In yesterday's study we learned that Judah had three sons. Er, his firstborn, married a woman named Tamar but died not long after, leaving no children. Judah instructed his second born son, Onan, to marry the widow in the custom known as "levirate marriage". This would keep the property (Er's share in the family estate) that Tamar inherited from Er in the family because it would pass down to any son she had with Onan. Onan married her but refused to have a child with her. He too died soon after the marriage.
Judah has one son left, Shelah, who is not yet a legal adult. Judah would like to keep the shares of the property of his sons Er and Onan in the family, but at the same time he's afraid to give another son to Tamar in marriage. The Bible specifically told us that Er and Onan died young because they were so wicked, and I think Judah probably knows they weren't fine upstanding men, but at the same time he's superstitious about Tamar as if she caused the deaths of his two sons. In his heart he can't make a firm decision about what he should do, so he instructs Tamar to return to her parents' house and remain single until Shelah is of age. This puts Tamar in an awkward position. She ends up sitting around for years waiting for Judah to fulfill his promise. Meanwhile she's growing older and is missing opportunities for marriage and childbearing. If she's still unmarried when her fertile years run out, as she grows older she'll have no sons to take care of her. As the years pass she realizes Judah has no intention of keeping his promise. Her bitterness toward him grows. In our passage today she decides to take action.
We know years have passed while Tamar waits for Judah to keep his promise because the Bible says, "After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died." (Genesis 38:12a) A long time goes by. Judah's household has no woman to run it now that his wife has passed but still he doesn't send for Tamar to marry his son after the days of mourning are completed. Instead he decides to get out of the house for a while by attending a sheep shearing, which was a festive event. "When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him." (Genesis 38:12b)
Sheep shearing took place in the spring when the earth was blossoming and when the long dark days of winter were over. It was treated as a celebration. As soon as all the work was done (which could take a number of days depending on the size of the flocks) a feast would be held for several days and it was like an all-you-can-eat buffet with an open bar. There would be lots of eating, drinking, singing, and playing of instruments. The Bible tells us that Judah grieved for his wife. He loved her and he's been very sad. The sheep shearing festival sounds like something that will cheer him up and take his mind off his sorrow. He asks his best friend to go along with him and the two of them head off for several days of carefree fun. But when Judah goes to the festival instead of sending for Tamar, she realizes he never intends to. Now that the days of mourning for his wife are completed, and now that spring is bursting forth in all its beauty, it seems like the perfect time for Judah to arrange a wedding between Tamar and Shelah. Then Tamar could have taken over the running of the household and the supervision of the household servants. She could have provided a woman's touch in a house that now contains only two lonely single men, but Judah runs off to the festival instead and seems content to leave things as they are.
"When Tamar was told, 'Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,' she took off her widow's clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife." (Genesis 38:13-14) Sheep shearing was considered not only a time to party but a time to settle scores. Tamar is going to settle a score.
"When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, 'Come now, let me sleep with you.'" (Genesis 38:15-16a) Women who were known as "shrine prostitutes" in the land of Canaan put veils over their faces when they were, shall we say, open for business. These women served fertility goddesses in that pagan culture and part of their service included having sexual relations with men in exchange for money. When a man saw a woman with a veiled face sitting by the roadside, he naturally assumed she was one of these ladies of the evening. In our day a prostitute might stand on a street corner dressed in skimpy clothes while calling out to men driving by, but in Judah's day all a prostitute had to do was veil her face and place herself by a roadside or city gate and men would automatically know she was available. When Judah sees a woman sitting by the roadside wearing a veil over her face, of course he assumes she's a prostitute. Judah is a man out on the town looking for a good time. He's recently widowed and he misses the physical companionship of a woman. When he sees the veiled lady he propositions her. What he's doing is sinful and immoral, of course, but I don't think he's bothered by that.
Tamar intended him to believe she's a prostitute. "'And what will you give me if I sleep with you?' she asked. 'I'll send a young goat from my flock,' he said. 'Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?' she asked. He asked, 'What pledge shall I give you?' 'Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,' she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him. After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow's clothes again." (Genesis 38:16b) Judah doesn't have the goat with him and any woman in the business of prostitution would want to ensure that he keeps his end of the bargain. There's nothing odd about Tamar asking for personal items of Judah's to hold as a guarantee that he will send the goat as payment for their sexual transaction. Tamar wants to become pregnant by him and she knows the only way she can prove the child is his is if she has these personal items which he temporarily gave a supposed prostitute to hold until he sent the goat back. There weren't any paternity tests in those days and having his seal and its cord along with his staff will be the positive paternity test Tamar needs. A wealthy man didn't travel anywhere without the seal he used to sign official documents. Possessing his seal would be like possessing his legal form of ID. When Tamar makes the announcement that Judah is the baby daddy, having his seal in her hand is the same as producing a printout of paternity test results with his name on them.
Judah keeps his word about the goat. He has to if he wants his items back, but he doesn't go in person. As far as he's concerned, his personal dealings with the prostitute are over. He sends his buddy Hirah to conclude the matter for him. "Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her. He asked the men who lived there, 'Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?' 'There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here,' they said." (Genesis 38:20-21) This scene amuses me. Hiram looks pretty foolish wandering up and down the roadway and around the city square leading a goat on a rope while searching for a veiled woman. Eventually he asks some men hanging around where the prostitute is. I can't help picturing those guys having a good laugh at his expense. No doubt they believe Hirah is the person who slept with the prostitute. They probably think he was too intoxicated at the time of the festival to recall where his transaction with the woman took place. They believe he's in the wrong location and say, "Man, are you crazy? How drunk were you? We haven't had any hookers here! Are you sure this thing even happened? Maybe you passed out and dreamed it." A lot of snickering and knee slapping probably ensued, to Hirah's embarrassment.
There's nothing Hirah can do but slink home and tell Judah he can't find the woman. "So he went back to Judah and said, 'I didn't find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, 'There hasn't been any shrine prostitute here.' Then Judah said, 'Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her the young goat, but you didn't find her.'" (Genesis 38:22-23) It's in Judah's best interests to speak no more of the matter. He doesn't want word to get out that he slept with a prostitute and can't find her to pay her. That will make him look foolish and give his neighbors something to gossip about. He certainly doesn't want anyone to think he slept with a prostitute and refused to pay her. He says, "Let's let this thing go. She can sell my personal items for cash if she wants to. It's not like I didn't try to pay her with the goat. You know and I know I tried to pay her. The men you spoke to in town know I sent the goat as payment. It's not my fault she isn't there anymore."
Judah thinks this is the end of the thing. But it's only the beginning.
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