Tamar
Tamar (תָּמָר — meaning "Date Palm" — Standard Hebrew 'Tamar) was the foremother of the Jews and the daughter-in-law of the patriarch Judah, the son of Jacob. She was the ancestor of King David in the Hebrew Bible and of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
Tamar 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 that his third son, Shelah, would become her husband. When this promise was not fulfilled, 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 ring as a pledge in token of payment but did not appear later to receive her pay. 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, Zerah and Perez (Gen. 38:30), thus securing Judah's lineage. Among her descendants were King David, each of the subsequent 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
Little is known of Tamar's life other than what is written in the 38th chapter of the Book of Genesis. Her story appears as in interlude in the much longer saga of the patriarch Joseph, who had 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." (Gen. 38:7) Anticipating the later "levirite" law by which a first-born Israelite who dies without a son will be given children posthumously through his brothers (Deut. 25: 5-10), 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 identity, 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 and does not turn up when Judah's servant enquires for the "shrine prostitute" at Timnah's town gate with her pay.
Three months later, when Judah learns of Tamar's pregnancy, he naturally suspects her of adultery. Hypocritically outraged at her crime, he 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 her, replies: "She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn't give her to my son Shelah."
Tamar then has twin sons, called Perez (also spelled Phares) and Zerah. 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. The lineage of Perez and Zerah, as well as three other sons of Judah, is detailed in the I Chronicles 2.
Thus Tamar becomes the foremother of the tribe of Judah, which in turn become the dominant tribe of the southern Kingdom of Judah and provided both the population and religious tradition of the people later known as the Jews.
Significance of the story of Tamar
Tamar's story has been the cause of considerable discomfort for pious biblical commentators until fairly recently, due to embarrassing moral issues of her course. Chirstian sources tended to ignore her almost entirely (there is no entry for her in the Catholic Encylopedia, for example.) However, Talmudic authorities have a good deal to say about Tamar and her relationship with Judah.
Tamar was reportedlt the granddaughter of Noah through his son Shem (Gen. R. 30:11), Noah having lived until well into the time of Abraham. In the house of Judah, she was extremely virtuous and timid, keeping her face covered with a veil. This is the reason that Judah failed to recognize her at Timnah. (Sotah 10b). Tamar resolved on her desperate course of deceiving Judah only after praying to God that she might not go barren from Judah's house. [1] In reply to Judah's questions at the Timnah gate she declared that she was not a Gentile, and that she was unmarried (Sotah 10a). When she had become pregnant she was not at all ashamed of her condition, but boasted to all that she would be the mother of kings and redeemers (Gen. Rabbah lxxxv. 11). Despite the apparent claim in Genesis to the contrary, after her innocence had been proved, Judah continued to live with her in marital relations (Sotah 10b).
Modern commentatators nearly unanimously agree that Tamar's story serves as an origin tale explaining the custom of levirite marriage, which is codified in Deut. 25 and reaffirmed in the story of Ruth. Thus, two such marriages are detailed in the lineage of King David.
Several commenators see Tamar as a figure of significance in the history of women's rights. Alan Dershowitz, in The Genesis of Justice. Ten stories of Biblical Injustice that Led to the Ten Commandments and Modern Law, see Tamar as an example of the ancient patriarchal tradition by which the sole purpose for a woman’s existence is motherhood. Although she is bound to accept this role, Tamar is willing to challenge male supremacy by taking matters into her own hands when Judah refuses to give her a husband. "Tamar responds like a hard-headed business woman," write David M. Gunn and Danna Nolan Fewell, in Narrative in the Hebrew Bible (page 39), finally exacting the rather serious pledge of Judah’s seal an chord."
Tamar's Royal Descendants
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)
Other Tamars in the Bible
Other Tamars in the Bible include:
- 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.
- 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.
- A place mentioned by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 47:19 NIV Ezekiel 48:28 NIV; ), on the southeastern border of Israel. Some suppose this was Tadmor.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Dershowitz, Anan M. . The Genesis of Justice. Ten stories of Biblical Injustice that Led to the Ten Commandments and Modern Law (New York: Warner Books, Inc, 2000),
Gunn, David; and Danna Nolan Fewell. Narrative in the Hebrew Bible Oxford University Press, 1993.
Kirsch, Jonathan. The Harlot By the Side of the Road. http://www.nd.edu/~tkazakov/tamar.htm
Deut 25 If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. 6 The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
This entry incorporates text from the public domain "Easton's Bible Dictionary," originally published in 1897.
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