Who's Who and What's in a Name??
- Judah (father and father-in-law) means ‘give praise to God’
- Er (son of Judah, first husband to Tamar) Er spelled backwards in Hebrew is the word for 'evil'
- Tamar (daughter-in-law to Judah, wife to 2 of his sons, mother to twin boys born from Judah) - her name means ‘date palm’, source of food, shade, life
- Onan (son of Judah, second husband to Tamar) means ‘the virile one’ - (ironic, since he refused to give Tamar a child)
- Perez (twin son of Tamar and Judah) means ‘he who pushes through’, the one who breaks through a wall; Zerah (twin son of Tamar and Judah) means ‘scarlet'
Main themes of the story:
- God’s promise to continue the Jewish people through many generations.
- Bad things happen to good people, but good can come from evil, even when we cannot see God's plan or understand it.
- The quest for social justice - Despite Tamar's unorthodox methods, she was a woman of integrity who risked her life to fulfill her duty to herself and her family. She knew she had the right to a child, and she knew that her first husband Er had the right to an heir. Once again, God's plan unfolded through the unorthodox actions of a woman
Tamar is one of the four female ancestors of Jesus, in Matthew's gospel. All four had irregularities in their marriages/sexual relationships.
The story of Tamar:
- Tamar married, but remained childless (Genesis 38:1-11) Tamar married into the family of Judah, first to Judah’s son Er and then, after his death, to Onan his brother. Because Onan practiced a form of contraception, Tamar did not become pregnant. For a Jewish woman this meant disgrace, because people thought that being childless was a punishment from God.
- She claimed her Levirite rights (Genesis 38:12-19) God punished Onan and he died. By law Tamar should then have married Judah's third son so she could have a baby who would inherit her dead husband's share of the tribal wealth. But this did not happen, so she decided to get justice for herself. She dressed as a prostitute, had sex with her father-in-law Judah and conceived twin sons.
- She was accused of promiscuity (Genesis 38:20-26) Because she did not name the father of her child, it was assumed she had been promiscuous, and Judah sentenced her to burn to death. But she saved herself by a clever ploy.
- She bore twin sons (Genesis 38:27-30) God rewarded her tenacity with the birth of sons, one of whom was the ancestor of King David.
Please read Chapter 7 in your book and review questions in your Workbook to prepare for our discussion on Monday (10/27) night.
Please lift up prayers for those included in our prayer requests when you have your daily quiet time.
Please remember to bring any non-perishable items as a donation to the Church food pantry.
Please continue stocking your Operations Christmas boxes to be brought in November 3rd.