Judah and His Daughter-in-law Tamar

38:1-30

38 About that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to the town of Adullam and stayed near the home of a man from there whose name was Hirah. 2 While he was living there, he met a Canaanite woman whose father was Shua, and he married her. Then he had marital relations with her, 3 and she became pregnant. When she gave birth, she had a son, whom Judah named Er. 4 Then Judah’s wife became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan. 5 Then she became pregnant yet again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Shelah. When she gave birth to Shelah, Judah was at the town of Kezib.

6 When Judah’s oldest son Er grew up, Judah arranged for him to marry a woman whose name was Tamar. 7 But Er did things that Yahweh considered to be evil, so Yahweh caused him to die.

8 After that, Judah told his son Onan, “Marry your brother’s widow Tamar according to our custom so that you fulfill your obligation to her as her brother-in-law and have children with her for your deceased brother.” 9 However Onan knew that the children they would have together would not belong to him. So whenever he had marital relations with Tamar, he wasted his semen on the ground to keep her from getting pregnant and having any children for his brother. 10 Yahweh considered what Onan did to be evil, so he caused him to die too.

11 Then Judah told his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Go and live at your father’s house, and do not marry again until my son Shelah is old enough to marry you.” Actually Judah did not want Shelah to marry Tamar because he was afraid that if he did, he would also die like his brothers had. So Tamar went home to her father’s house and stayed there.

12 After a long time, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah finished mourning for her, one day he decided to go to the town of Timnah to work with the men who were shearing his sheep there. He and his friend Hirah, who was from the town of Adullam, started traveling there together. 13 Meanwhile someone told Tamar, “Listen, your father-in-law Judah is on his way to the town of Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she changed from her clothes that showed she was a widow and covered her face with a thin headscarf and dressed herself like a prostitute. Then she went toward the town of Timnah and sat down near the gateway of the town of Enaim, which was along the way. She did that because she had noticed that Shelah was now old enough to marry, but Judah had not given her to him to marry as he was supposed to do.

15 As Judah was traveling to Timnah, he saw Tamar beside the road, but since she had veiled her face with a scarf, he could not see who she was, and he assumed that she was a prostitute. 16 So he went over to where she was sitting beside the road and said to her, “Let me have sex with you.” He did that because he did not recognize that she was his daughter-in-law Tamar. So she asked him, “What will you pay me so that you can have sex with me?” 17 He answered her, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.” She replied, “I will agree, if you will give me something valuable of yours to keep until you deliver the goat to me.” 18 So Judah asked, “What do you want me to leave with you?” She answered him, “Leave me your name seal with its cord that you have around your neck, and your walking stick that you are holding.” So he gave those things to her. Then he had sexual relations with her, and she became pregnant from him. 19 After that, Tamar left Judah and returned home. Then she took off her scarf and put on her clothes that showed she was a widow.

20 Meanwhile Judah sent a young goat with his friend Hirah, who was from the town of Adullam, to reclaim his things from the prostitute whom he had given them to. But when Hirah looked for her, he was not able to find her. 21 So he asked some men who lived near the place where she had been, “Where is the temple prostitute who was sitting beside the road near the town of Enaim?” But they answered him, “There has never been a temple prostitute around here.” 22 So Hirah returned to Judah and told him, “I was not able to find the prostitute. In fact, the men who live near that town claim that there has never been a temple prostitute around there.” 23 Then Judah said, “Stop looking for her and let her keep my things for herself. Otherwise everyone will make fun of us. Besides that, I did try to send this goat to her, but you were not able to find her.”

24 About three months later, someone told Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has acted like a prostitute. In fact, look, she is now pregnant from doing that!” Judah responded angrily, “Take her outside the town and burn her to death!” 25 So they went to get her, but as they were taking her out of the town, she sent a messenger to her father-in-law along with his things and told the messenger to say, “The man who owns these things is the one who got me pregnant. Please identify the man who owns this name seal with its cord and this walking stick.” 26 Judah recognized his things and confessed, “Tamar is right, and I am wrong, because I refused to have my son Shelah marry her as I was supposed to!” So they released Tamar, and after that Judah never had sexual relations with her again.

27 Months later, when Tamar was ready to give birth, they realized that there were twins inside her! 28 While she was in labor, one of them stuck out his hand. So the midwife who was there tied a bright red string around his wrist and said, “This baby was born first.” 29 But then the baby pulled his hand back inside, and suddenly his brother was born first instead. So the midwife exclaimed to the baby, “What a dramatic way for you to burst out!” That is why he was named Perez, which means “break out.” 30 After that, his brother, who had the bright red string on his wrist, came out. So he was named Zerah, which means “brightness.”