Genesis 38

In chapter 37 we saw Joseph, Jacob’s favorite son, being sold into slavery and carted off to Egypt. The brothers first planned to kill him, but then Reuben suggested that they simply put him into an empty cistern in the hope of rescuing him later on. It was Judah who suggested that they sell him as a slave, rather than kill him. Joseph is sold and they tell their father, Jacob, that Joseph was killed by a wild animal. Jacob goes into a period of mourning.

Can you imagine what the atmosphere might have been at home? The brothers come home from work and ask, “How’s Dad doing?”

“Not well! He isn’t eating right, and I think he has been drinking to much.”

“Why don’t we tell dad what really happened to Joseph?”

“Are you kidding? Haven’t we disappointed him enough already?”

Jacob was not doing well. When you lose a child, you lose more than a child, you lose the hopes and dreams that went with him, the plans that Jacob and Joseph shared. There was much for Jacob to grieve. This was not a happy household.

Some people join the military, enter into a marriage, or simply hit the road just to escape a troubled home life. Maybe this is why Judah left. “Keep the family business, I’ve had enough of this stress. I’m heading out.” Or, perhaps, like Esau, he may have been moving away from the faith of his fathers.

Chapter 38 opens with Judah leaving home and moves to the town of Adullam, which was a city of the Canaanites. It is here that he marries his first wife. Was he planning on going to Canaan or was he just passing through until he saw this woman who he married? Who knows. But we do know that Judah has three sons by her, Er, Onan and Shelah. His firstborn son, Er, married a woman named Tamar. Er wasn’t a very good person, in fact, he was “wicked in the Lord’s sight,” so God stuck him dead before he could father a child. Imagine if you knew in advance what we know about Er. “Hey Er, guess what? You are going to be immortalized in the Word of God, you will be mentioned by name in the Bible.” “Really, WOW! What will be said of me for people to read throughout history?” “It will say that you were wicked, and the Lord put you to death” (Gen 38:7). “That’s it? Couldn’t he have said anything nice about me, like I was a great dancer or could do card tricks or something?” “Why couldn’t he had just said that Judah had a son who was wicked? Why did he have to use my name?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he used your name as a warning for others, I don’t know.”

The firstborn son is dead. Now what? As was the custom of the day, when a widow was without a child, the younger brother of the deceased was expected to marry the widow. Why? Perhaps for the same reason polygamy was tolerated. What options did a widow have in that day to provide for her safety and for her own well-being? There was no safety net, such as Social Security Survivor Benefits. Job opportunities? Forget it. By entering in what was called a levirate marriage, this allowed the family line to continue and the widow to be cared for. The term levirate is from the Latin word meaning, “husband’s brother.” This is one of those practices that we find a bit bizarre, but it was common among many groups who discouraged marriage outside the clan or group.

Among the Hebrews marriage with a brother's widow was forbidden as a general rule (Lev. 18:16), but was regarded as obligatory (Deut. 25:5-6) when there was no male born, and when the two brothers had been dwelling on the same family estate. This practice was extended to the nearest living relative, referred to as the kinsman-redeemer, as seen in the book of Ruth. In Onan’s situation, if he did father a child via his brother’s widow, that child would legally not be his. That child would also receive whatever his father would have received from his father’s estate, meaning the younger brothers’ share of inheritance would be reduced. If your parents adopted a child, your inheritance would be divided into more pieces and your share would be less than before.

The younger brothers name was Onan. Can you imagine Onan being notified of his brother’s death? “Onan, I have some very sad news for you. (Or maybe it was good news, since he was so evil). Your brother, Er, has died. Oh, by the way, Onan, have you ever heard of the concept of a levirate marriage? CONDOLENCES FOR YOUR LOSS AND CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR UPCOMING WEDDING. MAZEL TOV.” There’s going to be a wedding. Bereans, let’s all practice the bottle dance from Fiddler on the Roof.

So now it was up to Onan to provide his sister in law with a son to carry on the family and inherit part of their father’s estate. But Onan would rather not share his estate in this way. But he did have relations with the widow but withdrew early to prevent a pregnancy. God wasn’t pleased with this guy either, so he was stuck down. Two brothers struck down. How do you think the rest of the family felt? Perhaps paranoid, wondering who’s next.

Why was God so harsh with Onan? I Tim 5:8 says, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” To not care for his brother’s widow would have left her destitute. Onan was greedy for more inheritance and callous towards the needs of a family member. That is what I believe angered God. And it wasn’t like the family of Jacob was poor. Each generation seems to have been quite well off.

Judah has now lost two sons and there is only one more left. Judah may have thought that Tamar was bad luck. Judah was afraid that God might strike down the youngest son, but he was too young to engage in relations with the widow. Judah suggested that Tamar go back and live with her father. He didn’t want his youngest son to grow up and marry this woman, she’s bad luck.

Then, on top of the grief of losing two sons, Judah’s wife died (v 12). Judah goes on a business trip passing by where his first son’s widow Tamar lived. Desperate for a child, she takes off her widow clothing, covers her face and sits down at the entrance to the village. Judah thought she was a prostitute and slept with her. She became pregnant. In payment, since he didn’t bring a goat with him, and she didn’t take credit cards, he left as collateral a seal that was worn on a cord around his neck. It was sort of a notary stamp of his signature. He also left his staff or walking stick (v 13-19). Say what you will about Judah’s personal life, he did pay his debt to Tamar. He sent his friend to deliver the goat he owed her and to get back his personal belongings held as collateral, however, his friend could not find her, so he returned home.

A few months pass and Judah is horrified to hear that Tamar, the grieving widow, is pregnant. His response? In verse 24, “Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!” But before she could be killed, she sends the staff and seal to him and says that the man who impregnated her is the owner of these items (verse 25). Would you like to see a photo of the look on his face when he sees this? Ironic, isn’t it? Judah had earlier deceived Jacob, initiating the selling of Joseph, now is himself deceived.

Have you noticed how we are so able to recognize the sins in others, but be almost blind to our own? And if we don’t like somebody, we can more readily see their sins and not their strengths? We have a self-serving bias. We tend to be more generous in our assessment of ourselves, not so much others, especially if we don’t like someone. We tend to take the credit for positive events or outcomes, while blaming outside factors for negative events. For instance, when you get a good grade on a test, you might attribute it to your intelligence and preparation. But, when you failed the other test, you tended to blame the teacher, the classroom setting, or anything or anyone but ourselves. Perhaps this is why we are told to love our neighbors as ourselves. What if we were as understanding towards others as we are with ourselves?

To Judah’s credit, rather than denying his sin or blaming Tamar, he acknowledged it. He says in verse 26, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” He realized that her actions were in part due to his refusal to give his third son to her. In spite of the sins and poor judgment on the part of Judah (and us), God can bring some good out of our actions. Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good.” Perhaps not always in this life, but in time. God brought some good out of this sordid mess. When Tamar gave birth to twins, one of them, Perez, becomes one of the ancestors of Jesus Christ.

Some churches use the death of Onan to support the idea that artificial means of contraception is wrong. Onan’s sin was not the practice of artificial contraception. Rather, it was the fact that he was not willing to fulfill his obligation to his dead brother. To have done so would have meant sharing some of his inheritance with another heir. He was simply an uncaring, greedy person.

I have often wondered why this story is plugged in here, right after the introduction of Joseph and his involuntary trip to Egypt. J. Vernon McGee, the teacher on Thru the Bible broadcast suggests an answer. McGee, if you aren’t familiar with him, worked as a bank teller before going college. He graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary and earned a Master of Theology and Doctor of Theology degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary. The bank manager for whom McGee had earlier worked paid for his education through seminary. McGee's ordination into the ministry occurred in 1933. He pastored several Presbyterian churches and then left when the denomination began to adopt more liberal views. He then started the non-denominational Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles. From 1970 to around 1988 he devoted himself to teaching on Thru the Bible radio program. In this program he teaches us through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in a folksy manner with a distinctive accent. You can learn more about him and the resources available on this website: https://www.ttb.org/.

McGee suggests that the reason for inserting this story about Judah and Tamar is to show why God allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery. He shows us the corrupting influence that his people were being exposed to and so he had to isolate them by first sending Joseph into Egypt, to be followed by his family. In Egypt, you might recall, the Israelites lived in a rather isolated portion of the country, away from the culture and corruption of other groups. So, there was a reason for allowing this to happen to Joseph. Too bad he didn’t let Joseph in on his plan.

We will return to the story of Joseph shortly. But first, imagine Jacob’s youngest son, Benjamin, is dating a nice young lady. Let’s call her Deborah. The relationship is getting serious and so Benjamin invites her to come to his house and meet the family. First, the introductions:

“Deborah, these are my older brothers, Simeon and Levi, they are mass murderers. Here is my brother Judah, he sold my other brother, Joseph, into slavery. Joseph was always having dreams and visions. We think he was schizophrenic, and we tried to get him to a psychiatrist, but he refused any help. Say hello to Reuben. He slept with our father’s concubines and tried to take over the clan. Here is my brother Judah, he slept with his daughter in law and got her pregnant.”

Imagine the look on Deborah’s face? She excuses herself for a moment. The boys realize that she has left, and they never see her again.

One of the brothers asks, “Hey Benjamin, what happened to Deborah? Why is it that none of your girlfriends stick around after they meet the family?”



Any wonder, indeed? Jacob’s family makes ours seem quite normal by comparison.