The story in this chapter is oddly placed, as if it doesn’t fit. Any young child who may stumble into reading this story will no doubt be filled with questions that might even make parents blush to answer. To explain and interpret the passage, one must be careful, for it is not a study in morality but in righteousness—a new righteousness that Yahweh both then and now seeks to introduce to the world.

Judah’s Sons (1-5)

After Joseph was sold into Egypt, the first signs arose of the family breaking up. Judah went out on his own and married a woman from among the Canaanites, which was problematic in itself. Judah “saw the daughter of a Canaanite woman and took her.” Here in those words, we find the first indication that something is wrong. Judah married a woman by the name of Shua, who gave him three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah (1-5).

Judah Seeks to Replace Er (6-11)

Notice the huge difference. Judah saw and took a wife and then selected a wife for his son. Judah’s marriage and family outcome led him to make the selection for his son, Er, the son he seemed to favor but was likely concerned regarding his character. Judah picked a daughter, as it turns out, who seemed to have a longing for the blessing of Yahweh, which she witnessed in Jacob’s family. Judah became concerned about the Israelite community, so he did for his son what he did not allow Jacob to do for him—get the right wife.

Er was wicked and became enamored with the customs of the Canaanites, so the Lord removed His protection of Er and allowed for his premature death (6-7). 

Tamar’s special connection with Judah caused her to be given to his second son, Onan, whom he ordered to have sex with his sister-in-law in order to raise up children for his older brother, Er (8).

Onan realized the child conceived by Tamar would be a competitive heir to his father’s wealth, so he had sex with Tamar to fulfill his own lust only but wanted nothing to do with the responsibility of giving her a son (9). 

Onan, like his brother Er, did something repulsive to the Lord, for Onan seems to have developed a similar appetite for the sensuous ways of Canaanite life. Onan, like Er, had Yahweh’s protection removed and came to a premature end (10).

Judah, fearing his third son, Shelah, would die for being a comparable fool, told Tamar to go back to her father's home; when Shelah had grown to have greater sense, he would give Shelah to her so she could give an heir to Er, but especially to Israel. What is obvious in the story is Tamar’s desire to be a part of Israel’s lineage (11).

Judah Sleeps with Tamar (12-19)

After some years, Shua, Judah’s wife, died. After his mourning, Judah was comforted and went to Timnah to his sheep-shearers and his friend Hirah, the person to whom Judah attached himself after he left his father (1, 12). 

Tamar was given the news that Judah, her father-in-law, was back in the area (13). Tamar made a plan to take off her widowhood garments, dress like a prostitute, and sit at the gate of the city of Enaim, waiting for Judah to return. She had come to realize that Judah had no intention of giving her his final son to raise up an heir for Er (14). Tamar’s scheme worked. After Judah was finished with the shearing, he entered the city and thought Tamar to be a prostitute. It would seem Tamar knew Judah to be a man who used prostitutes and assumed he would initiate interest in her. As predicted, Judah did initiate interest in Tamar’s services, not knowing she was his daughter-in-law. Tamar brokered a deal for a goat, and Judah committed to leave his signet, cord and staff in pledge for the payment he would send after her services were completed. Tamar agreed; they had sex, and Tamar conceived. Afterward, Tamar returned home and put her widowhood garments back on (15-19).

Judah's Payment for Sex (20-23)

The next day, Judah sent a young goat in payment by the hand of his friend Hirah. Hirah could not find Tamar, so he inquired about the cult prostitute who worked the front gate at Enaim. No one knew of such a prostitute, so Hirah returned to Judah to give him the news that he could not find her and that no one in the city had ever seen a cult prostitute work the city gate (20-22). Judah decided to let the one he thought was a prostitute keep his personal items, lest they bring too much attention to the fact that Judah had been cheated by a whore and become a joke (23).

Tamar Found Out (24-26)

Tamar began to show her pregnancy, and Judah found out she was with child. Judah was enraged, likely not for the sexual immorality, for those virtues were lost on him, but for her having been committed to his son. Her act was an act of treachery against Shelah, which was what incited Judah to have her punished. 

In a rage, Judah called for Tamar’s immorality to be met with death by burning (24). When Tamar heard Judah had sent Hirah and his entourage to fetch her for the flames, she sent a friend to give Judah his personal items. Judah immediately identified them as his own and, in humility, declared Tamar to be more “righteous” than he. Judah never slept with Tamar again (25-26).

At this moment, the story finds the proverbial nail on which to hang itself. Tamar’s act, though completely immoral, had a stream of righteousness coursing on its way through the very act of deceit and immorality. Tamar sought to be a part of the Israel covenant community, to strengthen and bless the Israel community, while Judah was willing to harm the community for the protection of his own son. Like Achan, the great-great+++ grandson of Judah (Joshua 7), who put himself above the community by disobeying God, so Judah was putting himself above the community by not sending his son to the woman he had chosen to bear the heir to Judah’s tribe.  

Like her grandmother-in-law, Rebekah, Tamar was zealous for the blessing of Abraham. They were both more zealous for Yahweh’s blessing than their male counterparts. Isaac was consumed with his son, Esau, to the detriment of the community God was building, and here, so is Judah. The new righteousness God is seeking surpasses the righteousness of Judah, who seeks to punish those who don’t follow the virtues in his own defined ways. 

The Birth of Perez and Zerah (27-30)

Tamar had twins, and when she was in labor, the hand of Zerah came out. The midwife tied a scarlet thread around his hand, but then his hand withdrew and Perez came out first (27-30). This was an unusual birth, and Perez, now the firstborn, became the longed-for heir of Judah and ultimately Abraham. Tamar's faith and determination to be in the Abrahamic lineage left her as one of three women mentioned in the genealogy of Christ. Tamar was more righteous than Judah because she possessed a greater faith in the Abrahamic promise than did Judah. Tamar’s desire for the promise was so great that she was honored, as the lineage of Christ did not come through Shelah as it should have, but made its way through Perez, the son of incest at some level, the son of an act of prostitution. Oh, the grace of God.

Finally, the story is certainly placed here to remind Israel of the reason they needed to leave Canaan. The Canaanite lifestyle would have destroyed the offspring of Abraham, making it impossible for them to be devoted to Yahweh. All the temptations resident in a land growing more and more densely wicked would have led to even worse behavior than witnessed in Judah's life. In Egypt and through slavery, Yahweh would birth a people who would remember His great works of deliverance, instead of being deceived in lust by sensuality and evil.