NOTES for Gen 38:1-30

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¹And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

²And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

³And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

⁴And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

⁵And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

⁶And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

⁷And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

⁸And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

⁹And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

¹⁰And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

¹¹Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

¹²And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

¹³And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

¹⁴And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.

¹⁶And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

¹⁷And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

¹⁸And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.

²¹Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.

²²And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.

²³And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

²⁴And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

²⁵When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

²⁶And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

²⁷And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

²⁸And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first,

²⁹And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.

³⁰And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

The story of Judah and Tamar interrupts the narrative that biblical scholars usually call the Joseph novella, the story of Joseph, which is only beginning to unfold slowly before our eyes. It interrupts it - for what purpose? To tell us that everything among the people of God was not so simple? To show how problems not resolved in time lead to sin? For that too, perhaps.

Yet there is something special in the author's design: to break off the narrative of Joseph's life for the sake of one small episode, and an unflattering one at that. One could say a great deal about how the sin or negligence of some gives rise to the sins of others. One could compose a moralizing story about how not to try to solve one's problems at any cost, even at the cost of violating God's commandments. Along the way, one could remember that the Torah had not yet been revealed and the commandments were not yet known, unless, of course, one supposes that some of them appeared long before the Sinai revelation, when God only confirmed their truth.

One could reason and talk about many things, but there is something in the story that makes all of that beside the point. It has that givenness, that factual terseness, that requires no commentary. Simply: this is how it is. This is life. The life from which Joseph's brothers drove him out - or did God lead him out? For now it is unclear. It is unclear both to Joseph's brothers and to Joseph himself. One thing is clear: Joseph is bound for Egypt, and his brothers must live here. That is what the story is for: so that Joseph will not miss the homeland he left too much. Of course he will not forget it, he will not forget it anyway. There are things one does not forget. But it is still important to see what has been left behind in all its fullness and all its variety.

Later, in Egypt, Jacob's descendants will often remember earlier times, and those times will seem idyllic to them. That is where the sacred writer's story comes in: so that they will not give in to illusion. And for Joseph himself, too, as a remedy against nostalgia. They say the best cure for nostalgia is periodic trips home with full immersion in its realities. Joseph, of course, did not read this chapter; it had not yet been written. Nor did Jacob's descendants in Egypt, for the very same reason. They had other sources of information about what was happening in the land of their fathers.

The story is important for us, so that we may understand more clearly how ambiguous everything happening to Joseph is. So that from the beginning it is still unclear: is the fact that he ends up in Egypt for better or for worse? By the end of the narrative the ambiguity will disappear. By the end, but for now it is there. It is set by the logic of the biblical text, so that for now we must live with it.

Other notes

For Gen 38:1-30