The Younger Twin Brother of Perez Zerah is the younger twin brother of Perez. They are sons of Judah and Tamar (1). When Tamar is in labor, the hand of one of her babies emerges. The midwife ties a scarlet thread around his wrist. Then the hand withdraws. The baby who is born first, however, […]
After Tamar (1) tricks Judah into impregnating her, she gives birth to twins. They are Perez and Zerah. The name Perez means “breaking out,” because he broke out of the womb first before his twin brother. Though we know nothing more about Perez and what he did, future generations esteem him. Several generations later, one […]
God has killed Shelah’s older brothers, Er and Onan, for their extreme wickedness. The custom of the people is that Er’s widow, Tamar (1), should be passed to the third brother so he can produce offspring through her for his dead brother. But Shelah isn’t old enough. So Judah sends Tamar home to live with […]
After God kills Er for his extreme wickedness, Er’s father, Judah, passes the dead man’s widow, Tamar (1), to his second child, Onan. The intent is that Onan will produce children for his deceased brother to carry on his family line through Tamar. Judah tells Onan it’s his responsibility as Tamar’s brother-in-law to do this. […]
Jacob’s son Judah leaves his family and travels to Adullam. There he marries a Canaanite woman, a descendant of Canaan, which as a group Noah cursed. They have three sons. The oldest is Er, followed by Onan, and then Shelah. Judah finds a wife for his firstborn son, Er. Her name is Tamar (1). All […]
The story of Tamar is a tragic one. The beautiful daughter of King David caught the eye of her half-brother, Amnon, who lusted for her. At the advice of his cousin, Amnon feigned illness and manipulated Tamar into his bedroom. Once alone, he grabbed and solicited her. Three times Tamar refused. When her pleading wasn’t […]
A Women Takes Extreme Action to Get What Is Due Her Tamar is a victim who takes extreme action to vindicate herself. She’s the daughter-in-law of Judah. She suffers at his hand, responds with guile, and has twins with him. Later she is one of four women mentioned in Jesus’s family tree. Talk about a […]
I blogged about Tamar and her lustful half-brother who raped her. I spent three weeks reading and re-reading this story, meditating on it and trying to make sense of it. Despite that, five perplexing verses still mystify me. Surely there’s some historical context I don’t comprehend, still I’m left with the feeling there’s more to […]