Day 20: Judah & Tamar

 Today's readings: Genesis 38, Job 29-30, and Proverbs 3:28-32.

I. So today in Genesis, we get one chapter showing how alien the culture back then is to us today. Judah married a Canaanite woman, who bore him sons (38:1-5). We get the story of Onan, who was slain by God because he "spilled the semen on the ground" rather than impregnate the widow of his brother, which was the custom then, and provide his dead brother a legal heir (38:6-10). This incident would figure into sexual moral theology much later on (CCC 2352; 2370). Judah's wife then dies, and poor Tamar, probably concerned with being left vulnerable, tricks him by disguising herself as a harlot. Judah sleeps with her, and she bears him twins, which he is forced to acknowledge after she is falsely accused of harlotry (38:12-30).

All in all, a very odd reading in Genesis today, kind of shoehorned into the story of Joseph that began yesterday. We have our own debauchery today, of course, but even so.

The BIY Companion, Vol 1, has some good commentary on this:

In the Gospel of Matthew, we see that even Jesus' genealogy is marked by brokenness. Among the women mentioned, there is Tamar; Bathsheba, with whom David sinned; and Rahab, who was a prostitute. This reveals yet again that God can do incredible things when he is the Lord of our lives, even in our sin. God can always bring good out of evil. This does not make sinful choices beautiful or good - but God can make something beautiful out of what is broken. Nothing given to God is ever wasted. (p. 46)

II. Poor Job speaks about his past happiness, when he had his children around him (29:5), and he served as a local official (29:7). Yet in the next chapter, he lays out the great contrast in his present suffering where, "my heart is in turmoil, and is never still" (30:27). In the Ignatius Bible comments on this part where Job speaks to God:

30:19-31: Job addresses God directly. He appears to think that God is not only unfair, but even less compassionate than he himself was during his days as a civic judge (30:25-26). In the end, Job will confess to saying things that he did not fully understand (42:3). (p. 813)

III. We get so close to the end of chapter 3 in Proverbs, but of course the program has decided to snatch that away for some unfathomable reason. All good advice at least, in not telling your neighbor to come back for something when you have it right now, not to plan evil against your neighbor, not to quarrel with anyone who hasn't harmed you for no reason, not to be envious of violent men or do violence as they do, "for the perverse man is an abomination to the Lord" (3:32).

That's all for today!