seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16 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.”
“And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
17 “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.
“Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.
18 He said, “What pledge should 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. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.
“And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.
17 “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.
“Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she asked.
18 He said, “What pledge should 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. 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.
Wow.... I know the comments are longer than the verse but all this really needed to be here.
This is from the bible-commentaries.org site.
There are extenuating circumstances. Judah was prejudiced about the myth regarding the continuation of his name. He was superstitious, fearing the death of his youngest son. He was grieving over the death of his wife. He was a widower, who had no outlet for his sexual desires. All these are explanations of why Judah did what he did, but they are no justifications.
Shelah has grown up, but Judah does not give him to Tamar, as he promised he would do. So Tamar plots her own course. She acts shrewdly, capitalizing on what she knows is the weakness of her father-in-law. When she hears that Judah is passing by on his way to sheep shearing, she disguises herself as a prostitute. The NIV uses the expression "shrine prostitute."(Vs. 21,22). The KJV and RSV use the word "harlot." Probably all prostitution at that time was linked to idol worship. This does mean that Judah had to engage in some kind of idol worship in order to be able to have sex with the women. His religious convictions are not strong enough to see this part of the deal as a real obstacle. Yet he must have known better. Judah did not just commit a sexual sin, he indulged in idol worship, thus opening himself up for demonic influences.
Tamar acts very shrewdly. She seems to have expected that this one time intercourse would make her pregnant and she wants to be sure that when her pregnancy becomes know, everybody will know who the father is. If she would not become pregnant, she probably had a plan "B," which she would have carried out with the objects Judah left in her care as a pledge. The plot works and she becomes pregnant.
This family has some juicy stuff in the closet, right?
