Three Wise Women

 Matt 1.1 – 17

I don’t think there is anyone, save the most ardent of biblical scholars that would read the genealogy in the beginning of Matthew. I also would hazard a guess that after this post you just might. An uncareful read of this genealogy reveals a rogue’s gallery of suspects. There are adulterers, murderers, swindlers, just to name a few. It has been suggested that the inclusion of the genealogy in Matthew is that it clearly shows that Jesus comes from flawed stock, and that his humanity could be found in any of us.

There are also five women identified, four by name one by implication. Mary is the most easily recognizable of the lot and is held high regards. As she should be. There is Bathsheba who was the woman that King David committed adultery with, she is identified as the wife of Uriah. Then we have Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. Tamar is arguably either a Canaanite or an Israelite. I lean towards the Canaanite perception. Rahab was a Canaanite woman, for whom there were biblical prohibitions against marrying. Despite this, Salmon marries Rahab and she gives birth to Boaz who marries the next woman named in the genealogy. Ruth is a Moabite, another ethnic group prohibited from marrying into the nation of Israel. Regardless of that, she is married by Boaz, and becomes the great grandmother of arguably Israel’s greatest King, David and the great-great-grandmother of Solomon who is identified as being the wisest of the kings. (It was actually a low bar.) These three woman bring a new perspective into the birth of Christ. These women also did some of the most interesting stuff.

Tamar

Genesis 38

Tamar had been married to Er, the son of Judah. Judah was the patriarch of the Tribe of Judah. Tamar arguably, though underhandedly, restored Judah’s integrity. Er was described as being so evil that he was killed. This was in the days of God “the hitman.” So Judah tells Er’s brother Onan to sleep with Tamar to father a son. Onan, who did not want to have a son with her “spilled his seed” on the ground. So, God killed him. (By the way, this is not the basis of a prohibition against masturbation. Privately message me and I will provide a better basis for that prohibition.) But God does seem kinda cranky, doesn’t he? This left the third son, Shelah, who was apparently too young at the time. As time passed, Judah becomes a widower, and after recovering from his grief, goes on a business trip.

       By this time Shelah was old enough to marry Tamar. This brothers marrying the widow of a brother was the marriage arrangement that was the basis of Jesus being tested regarding the resurrection and the seven brothers having married the same woman. The reality is that Tamar wanted a husband to take care of her now, and a son to take care of her as she grew older. He would be her access to economic security. This theme gets repeated elsewhere in the Old Testament. Shelah, I think for obvious reasons was nowhere to be seen on the marriage front. So Tamar takes things into her own hands.

     Disguising herself by wearing a veil, Tamar hangs out by the side of the road. Judah seeing her assumes that she is a prostitute. So he bargains for her services. He offers a young goat, she asks for a security deposit which turns out to be his seal, his cord, and his staff. The deal being struck, they had sex and Tamar became pregnant. Tamar then went home.

     The first sign that things were not as they should be was that Tamar was not there to receive the goat. Even worse, the report from where Tamar and Judah struck the deal was that there was no prostitute. Trouble began when three months after the deed, Tamar was noticeably pregnant. Judah demanded she be brought out and burned to death. Now, her being burned to death relates to Levitical Law which had not been created at that time. However the issue was that Tamar was to remain chaste despite the fact that she was widowed, and that Shelah had not stepped up to the plate. (To coin a term.)

     As she was being brought to Judah to be killed she sent the seal, the cord, and the staff. When he saw those Judah realized just what had happened. Judah to his credit got honest saying, “Tamar is more righteous than I.” That was a huge admission on Judah’s part. Huge, in the way that you have really no idea how huge. I love the story of Tamar. I believe it adds legitimacy to the bible. Afterall, who could make up such a convoluted story? I mean it rivals anything Shakespeare could invent.

     But in this story, Tamar by her actions had restored integrity to Judah, and thus to the tribe of Judah. This was regarding the fathering of the her sons. Further to this, Tamar gave birth to two sons, Perez and Zerah. Apparently, Perez and Zerah, like Isaac and Esau, were quite active in the womb as they were being born. Perez stuck his arm out in a race to be born, but Zerah made it out first. Apparently prepared for such a situation, Tamar ties a string around Perez's wrist so she knew who was first.

       Tamar the first of our wise women, not only brought honour to the genealogy of Jesus, she also assured that Judah had a son to carry on the lineage of Abraham. What happens to Shelah and Zerah is not mentioned. It was Perez’s being the first born that allowed the lineage of Abraham to be carried on. My preference for believing Tamar was a Canaanite is that the other two women were outsiders. And we see those who were excluded bringing honour and dignity ancestors of Jesus.