RT Article
T1 Righting and Rewriting Genesis 38: Tamar and Judah in the Pseudepigrapha
JF Biblical theology bulletin
VO 45
IS 4
SP 195
OP 201
A1 Zucker, David J. 1942-
A1 Reiss, Moshe
A2 Reiss, Moshe
LA English
YR 2015
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1773474774
AB Genesis 38 is a troubling text. On the face of it, Tamar, a local Canaanite woman, becomes in short order the widow of Judah's two eldest sons. Judah's response is to leave Tamar as a widow, and not allow his third son to marry her. When Tamar, in order to become pregnant, ignores established sexual taboos, Judah thinks that his problem has been solved; he calls for her execution. When the true facts come to light, including his part in this incestuous affair, he admits that she is more in the right than he for his failure to resolve the matter. In the late Second Temple period and beyond, the authors of the Pseudepigrapha feel compelled to right the perception of the characters involved by rewriting this disconcerting narrative. In so doing, depending on the source, they exonerate Judah of the worst aspects of his perfidy, seek to shift the blame to Tamar herself, or praise Tamar as a virtuous woman.
K1 Pseudo-Philo
K1 Testament of Judah
K1 Jubilees
K1 Pseudepigrapha
K1 Genesis
K1 Judah
K1 Tamar
DO 10.1177/0146107915608592