Judah and Tamar Challenge

Genesis 37-50 contains the Joseph story.  In contrast to the mostly episodic narrative in the first 36 chapters of Genesis, the Joseph story is a tight, cohesive story.  That is except for the tale of Judah and Tamar.  The story of Judah and Tamar in chapter 38 seems an interruption in the narrative flow.  In addition, the material covered is salacious and seems at odds with the story of Joseph with its high moral tone.  So why is the story of Judah and Tamar included in the Joseph story?

The key to answering this question is to understand that the royal line of Israel and thus the Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah.  We actually learn this in Genesis 49 when Jacob blesses all his sons and prophesies about the future of each of their descendants.  Genesis 49:10 says, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him who it belongs and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."  The scepter and ruler's staff are images associated with kingship.

So the kingship of Israel will be of Judah's line.   When we think about a royal line we think of a succession of kings as in a dynasty.  An interesting point here is that this kingship come to an individual since we see the pronoun him used twice.  So ultimately an individual is referred to here. This is similar to the issue we noted in Genesis 3:15 where there was an ambiguity about whether the seed of the woman was plural but the pronouns led us to the conclusion that the seed of the woman must be an individual.

This prophecy is a reference to the Messiah who will come from the line of David of the tribe of Judah.  The Messiah is also the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent so its no surprise that we find a parallel with the wording of Genesis 3:15.  For all these reasons, Judah's descendants are very important.

The idea of the seed is also very important to the theology of Genesis.  After all, the solution to the fall is the the defeat of the serpent by the seed of the woman.  The word seed is repeated throughout the entire book and the concern for seed is why Genesis dwells on things like genealogies, birthrights, and the birth of children.  Genesis carefully traces the line of the seed through Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, and to the family of Abraham.

Judah is heir to this history and yet he shows a complete disregard for his seed.  Judah has taught his sons no better, since the first son offends God so badly God puts him to death.  Judah's next oldest son, Onan, has no more regard for his family's position than his father, since he actively tries to prevent Tamar from becoming pregnant and is also put to death by God.

Onan's disregard is made clear by the repetition of the Hebrew word zera which means seed or offspring in the verses concerning Onan:

    Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law
    to her, and raise up seed for your brother."  But Onan knew that the seed would not be his.  So
    whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the it on the ground, so as not to
    give seed to his brother.

Onan does not care that his family has been chosen by God.  He does not care about the prophecies given to his great-grandfather Abraham.  All Onan knows is that a child born Tamar will be considered his brother's child and not his own.  Onan tries to thwart the purpose of God just as the pharaoh did by trying to kill the Hebrew first born and just as Herod did by executing the children in Bethlehem.

When his first two sons die, Judah prevents his third son from marrying Tamar.  If his third son does not marry and produce an heir, then Judah's line dies out.  Tamar, through her guile and self-interest, seduces Judah and becomes pregnant with Judah's child and thus continues Judah's line.  His descendent will be King David for which the kingly line of Israel will be established.  From this line will come the messiah, Jesus, who will crush the head of the serpent.

The point of this exercise is to see that the story of Judah and Tamar fits quite well into the story of Genesis.  Though Joseph is important and saves his family, ultimately the point of Genesis is fulfilled in Judah whose seed will produce Israel's kings and the Messiah who will crush the serpent's head.  Judah's role is so important it is necessary to interrupt the story of Joseph and include this tale in all its sordid detail.  Judah shows himself worthy of this role by later in the story offering to sacrifice himself in order to save his father's beloved son Benjamin.  No doubt Judah is a flawed individual, but Judah models self sacrifice that will find its ultimate expression in Judah's descendant Jesus.