Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 38:12
And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
12 26. Tamar and Judah
12. Timnah ] Possibly the same as in Jos 15:10; Jos 15:57; Jdg 14:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 12. In process of time] This phrase, which is in general use in the Bible, needs explanation; the original is valyirbu haiyamim, and the days were multiplied. Though it implies an indefinite time, yet it generally embraces a pretty long period, and in this place may mean several years.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In process of time, when many days had passed, and Shelah, though grown, was not given to Tamar,
Judah went up unto his sheep-shearers, to feast and rejoice with them at that time, as the manner was then and afterwards. See 1Sa 25:36.
Timnath; a place not far from Adullam; of which see Jos 15:57.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. Judah . . . went up unto hissheep-shearersThis season, which occurs in Palestine towardsthe end of March, was spent in more than usual hilarity, and thewealthiest masters invited their friends, as well as treated theirservants, to sumptuous entertainments. Accordingly, it is said, Judahwas accompanied by his friend Hirah.
Timnathin themountains of Judah.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And in process of time the daughter of Shuah, Judah’s wife,
died,…. Shuah was his wife’s father, who was a Canaanite,
Ge 38:2; what her name was is not certain, nor the exact time of her death; it was some time after Tamar was sent home to her father’s house; and some take the death of Judah’s wife to be a correction and reproof to him for his ill usage of his daughter-in-law, in neglecting to give her to his son, or not designing to do it at all:
and Judah was comforted: he mourned awhile for the death of his wife, according to the custom of the country, and of those times, and then he laid aside the tokens of it, and his sorrow wore off, and he appeared in company and conversed with his friends:
and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath; a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:57, said s to be six miles from Adullam, where Judah lived; here he had his flocks of sheep, at least this was judged a proper place for the shearing and washing of them, and this time of the year a proper time for it, at which it was usual to have a feast; and Judah went up to his shearers, not only to see how they went on with their work, but with this view to make an entertainment for them, see
1Sa 25:3:
he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite; he took him along with him for a companion, and to partake of the entertainment.
s Bunting’s Travels, p. 78.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But when Thamar, after waiting a long time, saw that Shelah had grown up and yet was not given to her as a husband, she determined to procure children from Judah himself, who had become a widower in the meantime; and his going to Timnath to the sheep-shearing afforded her a good opportunity. The time mentioned (“the days multiplied,” i.e., a long time passed by) refers not to the statement which follows, that Judah’s wife died, but rather to the leading thought of the verse, viz., Judah’s going to the sheep-shearing. : he comforted himself, i.e., he ceased to mourn. Timnath is not the border town of Dan and Judah between Beth-shemesh and Ekron in the plain (Jos 15:10; Jos 19:43), but Timnah on the mountains of Judah (Jos 15:57, cf. Rob. Pal. ii. 343, note), as the expression “ went up ” shows. The sheep-shearing was a fte with shepherds, and was kept with great feasting. Judah therefore took his friend Hirah with him; a fact noticed in Gen 38:12 in relation to what follows.
Gen 38:13-14 As soon as Thamar heard of Judah’s going to this feast, she took off her widow’s clothes, put on a veil, and sat down, disguised as a harlot, by the gate of Enayim, where Judah would be sure to pass on his return from Timnath. Enayim was no doubt the same as Enam in the lowland of Judah (Jos 15:34).
Gen 38:15-18 When Judah saw her here and took her for a harlot, he made her an offer, and gave her his signet-ring, with the band ( ) by which it was hung round his neck, and his staff, as a pledge of the young buck-goat which he offered her. They were both objects of value, and were regarded as ornaments in the East, as Herodotus (i. 195) has shown with regard to the Babylonians (see my Bibl. Arch. 2, 48). He then lay with her, and she became pregnant by him.
Gen 38:19-21 After this had occurred, Thamar laid aside her veil, put on her widow’s dress again, and returned home. When Judah, therefore, sent the kid by his friend Hirah to the supposed harlot for the purpose of redeeming his pledges, he could not find her, and was told, on inquiring of the inhabitants of Enayim, that there was no there. : lit., “the consecrated,” i.e., the hierodule, a woman sacred to Astarte, a goddess of the Canaanites, the deification of the generative and productive principle of nature; one who served this goddess by prostitution (vid., Deu 23:18). This was no doubt regarded as the most respectable designation for public prostitutes in Canaan.
Gen 38:22-23 When his friend returned with the kid and reported his want of success, Judah resolved to leave his pledges with the girl, that he might not expose himself to the ridicule of the people by any further inquiries, since he had done his part towards keeping his promise. “ Let her take them (i.e., keep the signet-ring and staff) for herself, that we may not become a (an object of) ridicule.” The pledges were unquestionably of more value than a young he-goat.
Gen 38:24-26 About three months afterwards ( prob. for with the prefix ) Judah was informed that Thamar had played the harlot and was certainly ( ) with child. He immediately ordered, by virtue of his authority as head of the tribe, that she should be brought out and burned. Thamar was regarded as the affianced bride of Shelah, and was to be punished as a bride convicted of a breach of chastity. But the Mosaic law enjoined stoning in the case of those who were affianced and broke their promise, or of newly married women who were found to have been dishonoured (Deu 22:20-21, Deu 22:23-24); and it was only in the case of the whoredom of a priest’s daughter, or of carnal intercourse with a mother or a daughter, that the punishment of burning was enjoined (Lev 21:9 and Lev 20:14). Judah’s sentence, therefore, was more harsh than the subsequent law; whether according to patriarchal custom, or on other grounds, cannot be determined. When Thamar was brought out, she sent to Judah the things which she had kept as a pledge, with this message: “ By a man to whom these belong am I with child: look carefully therefore to whom this signet-ring, and band, and stick belong.” Judah recognised the things as his own, and was obliged to confess, “ She is more in the right than I; for therefore (sc., that this might happen to me, or that it might turn out so; on see Gen 18:5) have I not given her to my son Shelah.” In passing sentence upon Thamar, Judah had condemned himself. His son, however, did not consist merely in his having given way to his lusts so afar as to lie with a supposed public prostitute of Canaan, but still more in the fact, that by breaking his promise to give her his son Shelah as her husband, he had caused his daughter-in-law to practise this deception upon him, just because in his heart he blamed her for the early and sudden deaths of his elder sons, whereas the real cause of the deaths which had so grieved his paternal heart was the wickedness of the sons themselves, the mainspring of which was to be found in his own marriage with a Canaanite in violation of the patriarchal call. And even if the sons of Jacob were not unconditionally prohibited from marrying the daughters of Canaanites, Judah’s marriage at any rate had borne such fruit in his sons Ger and Onan, as Jehovah the covenant God was compelled to reject. But if Judah, instead of recognising the hand of the Lord in the sudden death of his sons, traced the cause to Thamar, and determined to keep her as a childless widow all her life long, not only in opposition to the traditional custom, but also in opposition to the will of God as expressed in His promises of a numerous increase of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Thamar had by no means acted rightly in the stratagem by which she frustrated his plan, and sought to procure from Judah himself the seed of which he was unjustly depriving her, though her act might be less criminal than Judah’s. For it is evident from the whole account, that she was not driven to her sin by lust, but by the innate desire for children ( , , – Theodoret); and for that reason she was more in the right than Judah. Judah himself, however, not only saw his guilt, but he confessed it also; and showed both by this confession, and also by the fact that he had no further conjugal intercourse with Thamar, an earnest endeavour to conquer the lusts of the flesh, and to guard against the sin into which he had fallen. And because he thus humbled himself, God gave him grace, and not only exalted him to be the chief of the house of Israel, but blessed the children that were begotten in sin.
Gen 38:27-28 Thamar brought forth twins; and a circumstance occurred at the birth, which does occasionally happen when the children lie in an abnormal position, and always impedes the delivery, and which was regarded in this instance as so significant that the names of the children were founded upon the fact. At the birth “ there was a hand, ” i.e., a hand came out ( as in Job 37:10; Pro 13:10), round which the midwife tied a scarlet thread, to mark this as the first-born.
Gen 38:29-30 “ And it came to pass, when it (the child) drew back its hand ( for as in Gen 40:10), behold its brother came out. Then she (the midwife) said, What a breach hast thou made for thy part? Upon thee the breach;” i.e., thou bearest the blame of the breach. signifies not rupturam perinoei , but breaking through by pressing forward. From that he received the name of Perez (breach, breaker through). Then the other one with the scarlet thread came into the world, and was named Zerah ( exit, rising), because he sought to appear first, whereas in fact Perez was the first-born, and is even placed before Zerah in the lists in Gen 46:12; Num 26:20. Perez was the ancestor of the tribe-prince Nahshon (Num 2:3), and of king David also (Rth 4:18.; 1Ch 2:5.). Through him, therefore, Thamar has a place as one of the female ancestors in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. 14 And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. 16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me? 17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it? 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. 19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not. 21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place. 22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her, and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place. 23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
It is a very ill-favoured story that is here told concerning Judah; one would not have expected such folly in Israel. Judah had buried his wife; and widowers have need to stand upon their guard with the utmost caution and resolution against all fleshly lusts. He was unjust to his daughter-in-law, either through negligence or design, in not giving her his surviving son, and this exposed her to temptation.
I. Tamar wickedly prostituted herself as a harlot to Judah, that, if the son might not, the father might raise up seed to the deceased. Some excuse this by suggesting that, though she was a Canaanite, yet she had embraced the true religion, and believed the promise made to Abraham and his seed, particularly that of the Messiah, who was to descend from the loins of Judah, and that she was therefore thus earnestly desirous to have a child by one of that family that she might have the honour, or at least stand fair for the honour, of being the mother of the Messiah. And, if this was indeed her desire, it had its success; she is one of the four women particularly named in the genealogy of Christ, Matt. i. 3. Her sinful practice was pardoned, and her good intention was accepted, which magnifies the grace of God, but can by no means be admitted to justify or encourage the like. Bishop Patrick thinks it probable that she hoped Shelah, who was by right her husband, might have come along with his father, and that he might have been allured to her embraces. There was a great deal of plot and contrivance in Tamar’s sin. 1. She took an opportunity for it, when Judah had a time of mirth and feasting with his sheep-shearers. Note, Time of jollity often prove times of temptation, particularly to the sin of uncleanness; when men are fed to the full, the reins are apt to be let loose. 2. She exposed herself as a harlot in an open place, v. 14. Those that are, and would be, chaste, must be keepers at home, Tit. ii. 5. It should seem, it was the custom of harlots, in those times, to cover their faces, that, though they were not ashamed, yet they might seem to be so. The sin of uncleanness did not then go so barefaced as it does now.
II. Judah was taken in the snare, and though it was ignorantly that he was guilty of incest with his daughter-in-law (not knowing who she was), yet he was willfully guilty of fornication: whoever she was, he knew she was not his wife, and therefore not to be touched. Nor was his sin capable, in the least, of such a charitable excuse as some make for Tamar, that though the action was bad the intention possibly might be good. Observe, 1. Judah’s sin began in the eye (v. 15): He saw her. Note, Those have eyes, and hearts too, full of adultery (as it is 2 Pet. ii. 14), that catch at every bait that presents itself to them and are as tinder to every spark. We have need to make a covenant with our eyes, and to turn them from beholding vanity, lest the eye infect the heart. 2. It added to the scandal that the hire of a harlot (than which nothing is more infamous) was demanded, offered, and accepted–a kid from the flock, a goodly price at which her chastity and honour were valued! Nay, had the consideration been thousands of rams, and ten thousand rivers of oil, it had not been a valuable consideration. The favour of God, the purity of the soul, the peace of conscience, and the hope of heaven, are too precious to be exposed to sale at any such rates; the Topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal them: what are those profited that lose their souls to gain the world? 3. It turned to the reproach of Judah that he left his jewels in pawn for a kid. Note, Fleshly lusts are not only brutish, but sottish, and ruining to men’s secular interests. It is plain that whoredom, as well as wine, and new wine, takes away the heart first, else it would never take away the signet and the bracelets.
III. He lost his jewels by the bargain; he sent the kid, according to this promise, to redeem his pawn, but the supposed harlot could not be found. He sent it by his friend (who was indeed his back-friend, because he was aiding and abetting in his evil deeds) the Adullamite, who came back without the pledge. It is a good account (if it be but true) of any place which they here gave, there is no harlot in this place; for such sinners are the scandals and plagues of any place. Judah sits down content to lose his signet and his bracelets, and forbids his friend to make any further enquiry after them, giving this reason, lest we be shamed, v. 23. Either, 1. Lest his sin should come to be known publicly, and be talked of. Fornication and uncleanness have ever been looked upon as scandalous things and the reproach and shame of those that are convicted of them. Nothing will make those blush that are not ashamed of these. 2. Lest he should be laughed at as a fool for trusting a strumpet with his signet and his bracelets. He expresses no concern about the sin, to get that pardoned, only about the shame, to prevent that. Note, There are many who are more solicitous to preserve their reputation with men than to secure the favour of God and a good conscience; lest we be shamed goes further with them than lest we be damned.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 12-23:
An undetermined period of time went by. Judah’s wife died, and when the time for mourning passed, Judah returned to his normal pastoral duties. He went to Timnath where his sheep-shearers were working. This was a town between Ekron and Bethshemesh (Jos 15:10), evidently not far from where Judah made his home. His friend Hirah the Adullamite accompanied him.
Tamar had waited for Judah to keep his promise and give her in marriage to his son Shelah. Time went by and Shelah grew to maturity and still Judah did not keep his promise. Tamar saw in Judah’s visit to Timnath an opportunity to put a plan into operation which would give her the heir she wanted. She laid aside her widow’s garments and dressed in clothes such as courtesans wore and veiled herself to conceal her identity. She then stationed herself in a place Judah was sure to pass by.
Judah did not recognize his daughter-in-law, for she was veiled. He thought she was a harlot, and asked to have sexual relations with her. She followed her carefully laid plan and asked for a “pledge” or payment for her services. Judah promised to give her a young goat from his flocks. Tamar asked for collateral, in the form of Judah’s signet, bracelets (chain) and staff. The signet, chotham, was worn either on the finger or as a pendant about the neck. The impression of the signet was a sign of property and a means of security. The bracelets, pithil, likely was a chain about the neck. The staff, mateh, was an essential part of the well-dressed patrician’s accessories. Judah gave these to this woman he thought was a harlot, as security that he would send her the promised payment for her sexual services. The relationship between Judah and Tamar resulted in her becoming pregnant.
Following this liaison, Tamar returned home where she resumed her role as a widow. Judah went on his way to Timnath. The following day he sent the kid by the hand of his friend Hirah, to where he had met Tamar No harlot could be found, and the men of that area had no knowledge of her. Judah realized he had been the victim of some kind of hoax, but at this time had no idea as to what was involved. He did not press the matter further, because he did not want to be held in contempt by the men of that area. He expressed no repentance for his sexual immorality. Like many today, he was more concerned with his own reputation than with the honor of God’s holy Name.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(12) Timnath.There were two places of this name (Jos. 15:10; Jos. 15:57). One was a little to the west of Bethlehem, the other upon the Philistine border, beyond Bethshemesh. As it lay, however, only about seven miles beyond Adullam, and as the flocks there were Judahs private property (Gen. 38:13), and under the charge of Hirah, this remoter place, now called Tibneh, is probably the Timnath meant, as at Bethlehem the pastures were occupied by his father. (See also Gen. 38:14.) For the sheep-shearing, see Gen. 31:19. Instead of his friend Hirah, the LXX. and Vulg. render his shepherd Hirah. This would require no change in the consonants, but only in the vowels. Most of the other authorities agree with the Authorised Version; but even so, there was most probably some partnership between Judah and Hirah in these flocks, and they would be under Hirahs charge whenever Judah was absent, tending the flocks of his father.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Went up to Timnath Probably the Timnath of the Philistine valley, so famous in the history of Samson . Jdg 14:1. If so, it was at the modern Tibeh, and must have been some eight or ten miles north of Adullam . There was also another Timnath in the mountains of Judah . See Jos 15:57.
His friend Hirah Comp . Gen 38:1. Note how intimate Judah had become with the Canaanites.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And in process of time Shua’s daughter, the wife Judah, died, and Judah was comforted and went up to his sheep shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.’
In the meanwhile Judah’s wife also dies. This is what makes what follows possible. Had she still been alive Tamar might not have done what she did. But once she learns of the death of her mother-in-law her mind turns in that direction.
“Judah was comforted.” The period of mourning comes to an end and Judah begins to live life again. It may be or not be that Judah genuinely grieved for her loss, either way the mourning ritual must be carried through. Until that had happened he could not join the sheep shearers in their celebrations at the time of sheep shearing which was a time of feasting (see 1Sa 25:11; 2Sa 13:23 on).
“Went up to his sheep shearers.” He takes with him his old friend Hirah, who has possibly helped him through his difficult time, and joins his sheep shearers to watch over the work and join in the celebrations.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Judah Becomes Guilty of Incest
v. 12. And in process of time, v. 13. And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. v. 14. And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, v. 15. When Judah saw her, v. 16. And he turned unto her by the way, v. 17. And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge till thou send it? v. 18. And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. v. 19. And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. v. 20. And Judah sent the kid v. 21. Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot that was openly by the wayside? v. 22. And he returned to Judah and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said that there was no harlot in this place. v. 23. And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed; behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Gen 38:12. In process of time i.e.. After some years. Timnath was a town within the lot of the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:57.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 38:12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
Ver. 12. The daughter of Shuah, &c. ] This was just in God upon Judah, for his fraudulent dealing with Tamar; whom he neither married to his son Shelah, nor suffered to be married to another. Sin is oft punished in kind.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 38:12-19
12Now after a considerable time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13It was told to Tamar, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14So she removed her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife. 15When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face. 16So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, “Here now, let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17He said, therefore, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” She said, moreover, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?” 18He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19Then she arose and departed, and removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments.
Gen 38:12 “the wife of Judah, died” We are still not given her name. Judah had been monogamous and cared very much for this Canaanite lady.
“and when the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah” Shearing time was a time of festivity (cf. 1Sa 25:4; 1Sa 25:36). It was in the later tribal allocation of Judah (cf. Jos 15:57). This geographical location is famous because of its connection with Samson.
Gen 38:13 “It was told to Tamar” It is my opinion that Tamar acted out of more godly reasons than is obvious in the text (cf. Gen 38:26). Like Rebekah and Jacob (cf. Gen 25:23), one could doubt their methods of action, but behind their actions is an element of faith and trust. As Abraham and all of the Patriarchs tried to help God to fulfill His promises, I believe that Tamar felt a unique responsibility as the wife of the eldest son of Judah to raise up an offspring. She was willing to humiliate herself and face the possibility of death in order to have the chance to bear a son to Judah.
Gen 38:14 “she removed her widow’s garments” Exactly what this involved is not certain, but she still felt connected to the family of Judah. She was still waiting for Judah to fulfill his word (cf. Gen 38:11). It must have been a protracted period of time and she began to question Judah’s promise (cf. Gen 38:14).
“and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of Enaim” There are two veils or “shawls” (BDB 858, KB 1041) mentioned in the OT. They were not common before the Islamic period. Rebekah wore one when she met Isaac (cf. Gen 24:65) and here Tamar wears a veil. Moses also wore a veil to cover his face when he came down from Mt. Sinai (“veil,” BDB 691, cf. Exo 34:33-35).
We learn from the Syrian documents that a veil was a sign of a cultic prostitute who was married. We also learned that it became an emblem for the veiled goddess, Ishtar. Apparently this was a particular way to identify a cult prostitute. Although the word used by Judah in Gen 38:15 is simply the common Hebrew term (“one who commits fornication,” BDB 275, KB 275, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE), the term used by his friend Hirah, the Adullamite in Gen 38:21-22, is the term for a temple prostitute (BDB 873 I, cf. Deu 23:17-18; Hos 4:14).
Gen 38:16 “So he turned aside to her by the road, and said” There are several elements here which bother the modern reader: (1) there seems to be an obvious double standard between the appropriateness of Judah’s action and the inappropriateness of Tamar’s action; (2) it also has concerned commentators that Judah knew the exact questions to ask and the procedures involved in paying the price of a harlot. We must be careful not to judge the ancient world by our motives, but also be careful to recognize the moral degeneration even within the tribe of Judah.
Gen 38:17 “I will send you a kid from the flock” From Samson’s exploits recorded in Jdg 15:1, this may have been the common price for a sexual encounter. However, there is some ancient evidence that a goat was a symbol of the love goddess and this may be the background for this custom.
Gen 38:18 “What pledge shall I give you? And she said, ‘Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand'” Tamar had thought out her plan in great detail. The seal and the staff were characteristic items of a wealthy person in the ANE and were unique to each individual. The seal could refer to a signet ring (BDB 368, KB 364, cf. Gen 41:42), or to a cylindrical seal which was worn around the neck. Everyone who was anyone in ancient Babylon had one of these cylinder seals, which was used in place of their signature (cf. Strabo XVI, 1, 20).
The “cord” (BDB 836, KB 990) is translated in the Targums as “cloak,” but apparently it refers to the implement used to hang either the ring or the seal around one’s neck.
The staff (BDB 641, KB 573) was more like a walking stick with a uniquely-carved headpiece. One would have felt unclothed without this walking staff in Judah’s day. He was ready to part with these very personal, very significant items to purchase the price of this harlot! Tamar wanted them as conclusive proof that Judah was the father of her offspring!
Gen 38:19 Tamar immediately went home which shows that prostitution was not her purpose or lifestyle!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
in process of time: Heb. the days were multiplied, comforted. Gen 24:67, 2Sa 13:39, sheep shearers, Gen 31:19, 1Sa 25:4-8, 1Sa 25:36, 2Sa 13:23-29
Timnath: Timnath is, in all probability, that in the border of Judah, between Jerusalem and Diospolis, given to Dan, and mentioned in the history of Samson as belonging to the Philistines. Gen 38:1, Jos 15:10, Jos 15:35, Jos 15:37, Timnah, Jos 19:43, Thimnathah, Jdg 14:1
Reciprocal: Gen 38:14 – Timnath Jos 15:57 – Timnah
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
When Judah deceived Jacob (Gen 37:31-32), a goat and an item of clothing featured in the trick, and here a goat and an item of clothing again figure in Tamar’s deception of Judah. Tamar’s strategy for obtaining her right was not commendable. She played the role of a common whore (Heb. zona). Judah’s Canaanite friend described her as a shrine prostitute later (Gen 38:21, Heb. qedesa), but he probably said this to elevate her social status in the eyes of the other men he was addressing. Though ancient Near Eastern society condemned adultery, it permitted prostitution. [Note: Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992 ed., s.v. "Prostitution (OT)," by E. A. Goodfriend.] By wearing a veil Tamar hid her identity from Judah but also presented herself as a betrothed (to Shelah) woman, since engaged women wore veils (cf. Gen 24:65; Gen 29:21-25). However the fact that she sought to obtain seed by Judah shows her legitimate desire for children at least. It probably also reveals her desire to enter into the Abrahamic promises by bearing children for Judah and his sons. Jacob’s family experienced deception again.
"Tamar qualifies as a heroine in the story, for she risked everything for her right to be the mother in the family of Judah and to protect the family." [Note: Ross, Creation and . . ., p. 612.]
"Although Tamar’s actions in this regard may seem strange to us, there is evidence that among ancient Assyrian and Hittite peoples, part of the custom was that the levirite responsibility could pass to the father of the widow’s husband if there were no brothers to fulfill it. Thus Tamar was only trying to acquire that to which she had a legal right." [Note: Aalders, 2:194.]
Moses did not clarify her motivation. Whether or not she understood and believed the promises to the patriarchs regarding their sacred vocation, she did become an ancestor of the Messiah (Rth 4:18-22; Mat 1:3; Mat 1:16).
"Just as in chapter 20 where the seed of Abraham was protected by the ’righteous’ (saddiq, Gen 20:4; NIV, ’innocent’) Abimelech (cf. also Gen 26:9-11), it is the woman Tamar, not Judah the patriarch, who is ultimately responsible for the survival of the descendants of the house of Judah." [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 232.]
Judah’s response to his sins against God and Tamar seems to have been genuine repentance (Gen 38:26). He confessed his wrong and repented by ceasing from further sexual relations with her, his daughter-in-law. It is evidently because his repentance was genuine that Jacob did not exclude him from receiving a special blessing as he excluded Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. Because he humbled himself God raised him to be the chief of the house of Israel and blessed the children that he fathered even though they were a result of his sin. Compare God’s blessing of Solomon even though he was the fruit of the unlawful union of David and Bathsheba.
"The scene marks the beginning of Judah’s transformation when he declares of Tamar, ’She is righteous, not I’ (lit., Gen 38:26)." [Note: Waltke, Genesis, p. 506.]
". . . in its biographical sketches, character change is what Genesis is all about: Abram becomes Abraham; Jacob becomes Israel. Particularly in Jacob’s family we see examples of character change: Reuben, violator of his father’s concubine, later shows great concern for both Joseph and his father, while the upstart cocky Joseph becomes the wise statesman who forgives his brothers. Thus, this chapter has a most important role in clarifying the course of the subsequent narrative; without it we should find its development inexplicable." [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 364.]
Perez (meaning a breach or one who breaks through) was the first of the twins born (Gen 38:27-30). He became the ancestor of David and Messiah (Rth 4:18-22; Mat 1:3; Mat 1:16). Moses may have included the unusual circumstances surrounding the birth of these twins in the record to emphasize God’s selection of the son through whom the line of blessing would descend.
"He [Judah] and his brothers sold their younger brother into Egypt, thinking they could thwart God’s design that the elder brothers would serve the younger Joseph. Yet in Judah’s own family, despite his attempts to hinder Tamar’s marriage, God’s will worked out in a poignant confirmation of the principle that the elder would serve the younger." [Note: Ross, "Genesis," p. 89. See also the NET Bible note on 38:29.]
The scarlet thread marked the second-born, Zerah (dawning, i.e., red or scarlet). It did not indicate the Messianic line. That line came through the other son, Perez. The thread is perhaps just a detail of the story that explains the names given.
"A key to this story is the remarkable similarity between the births of Perez and Zerah and of Jacob and Esau. Both births involve twins; in both the younger thrusts ahead of the elder and displaces him; and in both the one who is naturally expected to get the birthright, but loses it, is associated with red: red stew in the case of Esau and a red string in the case of Zerah." [Note: Waltke, Genesis, pp. 506-7.]
The only mothers in the Bible who bore twins were Rebekah and Tamar.
"As the Jacob narrative began with an account of the struggle of the twins Jacob and Esau (Gen 25:22), so now the conclusion of the Jacob narrative is marked by a similar struggle of twins. In both cases the struggle resulted in a reversal of the right of the firstborn and the right of the blessing. . . . The brevity and austerity with which the narrative is recounted leaves the impression that the meaning of the passage is self-evident to the reader. Indeed, coming as it does on the heels of a long series of reversals in which the younger gains the upper hand on the elder, its sense is transparent." [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 232. For a comparison of the births of Jacob and Esau with those of Perez and Zerah, see K. Luke, "Two Birth Narratives in Genesis," Indian Theological Studies 17:2 (June 1980):155-80.]
Judah’s hedonistic willfulness in this chapter contrasts with Joseph’s self-control in sexual temptation in the next. Here promiscuous Judah grasps Tamar’s seductive offer and enlarges his family. Later chaste Joseph resists Potiphar’s wife’s seductive offer and ends his career (temporarily) in prison.
God corrects those who disregard His plan and pursue lives of self-gratification often using talionic justice (i.e., reaping the same kind of punishment as the sin that they sow) in His discipline.