Many proofs support the authenticity of scripture, including its mention of the roles women played in accomplishing God’s plan. Another support is its transparency—the way it unapologetically exposes the seamy underside of its key players.

The Bible presents the good, bad and ugly, all for our instruction.

Tamar’s story, told in Genesis 38, checks both boxes. Her story isn’t pretty. Don’t look for a human hero. You won’t find someone to cheer on. Instead, look for God’s redemptive hand. He alone is the hero of this story.

The Birth of Betrayal

Tamar wed into wickedness. Her father-in-law, Judah, married a Canaanite woman, though he knew better. Judah and his wife bore a son named Er, who became Tamar’s husband. But God killed Er because of his wickedness.

Tradition required the next-oldest brother to take on his late brother’s widow and perpetuate his family line. So Tamar was passed on to Onan, but he stopped short of fulfilling his obligation. God killed him too.

Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.—Genesis 38:11 (ESV)

Tamar waited. And waited. And waited. Finally she decided she had waited long enough.

Tamar Seeks Her Own Justice

Years passed. Shelah had grown up. But Judah hadn’t keep his promise, stalling Tamar in her long-imposed widowhood. Then she learned Judah also had been widowed and was heading into the Philistine city of Timnah. She concocted a plan. She would find a way to make Judah keep his promise to let her perpetuate the family line.

Covering her face and disguising herself as a cult prostitute, she put herself on lonely Judah’s path. He took the bait.

She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet 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. Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.—Genesis 38:16b-19 (ESV)

The Gotcha Moment

When Judah later sent along a young goat in exchange for his pledge, no cult prostitute was to be found. This, he decided, was to his advantage. His secret was safe.

Then three months later, he learned his daughter-in-law was pregnant out of wedlock. Though Judah didn’t express remorse about his own sexual sin, he was all about holding Tamar accountable. “Bring her out, and let her be burned,” he declared (Genesis 38:24b).

As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.—Genesis 38:25-26 (ESV)

Tamar would bear twin sons, Perez and Zerah, by her father-in-law as a living testimony of two messy, tangled lives. But God was writing a different story.

An Unlikely Genealogy

We read again about Judah and Tamar in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar . . . —Matthew 1:1-3a

Those two messy, tangled lives became part of Jesus’ lineage. Scripture doesn’t hide their story. Instead, it broadcasts it to display God’s redemptive power.

What We Can Learn from Her

Tamar was the victim of a broken system who sought vindication by her own cunning. But God did not disqualify her from being used for His purposes. Though Judah was not the oldest of the heads of Israel’s 12 tribes, his tribe would be the one from whom redemption would come.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.—Genesis 49:10 (ESV)

Redemption would extend from Tamar to Jesus. That is God’s amazing grace.

No matter how tangled your story, God can redeem it—and you—for His glory. You are not beyond His reach. He is the source of your redemption and vindication. In His faithful hands, your redemption story could have ripple effects for generations to come. 

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This is Part 18 in a series about biblical women—some named, some not, some honorable, some less so. But all have earned a place in scripture, and all have important lessons to teach us.