Tamar suffered a double tragedy: her husband Er died, and she lost the chance of having a child. Widowed and without children, Tamar was low in the pecking order of the tribe.
But there was a way out: the Levirate Law. This law was found in Deuteronomy If a man died, and his wife had not yet had a child by him, she could go to his brother and demand that he marry her and give her a child who would inherit the property of the dead husband. But he refused outright to do so, probably because it meant his future share of the inheritance would be less.
Onan practiced the same form of birth control, and Tamar did not conceive. God punished Onan. He died, and his death at such an early age was seen as just punishment. Deuteronomy describes the punishment for a man who refused to obey the Levirate law. It was public and confronting. To us the punishment does not sound very much, but in the context of the time it meant public disgrace that could not be lived down. The action involving the sandal had symbolic meaning: the foot symbolized the male genitals, the sandal the female sexual organs, and the spittle, the semen.
Public shame was often used to enforce the law in ancient times. When Onan died without giving Tamar a child, she looked to the third son of Judah to be her husband.
But this boy, Shelah, was too young to be a father. So Judah sent Tamar back to her family, promising to send for her when Shelah was old enough. It may have been that Judah really meant to carry out his promise, but as time went by he became convinced Tamar was a jinx, bad luck, responsible for the deaths of his two eldest sons.
Tamar waited patiently, but after a while it became clear that Judah did not mean to give her his third son Shelah as a husband. Judah refused to keep the Levirate law. When she saw that she was to be left a childless widow, Tamar decided to act.
She intended to get what was rightfully hers. She would trick on Judah, just as he had tricked her. The deceiver now became the deceived. She dressed in the special clothing of a prostitute which included a veil across her face that disguised her identity, waited for Judah at the city gates see below , and persuaded him to have sexual intercourse with her.
The city gates were something like the reconstruction above: massive mudbrick walls with a strong gateway that could be shut tight against an enemy, or closed at night for security. Here also the city prostitutes waited for customers. No respectable woman would sit there, or be there alone. She saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. Some Bible scholars trace the tragedy back to David's sin with Bathsheba.
Perhaps David was not as outraged as he should have been at Amnon's lust. At any rate, the story shows sin has unforeseen and long-ranging consequences.
God forgives sin, but its after-effects can be terrible. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Mary Fairchild. Christianity Expert. Mary Fairchild is a full-time Christian minister, writer, and editor of two Christian anthologies, including "Stories of Cavalry.
Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter. Updated April 14, Cite this Article Format. Fairchild, Mary. Bathsheba and David: Biblical Romance and Tragedy.
Christian Symbols Illustrated Glossary. Heroes of Faith in the Book of Hebrews. Profile of King David, Father of Solomon. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for LearnReligions.
The brother whom Judah suggested he and his other brothers sell instead of kill is Joseph. The infamous Joseph, with the many-colored coat , who went on to gain favor with the king and eventually rescue his brothers and father from famine Genesis ; After selling his brother, Judah chose to separate from his brothers and establish his life among the Canaanites, which God warned against. Genesis There, Judah met his wife and began having children.
Judah and his Tamar crossed paths again after Judah joined her as a widow. When Tamar heard he was traveling towards her, she tricked him into sleeping with her by disguising herself as a prostitute. Judah had left his seal, cord and staff with her as collateral until he delivered the goat he had promised. She could not be found to receive the goat, and so Judah decided to let her keep his possessions rather than risk further association with a prostitute.
Genesis ; Judah and Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had two twin boys, Perez and Zerah Genesis It is through the inclusion of Perez in the genealogical line of Jesus that Tamar appears as well. Similar to Ruth, also widowed and appearing in the genealogical line of Jesus. As we learned above, Tamar tricked Judah into sleeping with her by disguising herself as a prostitute, which resulted in her birthing two twin sons. Tamar fits into the genealogy of Jesus, the same line as King David, through the twin sons she bore with Judah.
Perez, one of the twin sons of Tamar and Judah, is in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. It reveals the redemptive and compassionate heart of God holding.
0コメント