Verse for reflection: St Mathew 1:2-5
The usual practice of stating the Jewish genealogy is broken with the inclusion of women. The first woman we note in the list is Tamar. Tamar was Judah’s daughter-in-law. Please read Genesis chapter 38 for the detailed story on Judah and Tamar. Tamar was married to Judah’s son Er, but God killed him for his wickedness. She was then given in a levirate marriage to his brother, Onan, so that Onan could raise children for his dead brother through her. Unfortunately, Onan had sexual relations with her, but emitted his seed on the ground. God despised his action and killed him for his wickedness. She then conceived sons with her father-in-law-Judah.
A general perception is to consider Tamar as an immoral woman but the Western father- St Ambrose roots for her and says that Tamar did not ‘seek satisfaction of lust, but yearned for the privilege of succession’ which was denied by Judah’s sons and owing to the necessity of the situation she sought a claim of maternity from her dead husbands father. (Heffern, A. (1912). The Four Women in St. Matthew’s Genealogy of Christ. Journal of Biblical Literature, 31(2), 69-81. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3259170)
The Jewish tradition also honors Tamar and her wisdom; it states that she was the daughter of Shem, a priest and was veiled even in her home whence Judah failed to recognize her. Tamar would go on to become the ancestress of not only king David but the King- our Lord Jesus Christ.
To be continued..
In Christ,
