About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”
Judah hears that his widowed daughter-in-law is pregnant. His answer comes in one breath: bring her out and burn her. Three months earlier he had committed the same sin with the same woman. Commentators use this verse to show how harsh a man can be about a sin he shares.
A sentence passed on his own sin
Judah's judgment is instant, and it falls on one person only. One writer points out how selective the verdict is:
L. M. GrantTamar's plan worked as she had wanted. Three months later, someone told Judah that she was pregnant through prostitution (v. 24). He had no hesitation in condemning her, and passed sentence that she should be burned to death. Clearly he never even thought about the man involved in the case. Judah could sin and no one asked a question. Yet for the very same sin he thought Tamar must die!
The man who caused the fall
Judah sits here as the judge. One writer weighs his guilt against Tamar's:
Truth & TestimonyWhat a hypocrite! Judah acts as if he is completely right and without blame, but it is he who has the greater guilt. It was he who caused Tamar to stumble, and now he wants her punished. If I cause another to sin because of my own wickedness, how great then is my responsibility. Judah is the one who started these sins, and now he places all the blame on Tamar… He has a double standard, and a holy God does not accept it. Judah is ready to condemn Tamar to be burned, but she had taken a pledge from him. She now brings it forward as evidence (v. 25), and Judah's part in the sin is shown to everyone. This is how God works. An honest confession secures His mercy.
The same scene played twice
Another writer sets Judah beside King David. David also passed a death sentence on a sin he had committed himself:
An Outline of Sound WordsWhen Judah heard about Tamar's condition, he said, "Bring her out, and let her be burned." He was quick to pass the harshest sentence on a sin he had shared in himself. So it was with David! Nathan the prophet told the king his story. David's anger blazed against the man in it. He said to Nathan that as the Lord lives, the man who had done this thing must surely die.
Why the judge cannot see himself
This is not a one-off failure in an ancient family; it is what happens to anyone who takes up the judge's seat:
F. B. HoleJudging our brother is a very deep-seated tendency in our heart. The Lord forbids it. If we do it anyway, two penalties are sure to follow, as He shows here. First, we ourselves shall come under judgment, and have measured out to us just what we have measured to others. Second, we shall drift into hypocrisy. As soon as we start judging others we become blind to our own defects… The most profitable form of judgment for each of us is self-judgment.
Tamar's part in the sin
Later Judah admits she was more righteous than he was. That is a comparison, not a verdict of innocence:
An Outline of Sound WordsTamar's plan to trap Judah did not come from faith in God. That is true even if she valued a place in the family where the true God was known. On a human level, Tamar's act was more righteous than Judah's, as he confessed. But morally they were the same: partners in a grievous sin. Conduct like this might suit the Canaanite families, but it was hateful to the holy God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It may be hard for us to judge Tamar's true worth. Her desire for children was a right one, but her actions to reach her goal cannot be excused.
The line that runs through the wreckage
Judah is at his worst here. Yet one writer looks at where this family line leads:
William KellyIt was not Reuben or any other of the tribal heads, but Judah who proposed the sale of Joseph. In his own house he then showed the evil that drew down curse upon curse. In the end the head of that house had to admit the sad shame of Tamar. She was more righteous than he was, and he had sentenced her to die by fire. Yet through this guilty Judah, and through Tamar, came He who cleanses from all sin by His blood. He will reign over the universe to God's glory.
Summary
- Sentence. Judah condemns Tamar to burning for a sin he committed himself. He never once thinks of the man involved. God does not accept that double standard.
- Cause. He is not just as guilty as Tamar. He is the one who caused her to stumble, so the greater responsibility is his.
- Blindness. The moment we take the judge's seat we lose sight of our own faults; the only safe judgment is self-judgment.
- Exposure. Tamar produces the pledge she had taken, and the accuser becomes the accused. Judah's own part in the sin comes out in front of everyone. Honest confession is what secures God's mercy.
- Grace. From this guilty man and this guilty woman came the One whose blood cleanses from all sin. He will reign over the universe to God's glory.