![]() Ostensibly, Tamar is only waiting for Shelah to grow up and mate with her. Unlike other widows, she cannot remarry and must stay chaste on pain of death. But he does not-he sends her to live as “a widow” in her father’s house. Judah, who is perhaps afraid of Tamar’s lethal character, could have set her free. Levirate marriage (yibbum) obligation himself if he does not, the woman is declared a “widow,” free to marry again. According to Near Eastern custom, known from Middle Assyrian laws, if a man has no son over ten years old, he could perform the Marriage between a widow whose husband died childless (the yevamah) and the brother of the deceased (the yavam or levir). So, Judah is afraid to give Tamar to his youngest son, Shelah. He suspects that Tamar is a “lethal woman,” a woman whose sexual partners are all doomed to die. For this, God punishes Onan with death, as God had previously punished Er for doing something wicked.Īlthough the readers know that God has killed two of Judah’s sons, Judah does not. Onan opts to preserve his financial advantage and interrupts coitus with Tamar, spilling his semen on the ground. If Er remained childless, then Judah’s estate would be divided into three, with the eldest, most probably Onan, inheriting two thirds. ![]() A child engendered for Er would inherit at least one fourth and possibly one half (as the son of the firstborn). ![]() According to inheritance customs, the estate of Judah, who had three sons, would be divided into four equal parts, with the eldest son acquiring one half and the others one fourth each. Onan, however, would make a considerable economic sacrifice. In this way, Tamar too would be assured a place in the family. When Er dies, Judah gives Tamar to his second son, Onan, who is to act as levir, a surrogate for his dead brother who would beget a son to continue Er’s lineage. She is the daughter-in-law of Judah, who acquires her for his firstborn son, Er. Tamar, whose story is embedded in the ancestor narratives of Genesis, is the ancestress of much of the tribe of Judah and, in particular, of the house of David. ![]()
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