THE STORY OF TAMAR
Tamar means ‘date palm’, a name that suggests strength, food, shade, and life
Judah means ‘give praise to God’
Perez means ‘he who pushes through’, the one who breaks through a wall
Zerah means ‘scarlet'
Onan means ‘the virile one’; in the circumstances, it is an ironic name
The fruit of a date palm
The story of Tamar contains four different episodes:
1 Tamar married, but remained childless, Genesis 38:1-11. Tamar married into the family of Judah, first to Judah’s son Er and then, after his death, to Onan his brother. Because of Onan’s actions, she did not become pregnant. For a Jewish woman, this meant disgrace, because people thought that being childless was a punishment from God.
2 She claimed her Levirite rights, Genesis 38:12-19. Eventually, Tamar had to trick Judah in order to obtain a child. By ancient Hebrew standards, her actions were legal and morally right.
3 She was accused of promiscuity, Genesis 38:20-26. Because she did not name the father of her child, it was assumed that she had been promiscuous, and Judah sentenced her to be burnt to death. But she saved herself by a clever ploy.
4 She bore twin sons, Genesis 38:27-30. Her tenacity was rewarded with the birth of sons, one of whom would be the ancestor of King David.
The story describes the way a widow, Tamar, obtained a child for herself and an heir for her dead husband’s inheritance. It shows a virtuous woman who risked everything, her life and her reputation, to get what was rightfully hers. It is part of the continuing Jewish preoccupations with social justice.
The story also shows one of the main themes of the Book of Genesis: God’s promise to continue the Jewish people, through many generations, against all odds.
TAMAR MARRIES, BUT REMAINS CHILDLESS
Genesis 38:1-11
As a young woman, Tamar married Er, eldest son of Judah and an unnamed daughter of Shua. Er practised some form of birth control, probably by withdrawing before ejaculation, and he was punished by God for this action - people at the time saw withdrawal as a crime against Nature and God. Tamar suffered a double tragedy: her husband Er died, and she lost the chance of having a child.
‘But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan ‘Go into your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother.’
Read Genesis 38:1-11.
Like all Hebrew women, Tamar yearned for children of her own. As well, she believed she had an obligation to produce a son who would inherit her dead husband's name. So she resorted to the Levirate law.
This law was expressed in Deuteronomy 25:5-10. 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. This practical law was about two things:
the woman's right to have children, and
keeping property within the family.
Under Levirate law, Er’s younger brother Onan was obliged to give Tamar a child. But he refused to do so, probably because any child born to Tamar would carry Er’s name, not Onan’s, and when their father died the child would inherit the dead brother’s portion of the estate. He practiced the same form of birth control, and Tamar did not conceive.
Onan thus failed to carry out the Levirate obligation to Tamar, and disregarded his father's command. He died, and his death at such an early age was seen as punishment from God. Since then, 'onanism' has become the technical word used to describe uncompleted coition and masturbation.
Deuteronomy 25:9-10 describes the punishment for a man who refused to obey the Levirate law: the woman went up to him in a public assembly, pulled his sandal from his foot, spat in his face, and said 'This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house'. To us the punishment does not sound very much, but in the context of the time it meant public disgrace. The action in v9 had symbolic meaning: the foot symbolized the male genitals, the sandal the female sexual organs, and the spittle, the semen. The woman’s action publicly humiliated the man, and his family's disgrace was remembered long after he himself was dead. 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 he was only a boy, too young to be a father. So Judah sent Tamar back to her family, promising to send for her when Shelah, the third son, was old enough.
Judah began to look on Tamar as a jinx, in some way responsible for the deaths of his two eldest sons.
TAMAR CLAIMS HER LEVIRATE RIGHTS
Genesis 38:12-19
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. She should not have been surprised. Many years ago Judah had been guilty of selling his own brother Joseph to the Egyptians (Genesis 37:26). Now he refused to keep the Levirate law.
When she saw that she was to be left a childless widow, she decided to act. She did not blame ‘the system’, but took the initiative to obtain what was rightfully hers. She dressed in the special clothing of a prostitute which included a veil across her face that disguised her identity, waited for Judah, and persuaded him to have sexual intercourse with her.
‘She put off her widow’s garments, put on a veil, wrapped herself up, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. 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.’
Read Genesis 38:12-19.
It is likely that Judah perceived Tamar as one of the sacred prostitutes. The Hebrew words for a sacred prostitute (kedeshah, sacred woman) and a normal prostitute (zonah) are both used in this story. In Israel, prostitutes were required to cover their faces at all times.
Sacred prostitution was part of Canaanite religious practice, and Canaanites were the dominant social group at this time. The Canaanites saw sexuality, either human or in Nature, as a divine force. According to Herodotus, a Greek historian writing in about 450BC, a Babylonian woman would follow the following practice:
She would disguise herself at least once during her life, covering her face with a veil. In this way she discarded her own personal identity. She would then go to the temple and receive a man who was a stranger to her (Herodotus 1.199). This man, in this particular act, represented the incarnate god. Their sexual act was meant, by what is called ‘sympathetic magic’, to reflect and encourage fertility in the Great Mother, Nature. Herodotus emphasized that, once a woman had fulfilled this obligation, she was virtuous and loyal to her husband for the rest of her life.
Tamar may have followed a version of this practice, but she also asked for payment from Judah. He promised to send her a kid from his flock, and in the meantime, as a guarantee, he left his seal, cord and staff, all of which were personal items that could be identified. Then she took off the special clothing of a prostitutes, dressed herself again in her widow’s clothing, and returned home.
The seal, cord and staff were symbols of a person’s identity, items of great personal worth, and it is surprising that Judah gave them up. Judah's seal may have been a cylinder seal similar to clay seals found in a number of archaeological excavations, particularly in the Mesopotamian area. Herodotus (1.196) gives a description of the staff made specifically for each person, with a personal emblem carved on the top of it. But to Tamar theses items meant much more: they symbolised the son she would have, the son who would succeed Judah.
'Tamar', Aharon April
TAMAR IS ACCUSED OF PROMISCUITY
Genesis 38:20-26
When Judah’s friend came to make payment to the unknown prostitute and reclaim Judah’s seal, cord and staff, the woman was nowhere to be found. Tamar had gone home, without telling anyone who she was. But through this one act of sexual intercourse with Judah she had become pregnant, a fact that was soon evident to the people around her. Judah, who already blamed her for the deaths of his sons, thought the worst when he heard that she was pregnant. She was accused of ‘playing the whore’.
And Judah said “Bring her out and let her be burned”.
Read Genesis 38:20-26.
Now Judah, as head of the tribe, had the right to pass judgment on her, and to condemn her to death. The Code of Hammurabi, law 129, reads ‘If the wife of a man has been caught while lying with another man, they shall bind them and throw them into the water. If the husband of the woman wishes to spare his wife, then the king in turn may spare his subject’. Deuteronomy 22:22, the Hebrew law code, recommends death for both the man and the woman.
Judah pronounced that Tamar should be burnt to death, a particularly cruel way to die. But Tamar was not beaten yet. She sent the seal, cord and staff back to Judah, with the message that they belonged to the father of her child, and Judah, confronted by the evidence, had little choice but to acknowledge that she was in the right, and that she had been acting according to the law.
Ancient cylinder seal from MesopotamiaTHE BIRTH OF TAMAR’S TWIN SONS
Genesis 38:27-30
Tamar’s insistence on her rights was rewarded by the birth of not one but two children!
‘While she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a crimson threat, saying “This one came out first”. But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore he was named Perez.’
Read Genesis 38:27-30.
Tamar’s sons were called Perez and Zerah. Perez would be an ancestor of King David.
Tamar’s actions were unorthodox by modern standards. But in a way she ‘redeemed’ Judah. She saved him from doing what was wrong, and was thus a pre-figure of Jesus, who was one of her descendents.
Summary
In an odd sort of way, Tamar was more loyal to the tribe of Judah than he was himself. She knew she had a duty to produce an heir to her husband, and she was determined to do so, come what might. Despite her somewhat unorthodox methods, she was a woman of integrity who risked her life to fulfill her duty to herself and her family. She knew she had the right to a child, and she knew that her first husband Er had the right to an heir. So she acted to make this happen. Once again, God's plan continued to unfold through the unorthodox actions of a woman.
THE CULTURAL SETTING FOR THIS STORY
It was probably in this period that women enjoyed greatest freedom and prestige. The stories in Genesis and Exodus show them as independent and strong, smart and tough. They display leadership and initiative. They almost always get their way when they want something. Tamar is a case in point: she knows her rights, and she pursues them decisively.
This was probably because women were necessary for the survival of the tribe, and they knew it. They did a wide range of tasks, without which the clan or family simply could not have managed. They moved freely in society, and were not confined within the home. The Bible stories show that they spoke and acted confidently.
Their contribution to the culture of the time was significant. The stories as we have them in the Bible were edited much later by male priests, but there are hints that women had a thriving cultural tradition of their own. Many of their stories dealt with families, children, food supplies, security/safety and home-places. All were matters that related to women’s spheres of influence, and some scholars suggest that many of the stories of Genesis were originally women’s stories, preserved by women in the clan.
As well, women played an active role in religious matters. The concept of monotheism was just beginning to develop, but many women probably worshipped a fertility goddess, the Great Mother, source of plant, animal and human life. Ancient Near Eastern religions certainly had fertility of the soil and animal life as one of their main focuses, with priestesses who served the forces of Nature (the power of river and rain water, abundance of crops and animals, etc.)
The stone stele on which the laws of Hammurabi were recorded
The laws of Hammurabi, a famous law-maker and king of Babylonia, provide insights into the lives of women in this period. There were laws to
- protect the rights of women in marriage
- protect women against rape
- define the punishment for adultery
- define the just treatment of women who were slaves
- regulate the behaviour of sacred women who served in the temples
- lay down conditions for divorce, etc.
Another source of information about women and their lives was provided by love poems and lullabies of this period.
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