Keywords in Genesis 38

Taking, giving and belonging

The story in Gen 38 begins with Judah taking twice: he takes the daughter of Shua and he takes Tamar as a wife for Er. Judah’s taking is indicative of his dominant role in the first part of the narrative. He is the one in control and takes all decisive action to ensure the continuity of his family. This also shows his selfish attitude that he has already demonstrated in chapter 37 and which will be replicated by his son Onan. Both of them will take but they refuse to give: Onan refuses to give his brother seed (because the offspring would not “belong” to him) and Judah refuses to give Shelah to Tamar. The problem is selfishness: they would give, but only if it was to their own advantage. The irony is that their refusal to give unselfishly actually is to their disadvantage: Onan dies (apparently heirless) and Judah is faced with the prospect of his line discontinuing. Thus they jeopardize the future of their own family (i.e. what “belongs” to them). Had they, on the other hand, taken the risk of giving unselfishly this would have actually been to their own advantage.

While Judah only takes but refuses to give in the first part of the story, things change as Tamar takes the initiative and basically forces him into a position where he has to give what belongs to him. As we would expect, his giving is also selfish: he wants sex and is therefore willing to give his personal items to Tamar. Yet this is not all that Judah gives. The genius of Tamar’s action is that she uses Judah’s selfishness to her own advantage so that he ends up “unselfishly” giving to her what she really wants, namely seed so that the line may continue. (Note how this gives added meaning to her question: What will you give me?)

Having given his personal items to Tamar, Judah wants to take them back. For the first time in the story, however, he is unsuccessful in taking: the woman and the items seem to have disappeared. The failure of Judah to take illustrates the shift of power in the story. Whereas at the beginning of the narrative Judah was in control, now it is Tamar. She has power over Judah not only because she has his items but also because he does not want his going in to a prostitute to become public knowledge. In order to avoid public ridicule Judah is content to have her keep his items.

It is probably not accidental that giving and taking also occur in the final scene of the story. As Tamar is in labor, one of the twins stretches out (literally: gives) a hand, whereupon the midwife takes it and puts scarlet around it. The fact that the hand that is given and taken is then pulled back is reminiscent of the deception, reversals and unexpected turns that characterize the whole narrative. Judah gives the items in his hand into Tamar’s hand, but when he wants to take them from her hand again, she cannot be found anymore.

Sending

The verb “send” occurs five times in the story, with both Judah and Tamar sending once. As mentioned in a previous post, Judah’s sending is unsuccessful, while Tamar’s sending is successful. Thus this keyword and the two events connected to it are exemplary of the fate of the two main protagonists: Tamar’s mission is successful, while Judah’s is not. Yet in the end the success of Tamar’s mission also benefits Judah since his line continues.

It is interesting that in Hebrew, the term “send” looks and sounds very similar to Shelah (both words have three consonants of which two are identical and the third is only slightly different). This invites the reader to connect the sending with the story of Shelah. In both cases there is a promise: Judah promises Tamar to send a kid, just as he promised to give her Shelah. The unsuccessful sending of the kid is in some ways illustrative of Shelah not being given to Tamar – what was promised is not given. Whereas in the first instance Judah does not want to give, in the second instance he wants to but ironically cannot.