An Atheistic Bible Study Of Genesis Chapter Thirty Eight

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Having set up the story of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers, an arc that will dominate most of the remaining book of Genesis, the suspense is broken early on to run a separate story focussed on one of the brothers responsible, Judah. Judah leaves the family home region to go and live in Adullam, working with a man called Hirah. He also meets a man called Shua and marries his un-named daughter. They had three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah. Er gets married to a woman called Tamar, but soon after their marriage God decides Er is wicked and kills him. It is not explained what Er did to deserve this fate. Judah invites his second son, Onan to impregnate the widow, but Onan has no desire to have a child to a woman he is not married to himself. He makes love to Tamar, but allows his sperm to fall on the ground each time to avoid impregnating her. God decides this deliberate loss of sperm is wicked and kills Onan. Masturbation, named Onanism after this incident is condemned in most Jewish, Christian and Muslim denominations. The word condemns any use of sperm for any act not leading to potential pregnancy. Coitus Interruptus, Self-love and sodomy and homosexuality were all unjustly condemned from this chapter onwards. Judah obliges Tamar to live as a widow, not marrying any man of her choice until his youngest son, Shelah, is old enough to marry her. Judah is worried in case the youngest son behaves badly and gets killed by God too, o he conceals from Tamar that his son is old enough for her already. She is at risk of dying a spinster waiting for the boy. Judah’s own wife dies, and after a period of grief he is spotted by friends of Tamar, who disguises herself to spy on him, as he I getting suspicious towards him. She discovers that his youngest son, Shelah is legally old enough to make love to her to lawfully maintain her connection to Judah’s family bloodline, which she wants in order to have children, but Judah is wilfully preventing the consummation from taking place. Judah, barely having buried his wife, mistakes disguised Tamar for a prostitute and offers to hire her for the night. She asks for a live goat as payment, and requests temporary possession of Judah’s staff, cord and seal until the goat can be delivered to her. Judah agrees to her terms, sleeps with her and gets her pregnant. Tamar craftily reverts to her own clothes and identity, leaving Judah unable to find the prostitute who has taken his proofs of power and office. His agents fail to find the mysterious woman. Tamar’s pregnancy is discovered when it becomes visible three months later so Judah orders her to be burnt to death for her infidelity. When she is arrested to reveals that Judah himself is the father by presenting his staff, seal and cord. Judah realizes that her action is only due to him withholding his son, Shelah from her company. He knows now that he is more in the wrong than she is. Judah does not make love to Tamar again and she is allowed to go through her pregnancy. She has identical twins. The midwife sees the first boy to pop an arm out and ties a red sash to his wrist to identify him, but the boy pull himself back into the womb, and his brother, Perez comes out first, then Zerah, the boy with the sash on his hand, comes out second. A horrible chapter with God killing two men as wicked without giving reasons why, a condemnation of harmless masturbation but Judah’s deception, and casual use of prostitutes right after his wife died is not seen as a bad thing by God who offers no punishment for it. Tamar’s clever deception is effective, as she seems to have a right to have her marriage consummated by a relative of the slaughtered first husband, a rather odd law that was almost certainly created by men. Arthur Chappell