[And He Walks With Me] Genesis 38

1        Judah’s separation from the family is another repercussion of the sin of chapters 36-37. The family is now ruptured.

8-9        This is the first biblical example of the kinsman-redeemer concept. Although it seems foreign to us, the objective was to preserve the name and inheritance of a deceased man. Since women could not work or hold property, her deceased husband’s nearest male relative would take her in, provide for her, and tend the land and livestock, etc., that was his estate. The first male child of this union would also be considered the son of the dead man and therefore inherit his name and estate. Onan recognized that having a child was a significant investment, but this child would not be his. Therefore, he did what he could to ensure there was no child. This minimized his obligation and also made it so that his brother’s estate became his by default.

11        It is unclear how old Shelah was when Onan died (10). However old he was, though, it would seem that Judah intended for Tamar to remain a widow in your father’s house indefinitely. His rational, He might die too, suggests Judah believed Tamar was cursed rather than acknowledge that Er and Onan were evil in the Lord’s sight and therefore put to death by God (7, 10).

12-15        Again, the duration of this long time or many days is unclear. What is clear is that, by this time, Shelah should have been old enough to marry Tamar, but Judah had not yet formalized that marriage. Therefore, Tamar took matters into her own hands and devised a plan to restore her own honor and provide for her own long-term care: she would trick Judah into thinking she was a prostitute.

18-19        Tamar’s cunning is impressive. Knowing that, when she was discovered to be pregnant, she would be accused of adultery and stoned to death, she demanded Judah’s signet ring,… cord, and… staff. The signet ring included a unique design that was imprinted into soft wax as the ancient equivalent of a signature and served as the basis for legal identification.^[82] The ring was often worn on a cord around a person’s neck, so the fact that it was intact was evidence that he gave it to her willingly rather than her stealing it from around his neck. So also, he would recognize his own staff, and the fact that Tamar had all three of these things would be incontrovertible evidence that her baby was, in fact, Judah’s. Judah expected these things were collateral just until he could send her the goat, but she had much bigger plans!

20        Judah’s esteem of women is made clear here. Once she fulfilled his sexual appetite, he had no further interest in the woman he thought was a prostitute. He did not even bring the goat he promised but sent it by his friend the Adullamite.

23        Again, Judah considered his time with Tamar nothing more than a business transaction. He had promised her a goat in exchange for sleeping with him, but he was then unable to find her to pay for it. If he searched for her to demand the return of his things, she would accuse him of not fulfilling his part of the deal, and he would become a laughingstock shamed by the entire business community. No one would do business with him again.

24        Again, Judah’s hypocrisy is on full display here. He is ready to have her burned to death as a prostitute, but he completely overlooks the fact that he slept with at least one prostitute. Too often, women bear the brunt of blame and shame in sexual sin. We condemn them for sleeping around and becoming pregnant, but the men involved in those same situations are applauded.

26        Confronted by his own signet ring, cord, and staff (25), Judah recognized his own hypocrisy. He had driven Tamar to prostitution by failing to give her to [his] son Shelah. Just as important, though, is the fact that he did not know her intimately again. That is, he repented.

[82] Keener and Walton 2016, Genesis 38:18