{"id":39295,"date":"2018-09-03T23:06:08","date_gmt":"2018-09-03T20:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=39295"},"modified":"2022-03-28T17:21:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T14:21:21","slug":"chapter-summary-genesis-38","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/chapter-summary-genesis-38\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Summary – Genesis 38"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"39295","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Chapter 38 Summary: Cut - We\u2019re speaking about Judah.\r\n","content":"

Chapter 38 is a break at the height of the suspense associated with the sale of Joseph (he went down to Egypt and was sold to Potiphar’s house, and no one has any idea what happens to him in the meantime), for the benefit of another suspense-filled story: the story of Judah and Tamar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judah establishes a family with the daughter of Shua the Canaanite, and he has three sons: Er, Onan and Shelah. The eldest son married Tamar, but he died before she gave birth. According to the law of levirate marriage (see below on an explanation of levirate marriage), the brother must marry the widow and the son who is born will be considered the son of the deceased. Onan is not satisfied with this plan, “But Onan, knowing that the seed would not count as his” (verse 9), and he is careful not to impregnate Tamar. This is bad in the eyes of God, and Onan, too, dies. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, Tamar is twice a childless widow. Judah, who is worried about the life of his youngest son Shelah (if you do not know the circumstances, you might think Tamar is a “murderous bride”) is evasive and does not give him to Tamar, his daughter-in-law.<\/span><\/p>\n

The days pass and Tamar realizes that in order to ever have a child, she must take the initiative. She disguises herself as a prostitute and waits for Judah. Judah, who decides to have relations with her but has no money to pay her, leaves his “identity card” with her as collateral, i.e. his seal, cord, and staff, until he can pay with a kid goat from his flock.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tamar is pregnant with Judah, but only she knows who the father is. When her pregnancy became known to the public, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot; in fact, she is with child by harlotry.,” Judah decrees, “\u201cBring her out and let her be burned\u201d (verse 24). Tamar sends the collateral to Judah, indicating that he is the father, \u201cI am with child by the man to whom these belong.\u201d And she added, \u201cExamine these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?\u201d (verse 25). <\/span><\/p>\n

Judah confesses that he fathered the child and that he is guilty of not taking responsibility that a proper levirate marriage was done with Tamar: \u00a0\u201cJudah recognized them, and said, \u201cShe is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah\u201d(verse 26). This is a moment of genuine greatness on his part. Judah will pay the public price of exposing his disgrace in public and will not harm the righteous Tamar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tamar’s pregnancy ends with the birth of twins – Zerah and Peretz. \u00a0From the biblical narratives that follow, we see that from these twins the line of the tribe of Judah branches out until King David.<\/span><\/p>\n

Points to Ponder:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Although the chapter interrupts the Joseph story, it is impossible to ignore the connections between it and what happened in the previous chapter. Judah, who caused Joseph <\/span>to descend<\/b> to Egypt, “descends” himself “from his brother” (verse 1). He gets into a mess, and in this messy story kid goats make a cameo appearance (just like the kid goat that was slaughtered in the previous chapter and in whose blood Joseph’s ornamented tunic was dipped). Tamar’s words, “Examine these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?\u201d (verse 25) are reminiscent of what was said in the previous chapter to Jacob, \u201cPlease examine it; is it your son\u2019s tunic or not?\u201d (Genesis 37:32).<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The Law of Levirate Marriage, which is the basis of the chapter, states that if a man dies without leaving offspring, his brother must marry the wife of the deceased and establish offspring in the deceased man\u2019s name. According to our chapter, it seems that the custom was that not only was the brother obligated to perform levirate marriage but so was the father. \u00a0Thus, Tamar made sure that she became pregnant by Judah.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The seal, the cords, and the staff which are mentioned in verse 18 are the personal items that constitute one\u2019s ID card in biblical times. The seal is the sign bearing the name of its owner. The cords are probably used to tie the seal, and the staff is decorated with a unique carving of the person who carries and attests to the owner\u2019s status.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The birth of Peretz and Zerah is reminiscent of the birth of the previous pair of twins – Jacob and Esau. In addition to being twins, both Peretz and Zerah immortalize the \u201cin utero\u201d sibling struggle. Zerah’s hand comes into the world first. But then Peretz bursts out before him and bursts out as a firstborn.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. The story of Judah in this chapter is not a one-day story. He marries, has children and even grandchildren. And what is happening with Joseph all this time? 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