Judah behaving badly

 Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as we discover new insights and new perspectives from a very old book.

I'm reading the Young's Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Is there any  wonder why Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons?

A couple of chapters ago Simeon and Levi murder the Hivites after a settlement was negotiated with them after the rape of their sister Dinah. Then we find out the oldest, Reuben, went to bed with one of his father's  concubines. Now we see Judah married someone from the "cursed" Canaanite tribe – the very thing Esau did that so distressed his parents Isaac and Rebekah.

It's unclear if the marriage customs were identical among Canaanites and followers of The LORD. They are kind of gross. But it seems that when a woman marries the first-born son and heir of a family, then she's expected to produce the next heir in that family even if her husband dies. Hence when Judah's son Er dies, his brother Onan is expected to father a child with Er's widow Tamar. He has sex with her, but then pulls out. This sounds like rape to me. Anyway, he dies as well.

Judah pushes responsibility for Tamar's care back on her father until his third son Shelah comes of age to impregnate. But it seems as if Judah wanted to forget about Tamar entirely, neglecting her even when Shelah became old enough to father the heir through Tamar.

But when Tamar pulled a fast one on Judah, he realized he was in the wrong and admitted it. He shouldn't have neglected his daughter-in-law. I get the sense that he was wrong to get mixed up with the Canaanites in the first place, and saw nothing but trouble including losing two sons born to a Canaanite woman.

I wonder if this is another illustration of the "people of God" facing problems when they follow the ways of the worldly Canaanites. This is because, as I've mentioned previously, the Canaanite, "descended" from Ham, represents materialism whereas the line of Abraham, descended from Shem, represents spirituality. Symbolically, Judah "married" materialism. 

But, Judah did repent. 

At the end of the chapter, Tamar's giving birth to twins with the confusion of "who's the first-born" is reminiscent of the struggles of Esau and Jacob, in the womb and after. More wrestling between flesh and spirit.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: TyshkunVictor)