Family Ties

Genesis 38, where Judah behaves 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.