And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.”
Judah's friend goes back to pay the debt and collect the pledge, but the woman has vanished. The men of the place say no woman like that was ever there, and what Judah left as security stays in someone else's hands.
How Judah Came to Be on That Road
The chapter opens with Judah leaving his brothers. Writers trace the whole sorry story back to that step.
Edwin N. CrossJudah leaves his brothers to join the world of the Canaanite in all its ruined character. The actual words of Scripture, "went down from," show the path of departure he set out on. They warn the reader that sin will mark what follows. The consequences of Judah's wilful departure will be serious. He will have to learn that he cannot please himself without reaping a harvest of sorrow.
The Woman by the Roadside
The ESV calls her a cult prostitute, not simply a prostitute. That word belongs to Canaanite worship.
Edwin N. CrossThe practices of the Canaanite cult increased sexual temptation. Ritual fornication was part of their fertility magic. It seems that Tamar posed as a temple or cult prostitute. Such was the world that Judah had married into!
The Errand That Failed
Why did Tamar do this at all? The answer goes back to a promise Judah never kept.
L. M. GrantHe had promised to give his youngest son Shelah to Tamar, but had not kept his promise. She therefore took matters into her own hands and deceitfully posed as a prostitute to seduce Judah. He promised to send her a young goat as payment. She demanded some security, and he gave her three things that were unmistakably his own. From that one occasion she conceived a child. She left the area at once and changed her clothes, going back to her state as a widow. Then Judah sent the young goat, expecting to get back the pledge he had left. His messenger could not find the prostitute, and the men there told him that no prostitute had ever been in that place.
Sin That Will Not Stay Buried
Judah wanted this buried. It did not stay buried, and one writer turns the warning on the reader.
G C WillisHow bad it is to try to cover up sin! God says, "Be sure your sin will find you out." But you must thank God if He makes your sin find you out now. If not, it will find you out when you stand before God's judgment throne. God says, "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).
Later the evidence surfaces. Judah then demands a death sentence for the sin he committed himself.
Edwin N. CrossWhat a hypocrite! Judah acts as if he is completely right and without blame, but it is he who has the greater guilt... Judah is ready to condemn Tamar to be burned, but she had secured a pledge from him. She now brought it forward in evidence, and everyone could see Judah's share in the sin. This is the way God works. A frank confession will secure His mercy.
Two Sinners, Not a Hero and a Villain
Judah later admits Tamar was more righteous than he was. Commentators are careful not to let that admission turn her scheme into faith.
An Outline of Sound WordsShe did value a place in the family where the true God was known. But her plan to trap Judah on the road did not spring from faith in God. Humanly speaking, her act was more righteous than Judah's, as he admitted. Yet morally they were alike — partners in a grievous sin. Conduct like this might suit the families of the Canaanites. But it was hateful to the holiness of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The Line That Ran Through the Wreckage
The child conceived in this squalid encounter becomes an ancestor of Christ.
Frederick W GrantShe comes before me in this picture as a sinner and nothing else. She had been the wife of two men in turn, each cut off by God's judgment for his wickedness. Yet she dared to provoke the same judgment herself. But the wonder above all this is that this very sin brings her name into the Lord's genealogy. This sin made her the mother of Perez, who stands in the direct line of Christ's ancestry.
Matthew's opening chapter names Tamar, and then Bathsheba, without embarrassment.
C. H. MackintoshThe Spirit of God is leading us along the line through which Christ came, and He gives us, as links in the chain, Tamar and Bathsheba!... Man could never have devised such a genealogy. It is entirely divine. No spiritual person can read it without seeing in it a blessed display of divine grace.
Summary
- Departure. Judah went down from his brothers. He could not please himself without reaping a harvest of sorrow.
- Disguise. Tamar posed as a cult prostitute — the religion of the world Judah had married into.
- Discovery. Judah sends the goat, the woman is gone, his pledge stays out. Sin kept quiet is not sin cancelled.
- Double standard. Judah demands Tamar's death for his own offence; commentators call both of them partners in one grievous sin.
- Divine grace. The very sin that shames Judah puts Tamar's name in Christ's genealogy — a line no man would have designed.