The first woman in Matthew’s genealogy of Christ is Tamar and her story, recorded in Genesis 38, is quite simply, shocking. Tamar is involved in deception, lying, cult prostitution and finally incest. It is one of those stories that leaves you wondering why on earth it was included in Scripture. The even more relevant question for us is why was Tamar included in the genealogy of Jesus?
While I recommend you read through Genesis 38 to get the whole picture, the story, at its most basic level is this: Tamar is Judah’s daughter-in-law. Her first husband dies and so she is given to her first husband’s brother who also dies. Under Jewish law at this point, she should have been given to the third brother to marry, ensuring that as a widow, she was not left destitute, and to ensure that line of the first born (her first husband) might continue. Given Tamar’s track record, Judah was afraid that his third son would also die and so refused to allow the marriage, rejecting Tamar and leaving her shamed and dishonoured. She then dressed as a prostitute and tricked Judah into sleeping with her, causing her to fall pregnant. As surety for payment, Tamar took a seal and cord from Judah so that when he found out that his widowed daughter-in-law was pregnant and accused her of adultery (for which the penalty was death) she was able to reveal Judah’s property and prove that it was him who got her pregnant in the first place. This exposed Judah’s hypocrisy and lack of honour. At the end of the story, Judah is left with nothing but to admit that, ‘She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.’
So what can make of this story and of Tamar?
Tamar has been left in an impossible situation. While we can find this story hard to understand, and recoil from her actions, the reality was that Tamar had no other choice. In a sense, this is more a story about Judah’s immorality than Tamar’s; if Judah had acted honourably this scenario would not have happened. There is also a double-standard revealed whereby Judah, who sleeps with prostitutes, holds himself above Tamar who he believes has committed adultery. At its simplest level, this is really a story about domestic abuse and a God who is especially compassionate to those who are vulnerable, particularly widows who are abused and neglected by their family.
But this does not necessarily justify Tamar’s actions. While Judah declares that Tamar is ‘more righteous than I’, it does not mean that her actions were righteous. Her actions eclipsed those of Judah because her motivation was not self-gratification but rather the claiming of rights that she deserved, but this is still not a justification for sin. This story is therefore one of redemption: Tamar is a victim, but not an innocent victim. She too does wrong in this story, yet God pours out his compassion and mercy on this broken woman in a broken world. Unlike her family, God does not forget her or cast her away but instead he uses her wrong decisions for good – through Tamar’s pregnancy the line that ultimately leads to the birth of Jesus, is continued.. In Tamar, we have a vivid reflection of ourselves – we too are, broken in a broken world and yet God through Tamar and in Jesus has redeemed us and uses us for his Glory.