so......is Tamar the first recorded "cougar?"
Hard to gauge. It was common for men to take wives who were significantly younger than themselves (remember, women have a limited childbearing age range and men do not). It's very possible that Judah's first son (I'm too lazy to go look up names) was say, 35, and Tamar was say, 16. Then Onan might have been 32, and then the third son that Judah had pledged to give to Tamar maybe, 30. Tamar still would have been younger. When she tricked Judah into seeding his own offspring through her, you figure Judah had to have been at least 4 decades older than her, perhaps more. The value of a woman in Isreal's early days wasn't simply companionship: it was their ability to prolong the father's line. This is why Rachel, although she was love more than Leah, felt valued less...because in her society, she wasn't giving Jacob children, and was not fulfilling that role.
(I know it's rather degrading. I didn't say I agree with it, I'm just saying how it was.)
Since none of Judah's sons were going to produce offspring to carry on Judah's line, Tamar acted both rashly and shrewdly to ensure her worth in her society, ensuring that she carried Judah's line forward, which was what was expected when she married his first son. She had a limited timeframe, as a child-bearing woman, so she took advantage of the fact that Judah's child-producing capabilities had no expiration date. So, I'm of the mind set that she was very much not a cougar, in fact, quite the opposite. If Judah's last son was indeed younger than her, probably not by much. Current western society tends to label women who are significantly older than the men they chase as cougars...usually a 20-30 year swing. I would think Tamar would have acted a little faster in tricking Judah if she were that close to menopause.
(Considering Boaz, David, and eventually Christ are sprung from the line of Judah, her little scheme worked out for all of us. ^_^ )
