-
†. Gen 38:11c . . So Tamar went to live in her father's house.
Sending Tamar back home, as an unattached girl, Judah no doubt sincerely
hoped she would meet somebody in her own neighborhood; maybe an old
boyfriend or two, and remarry before Shelah got old enough; thus, his last
son would be safe from Ms. Black Widow. But as it turned out, Tamar had
more grit than Mattie Ross of Darnel County. Judah's clan owed her dead
husband a baby boy, and that was that.
You can hardly blame her. Jacob's clan was very wealthy, so that any
children Tamar should produce by them, would have all the best that life had
to offer in early-day Palestine; plus her grandchildren would be well taken
care of too. Since nothing is said of her origin, Tamar may not have been a
blue-blooded girl like her mother-in-law, but could have easily come from a
low income community on the wrong side of the tracks. What would you do
in the best interests of your children in that situation?
†. Gen 38:12a . . As time went by, Judah's wife Bath-shua died.
This event left Judah single, and eligible to remarry; so that Tamar and
Judah are now both single adults; however, Tamar is betrothed, and that
makes things a little complicated.
†. Gen 38:12b . . After he got over her passing, Judah went up to
Timnah to his sheepshearers, together with his friend Hirah the
Adullamite.
Timnah-- a.k.a. Tibneh: a deserted site southwest of Zorah, and two miles
west of Ain Shems --was roughly 11 miles northwest from ancient Adullum
towards Bethlehem.
†. Gen 38:13-14a . . And it was told Tamar, saying: Look, your
father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep. So she took
off her widow's garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped
herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah;
The Hebrew words for "open place" are weird. They mean "an open eye".
One of those words-- the one for "eye" --can also mean a spring or an
artesian well (e.g. Gen 16:7). A wayside rest, like as can be usually found on
many modern Federal highways, would probably qualify as an example of
the "open place" to which Gen 38:14 refers.
Tamar's rest stop likely included a source of water, not for cars, but for the
animals that men either herded, rode upon, or used for pack animals when
they traveled up and down the primitive trails and roads of ancient Palestine.
Sheep-shearing occurs sometime in the spring, so the weather in Palestine
at that season was sunny and warm.
Veils weren't an eo ipso indication that a woman was loose, since Rebecca
had worn one upon meeting her spouse-to-be Isaac (Gen 24:65). Although
the text says that Tamar's veil covered her face (vs. 15), it likely not only
covered her face, but her whole body, because veils were more like a burqa
than the little mask-like nets that women sometimes wear to funerals;
except that burqa's are cumbersome and ugly, whereas Tamar's veil was a
lightweight wrap, and likely quite colorful and eye-catching; and conveyed
an altogether different message than a woman in mourning.
†. Gen 38:14b . . for she saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had
not been given to him as wife.
Actually, Shelah wasn't the one who owed Tamar an Israeli baby; it was
Judah, the head of the clan, and that's why he's the one she's coming after
rather than Judah's son. Tamar is a scary girl; and one you wouldn't want to
trifle with. Not many women would have had the chutzpah to do what she
did. To begin with, for a lone woman to sit out along a remote road,
unescorted, like she did, was inherently dangerous, and could have led to all
sorts of mischief.
†. Gen 38:15a . .When Judah saw her, he thought she was a
prostitute,
The particular kind of prostitute in this episode is from the Hebrew word
qedeshah (ked-ay-shaw') which isn't your typical working girl, but rather a
devotee raising money for an established religion (Gen 38:21) typically a
pagan kind of religion centered upon the worship of a goddess like Ashtoreth
(a.k.a. Astarte). So one might say that a qedeshah's services were for a
worthy cause.
†. Gen 38:15b . . for she had covered her face.
It's just amazing how difficult it is sometimes to recognize familiar people
when they turn up in places we least expect them. Take Jesus for example.
When he revived after his ordeal on the cross, people didn't know him right
off: close friends like Mary Magdalena didn't recognize him at first even at
close proximity (John 20:13-16). Another example is when Jesus came out
to his followers' boat during a storm on open water. At first they thought he
was a ghost, and Peter wouldn't believe it was Jesus until he gave him the
power to walk on water himself (Matt 14:25-29).
†. Gen 38:16-17 . . Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law,
he went over to her by the roadside and said: Come now, let me
sleep with you. And what will you give me to sleep with you? She
asked. I'll send you a young goat from my flock; he said. Will you
give me something as a pledge until you send it? she asked.
The Hebrew word for "pledge" is 'arabown (ar-aw-bone') which means a
pawn (given as security) as in pawn shop. This is the very first place in the
Bible where that word is used. In the usury business, an 'arabown is
forfeited if the borrower fails to repay his loan. This is a very important
principle in the plan of salvation.
"In him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the
Holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (Eph
1:13-14)
In nutshell; the above means that if God should change His mind about
sparing a sealed person, they would keep the Holy Spirit even in hell since
the Spirit himself is the pledge; which of course would result in quite an
embarrassment for God since He's otherwise well-known to be a man of His
word.
But of course God won't renege because doing so would not only embarrass
Himself, but embarrass His son too as Jesus has given his word that
believers have nothing to fear.
"I assure you, those who heed my message, and believe in God who sent
me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they
have already passed from death into life." (John 5:24)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
†. Gen 38:11c . . So Tamar went to live in her father's house.
Sending Tamar back home, as an unattached girl, Judah no doubt sincerely
hoped she would meet somebody in her own neighborhood; maybe an old
boyfriend or two, and remarry before Shelah got old enough; thus, his last
son would be safe from Ms. Black Widow. But as it turned out, Tamar had
more grit than Mattie Ross of Darnel County. Judah's clan owed her dead
husband a baby boy, and that was that.
You can hardly blame her. Jacob's clan was very wealthy, so that any
children Tamar should produce by them, would have all the best that life had
to offer in early-day Palestine; plus her grandchildren would be well taken
care of too. Since nothing is said of her origin, Tamar may not have been a
blue-blooded girl like her mother-in-law, but could have easily come from a
low income community on the wrong side of the tracks. What would you do
in the best interests of your children in that situation?
†. Gen 38:12a . . As time went by, Judah's wife Bath-shua died.
This event left Judah single, and eligible to remarry; so that Tamar and
Judah are now both single adults; however, Tamar is betrothed, and that
makes things a little complicated.
†. Gen 38:12b . . After he got over her passing, Judah went up to
Timnah to his sheepshearers, together with his friend Hirah the
Adullamite.
Timnah-- a.k.a. Tibneh: a deserted site southwest of Zorah, and two miles
west of Ain Shems --was roughly 11 miles northwest from ancient Adullum
towards Bethlehem.
†. Gen 38:13-14a . . And it was told Tamar, saying: Look, your
father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep. So she took
off her widow's garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped
herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah;
The Hebrew words for "open place" are weird. They mean "an open eye".
One of those words-- the one for "eye" --can also mean a spring or an
artesian well (e.g. Gen 16:7). A wayside rest, like as can be usually found on
many modern Federal highways, would probably qualify as an example of
the "open place" to which Gen 38:14 refers.
Tamar's rest stop likely included a source of water, not for cars, but for the
animals that men either herded, rode upon, or used for pack animals when
they traveled up and down the primitive trails and roads of ancient Palestine.
Sheep-shearing occurs sometime in the spring, so the weather in Palestine
at that season was sunny and warm.
Veils weren't an eo ipso indication that a woman was loose, since Rebecca
had worn one upon meeting her spouse-to-be Isaac (Gen 24:65). Although
the text says that Tamar's veil covered her face (vs. 15), it likely not only
covered her face, but her whole body, because veils were more like a burqa
than the little mask-like nets that women sometimes wear to funerals;
except that burqa's are cumbersome and ugly, whereas Tamar's veil was a
lightweight wrap, and likely quite colorful and eye-catching; and conveyed
an altogether different message than a woman in mourning.
†. Gen 38:14b . . for she saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had
not been given to him as wife.
Actually, Shelah wasn't the one who owed Tamar an Israeli baby; it was
Judah, the head of the clan, and that's why he's the one she's coming after
rather than Judah's son. Tamar is a scary girl; and one you wouldn't want to
trifle with. Not many women would have had the chutzpah to do what she
did. To begin with, for a lone woman to sit out along a remote road,
unescorted, like she did, was inherently dangerous, and could have led to all
sorts of mischief.
†. Gen 38:15a . .When Judah saw her, he thought she was a
prostitute,
The particular kind of prostitute in this episode is from the Hebrew word
qedeshah (ked-ay-shaw') which isn't your typical working girl, but rather a
devotee raising money for an established religion (Gen 38:21) typically a
pagan kind of religion centered upon the worship of a goddess like Ashtoreth
(a.k.a. Astarte). So one might say that a qedeshah's services were for a
worthy cause.
†. Gen 38:15b . . for she had covered her face.
It's just amazing how difficult it is sometimes to recognize familiar people
when they turn up in places we least expect them. Take Jesus for example.
When he revived after his ordeal on the cross, people didn't know him right
off: close friends like Mary Magdalena didn't recognize him at first even at
close proximity (John 20:13-16). Another example is when Jesus came out
to his followers' boat during a storm on open water. At first they thought he
was a ghost, and Peter wouldn't believe it was Jesus until he gave him the
power to walk on water himself (Matt 14:25-29).
†. Gen 38:16-17 . . Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law,
he went over to her by the roadside and said: Come now, let me
sleep with you. And what will you give me to sleep with you? She
asked. I'll send you a young goat from my flock; he said. Will you
give me something as a pledge until you send it? she asked.
The Hebrew word for "pledge" is 'arabown (ar-aw-bone') which means a
pawn (given as security) as in pawn shop. This is the very first place in the
Bible where that word is used. In the usury business, an 'arabown is
forfeited if the borrower fails to repay his loan. This is a very important
principle in the plan of salvation.
"In him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the
Holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (Eph
1:13-14)
In nutshell; the above means that if God should change His mind about
sparing a sealed person, they would keep the Holy Spirit even in hell since
the Spirit himself is the pledge; which of course would result in quite an
embarrassment for God since He's otherwise well-known to be a man of His
word.
But of course God won't renege because doing so would not only embarrass
Himself, but embarrass His son too as Jesus has given his word that
believers have nothing to fear.
"I assure you, those who heed my message, and believe in God who sent
me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they
have already passed from death into life." (John 5:24)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=