Vagabond Diaries #22: Tamar
Today’s Vagabond Diary, is an excerpt from my recently published book for women, women’s groups and book clubs Dance Daughters of the Most High! Book 2. As you may have heard, it looks at seven largely underappreciated, misunderstood, and overlooked women in the Old Testament. This lady certainly fits those categories. Meet Tamar. This woman’s story is not widely publicized in Christian circles. There are certain reasons, but are they good ones?
You certainly won’t hear about her in children’s church or on ‘visitation’ Sunday. Honestly, it is a bit of an embarrassment to modern Christians. It feels more like modern reality TV than the high bar for behavior we expect in the lives of Biblical characters, especially the Jewish patriarchs.
To make a long story short, Judah slept with his daughter-in-law Tamar, the same Judah who was the famous forefather of King David and Jesus. Then, in the understatement of the ages, he declares,
“She is more righteous than I” (Gen 38:26),
How can we look our teenagers in the eyes and explain this one?
Now we see why most modern commentators want to keep the Tamar story at arms or football-field length. And yet, drum roll…Jewish scholars see Tamar in a very different light. To many, she is a hero of the faith. Let’s see what you think.
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