In the Bible, Tamar (Hebrew: תָּמָר, Standard Tamar Tiberian Tāmār ; Date Palm) was twice the daughter-in-law of Judah, as well as the mother of two of his children - the twins Zarah and Pharez^[1]. This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... Tiberian Hebrew is an oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient forms of Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Tanakh, that was given written form by masoretic scholars in the Jewish community at Tiberias in the early Middle Ages, beginning in the 8th century. ... Binomial name L. The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is a palm in the genus Phoenix, extensively cultivated for its edible fruit. ... In Genesis (the first book of the Bible) Judah (יְהוּדָה Praise, Standard Hebrew YÉ™huda, Tiberian Hebrew YÉ™hûḏāh) is the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, born in Padan-aram (Genesis xxix. ... Zerah or Zérach (זֶרַח / זָרַח Sunrise, Standard Hebrew Zéraḥ / Záraḥ, Tiberian Hebrew Zéraḥ / Zāraḥ) (1. ... In the Book of Genesis, Pharez or Péretz (פֶּרֶץ / פָּרֶץ Breach, Standard Hebrew Péreẓ / Páreẓ, Tiberian Hebrew Péreá¹£ / Pāreá¹£) is the son of Judah by the Canaanitish woman Tamar. ...

Narrative

Tamar is first described as marrying Er, the eldest son of Judah^[2]; according to the text, YHVH killed Er because he was wicked (although it doesn't give any further details)^[3], and so Judah asked his second son, Onan, to have sex with Tamar, so that the offspring could be declared Er's heir^[4]. The narrative implies that Onan didn't object to the sex itself, but performed coitus interruptus so that there wouldn't be any offspring he couldn't claim as his own, so YHVH killed him^[5]. Judah is portrayed as viewing Tamar to be cursed, and is therefore relucant to give her to his remaining son, Shelah^[6]; he first tells Tamar to act like a widow, until Shelah, the youngest son, has grown up^[7], and then when he finally does, he still won't give Tamar to Shelah in marriage^[8]. First-born of Judah. ... The Tetragrammaton in Phoenician (1100 BC to 300 CE), Aramaic (10th Century BC to 0) and modern Hebrew scripts. ... otheruses}} The story of Onan is found in the Bible in Genesis 38:1-10. ... It has been suggested that Duration of sexual intercourse be merged into this article or section. ... Coitus interruptus, also known as withdrawal or the pull out method, is a method of contraception in which, during sexual intercourse, the penis is removed from the vagina prior to ejaculation, primarily to avoid introducing semen into the vagina. ... Shelah or Shela (שֵׁלָה Petition, Standard Hebrew Šela, Tiberian Hebrew Šēlāh) is the name of two persons in the Bible: The son of Arpachshad, and thus the grandson of Shem. ... A widow is a woman whose spouse has died. ...

According to the text, after Judah's own wife had later died^[9], he decided to use a sanctuary prostitute at Enaim^[10]; the prostitute in question was Tamar, who had disguised herself with a veil, so that he wouldn't notice who she was^[11]. The passage goes on to state that Judah offered to pay her a goat in arrears, but she asked for Judah's staff and seal, as security towards this payment^[12]; having given her this security, he made her pregnant^[13], but when he later sends the goat, she has gone and taken the seal and staff with her^[14]. The text states that three months later, Judah is told that Tamar had been acting as a prostitute, and had become pregnant as a result, so he orders that she should be burnt to death^[15]; Tamar is described as publicly announcing that the father of the children is the owner of the seal and staff she has with her, and Judah recognises them, stating that she is more righteous than he is^[16] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Veils as articles of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, are intended to cover some part of the head or face. ... A pregnant woman Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. ...

Significance

The main motive of the Tamar narrative, is, according to biblical scholars, an eponymous aetiological myth concerning the fluctuations in the constituency of the tribe of Judah; textual scholars attribute the narrative to the Yahwist, though Biblical scholars regard it as concerning the state of the clans not much earlier than this^[17][18]. A number of scholars have proposed that the deaths of Er and Onan reflect the dying out of two clans^[19][20]; Onan may represent an Edomite clan named Onam^[21], who are mentioned in an Edomite genealogy in Genesis^[22], while Er appears from a genealogy in the Book of Chronicles^[23] to have been a clan that was later been subsumed by the Shelah clan^[24][25]. This article is about the academic treatment of the bible as a historical document. ... An eponym is the name of a person, whether real or fictitious, who has (or is thought to have) given rise to the name of a particular place, tribe, discovery, or other item. ... Etiology (alternately aetiology, aitiology) is the study of Greek words aitia = cause and logos = word/speech) is used in philosophy, physics and biology in reference to the causes of various phenomena. ... The Tribe of Judah (Hebrew: יְהוּדָה, Praise; Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew ) is one of the Hebrew tribes, founded by Judah, son of Jacob(Israel). ... Carmina Cantabrigiensia, Manuscript C, folio 436v, 11th century Textual criticism or lower criticism is a branch of philology or bibliography that is concerned with the identification and removal of errors from texts and manuscripts. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Edomite redirects here. ... The Book of Chronicles is a book in the Hebrew Bible (also see Old Testament). ...

Some scholars have argued that the narrative secondarily aims to either assert the institution of levirate marriage, or present an aetiological myth for its origin, since it highlights cases of marriage for pleasure not for having children (Onan), of refusal to perform the marriage (Jacob, on behalf of Shelah), and of levirate activities with men related to the dead husband other than fraternally^[26]; Emerton regards the evidence for this as inconclusive, though classical rabbinical writers argued that this narrative concerns the origin of levirate marriage^[27]. A number of scholars, particularly in recent decades (as of 1980), have proposed that the narrative reflects an anachronistic interest in the biblical account of king David, with the character of Tamar being the same^[28][29]; the proposals partly being due to the scenes of the narrative - Adullam, Chezib, and Timnah - overlapping^[30][31]. Levirate marriage is the practice of a woman marrying one of her husbands brothers after her husbands death, if there were no children, in order to continue the line of the dead husband. ... Rabbinic literature, in the broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of Judaisms rabbinic writing/s throughout history. ... Look up Anachronism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the Biblical king of Israel. ... Amnon was Davids eldest son. ... Adullam is a town referred to in the Hebrew Bible. ... This entry incorporates text from the public domain Eastons Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. ... Biblical Timnah, identified with the modern archeological site of Tel Batash, in the Sorek Valley of Israel, near Kibbutz Tal Shahar. ...

Instead of the scholarly positions, Protestant theological commentaries generally treat the story as a character study^{[citation needed]}, concluding that the story depicts Judah's moral growth as he learns to take responsibility for his actions, and overcomes his past misdeeds^{[citation needed]}. In such commentaries, Judah's avoidance of marrying Tamar to Shelah is taken to be due to an abdication of responsibility, rather than concern for his son^{[citation needed]}, since Tamar would, in the view of these commentaries, need a husband to care for her, and children to look after her in her old age^{[citation needed]}; Judah's initial condemnation of Tamar's prostitution is seen as being an attemt to rid himself of her burden, rather than an act of moral indignation^{[citation needed]}. Tamar, on the other hand, is interpreted as being forgiving and discrete rather than wily^{[citation needed]}, bending over backwards to prevent Judah from losing his reputation^{[citation needed]}, by obtaining children in secret rather than in public, and using the seal and staff as subtle hints of Judah's part in her pregnancy, rather than publicly accusing him; the Talmud similarly argues that Tamar's actions were for the purpose of avoiding Judah being humiliated^[32][33], although the Genesis Rabbah portrays her as boastful and unashamed in regard to the pregnancy itself^[34]. Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The Talmud (Hebrew: ) is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. ... Genesis Rabba (Bereshith Rabba in Hebrew) is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. ...

The Protestant commentaries argue that when confronted with the truth, Judah finally stopped running away from his duties, and slowly began repairing he relationships he had damaged^{[citation needed]}; Tamar is hence seen by these commentaries as a device employed by God for this purpose^{[citation needed]}. According to the Talmud, Judah's confession of guilt itself atoned for some of his prior faults, and resulted in him being divinely rewarded by a share in the future world^[35]. While the Protestant commentaries argue that Tamar was a way for Judah to have non-Israelite children, and that Judah did not have further sexual relations with her after he discovered he had fathered her children^{[citation needed]}, the Genesis Rabbah and Talmud state that Tamar was an Israelite^[36][37], and that Judah ended up marrying her and had further sexual liasons with her as a result^[38] The Talmud (Hebrew: ) is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Chronological issues

Together with the brief preceding narrative of the birth of Er, Onan, and Shelah, and the subsequent narrative of the birth of Pharez's children, the passage is often regarded as presenting a significant chronological issue, since it is surrounded by a narrative concerning Joseph; before the passage occurs, Joseph is described as being 17 years old^[39], and after the passage, Joseph is described as meeting up with Judah some 9 years^[40][41] after Joseph had reached 30 years in age^[42]. The gap, a maximum of 22 years, is somewhat small to contain within it Judah's first marriage, the birth of Er and Onan, Er's marriage to Tamar, Tamar's subsequent pregnancy by Judah, and the birth of Tamar's grandchildren; the passage is also widely regarded as an abrupt change to the surrounding narrative Joseph story. According to textual scholars, the reason for these features is that the passage derives from the Jahwist source, while the immediately surrounding narrative is from the Elohist, the two being spliced together at a later date^[43][44][45]. The Jahwist, also referred to as the Jehovist, Yahwist, or simply as J, is one of the sources of the Torah postulated by the documentary hypothesis. ... The Elohist (E) is one of the sources of the Torah postulated by the documentary hypothesis. ...

See also

• Judah (Biblical figure)
• Vayeshev

In Genesis (the first book of the Bible) Judah (יְהוּדָה Praise, Standard Hebrew Yəhuda, Tiberian Hebrew Yəhûḏāh) is the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, born in Padan-aram (Genesis xxix. ... Vayeshev, Vayeishev, or Vayesheb (וישב – Hebrew for “and he lived,” the first word of the parshah) is the ninth weekly parshah or portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. ...

Notes and citations