect he had gained for Tamar, being willing to provide for her as a wife but not demanding that she provide him conjugal privileges.

Judah stopped running away from his duties and instead faced up to them. He moved back to his family and began the slow process of repairing the relationships damaged by his and his brothers' rash decision so many years earlier. He later demonstrates his change of heart to Joseph by unselfishly offering to become a slave in order to save his brother Benjamin (Gen. 44:33 NIV). Judah's dramatic change of heart seems to have been greatly catalyzed by the actions of Tamar.

Other Tamars in the Bible

Other Tamars in the Bible include:

1. A daughter of David (2 Sam. 13:1-32 NIV; 1 Chr. 3:9 NIV ), and thus a descendant of #1. Her half-brother Amnon raped her and afterwards hated her exceedingly.
2. A daughter of Absalom (2 Sam. 14:27 NIV), niece of #2 and a descendant of #1. Mother of Maachah, who became Rehoboam's wife.
3. A place mentioned by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 47:19 NIV Ezekiel 48:28 NIV; ), on the southeastern border of Israel. Some suppose this was Tadmor.

This entry incorporates text from the public domain "Easton's Bible Dictionary," originally published in 1897.

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Talmudic References to Tamar

The case of Tamar was tried in the court of Shem: Makkot 23b Samson was disgraced in Timnah, and so he is described as descending to Timnah; Yehudah was elevated in Timnah, and so he is described as ascending to Timnah. Alternatively, there are topographical explanations for the descriptions: Sotah 10a Attributing Yehudah's loss of his social status, and ultimately of his family, to his beginning a Mitzvah of saving Joseph and not completing it: Sotah 13b Why Yehudah didn't recognize Tamar on the road: Megillah 10b; Sotah 10b Yehudah asked Tamar whether she was Jewish, and whether she was single, and whether she was pure, before taking her: Sotah 10a Yehudah's greatness, in admitting his error vis-a-vis Tamar: Megillah 25b Yehudah admitted his role in the story with Tamar, and was not embarrassed, and so he merited entry into the next world, and the monarchy went to his tribe: Sotah 7b A Divine Voice confirming Yehudah's statement that he was the father of Tamar's children: Makkot 23b; Sotah 10b Tamar said to Yehudah, "Haker Na [Recognize this, please]," just as Yehudah had said to his father, regarding Yosef's cloak, "Haker Na": Sotah 10b Tamar said to Yehudah, "Recognize the face of your Creator, and don't turn your eyes from me": Sotah 10b When Yehudah admitted his involvement with Tamar, a Divine Voice announced, "You saved Tamar and her two sons; I will save your three descendants [Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah]" from the fire: Sotah 10b Yehudah sanctified Gd's Name in public, and so Gd incorporated His whole Name into Yehudah's Name: Sotah 10b The end of the relationship between Yehudah and Tamar