First part.
How Judah went to Odollam, took a wife and begat three sons.
It came to pass about the same time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and went to a man of Odollam, whose name was Hira. And Judah saw there the daughter of a Cananite man, whose name was Shuah; and he took her. And while he slept with her, she conceived, and bare a son, and called his name Ger. And she conceived, and bare a son, and called his name Onan. And she bare a son again, and called his name Shelah: and he was at Cheshib when she bare him.
(1) I have often reminded you that you should pay careful attention to the order of history in the account of the death of Isaac and how Joseph was sold. For Moses uses the figure called hysteron proteron after the manner of the other historians. At the end of the 35th chapter, v. 28, 29, he said: Since Isaac was a hundred and eighty years old, he died. Afterwards in the 37th Cap. V. 35. he says: "And his father" Isaac "wept for him."
(2) For the sake of the cause, this chapter must also be looked at diligently, and it must be noted that what is contained therein happened long before Isaac died, or Joseph was sold. For Isaac still lived until Joseph was raised up and set over Egypt, which was nearly thirteen years. And Judah went down to a man of Odollam, named Suah, and took the same man's daughter to wife, begat with her three sons; two of whom were slain while Isaac the grandfather was still living, and his brother Joseph also was still with the father fresh, healthy and free; only seven or eight years after this time Joseph was sold. Therefore everything that is written in this chapter preceded the death of Isaac; which can be clearly concluded and proven from the account of Jacob's years. And this order should always be kept in mind, as if it were written in a tablet, so that the reader will not be confused if he does not take good care of it.
003 And it seemeth that Judah went down from his brethren, which dwelt not in Hebron, but in Shechem, unto
where Jacob had come from Mesopotamia, and where he had pitched a tent. And I think that he did not stay longer than two years with his father, since he was still a young man; but left his father's house and his brothers, and went with his own belongings to the Odollamites, perhaps asked or invited by them. For one does not really know what else might have been the reason that he went there.
But it is probable that there must have been friendship and acquaintance between the same Gentiles and their guests, the Jews. And it is a certain sign of excellent politeness and friendliness that they were able to tolerate such foreign guests in their country, who built the fields with them, carried on trade and otherwise dealt with other ordinary works of this common life. It seems that they were not so rich and powerful in those days, as it is said above. The sins of the Amorites were not yet fulfilled, and they were still pious and hospitable, until they were corrupted because of great money and good things, and also because of excessive abundance. For this reason they are said to have been kind and good-willed to receive the Jews and to tolerate them, and they did this out of natural law without any written law. Such people were Aner and Mamre, the Amorites and Gentiles, Gen. 14, 13. And above, Cap. 20, 15, we also heard that Abimelech and others kindly sheltered the fathers and showed them respect.
(5) It may also have been because Judah was displeased that his brothers were so proud and tyrannical, especially Simeon and Levi, who had given themselves the glory and the privilege of being the firstborn, that he departed from them because he was a little more quiet and humble for his own part, and could not bear their pride and their wild and abominable ways.
(6) Lyra was greatly distressed why Judah had left his father's house and departed, and here he is leading the Jews' childish antics so that they will be able to
Nearly stained all the holy scripture, that the other brethren out of compassion for their father, seeing that he was almost consumed with pain and sorrow, which he had borne, began to be angry with Judah, and reproached him, because he had caused them to sell Joseph. For if he had not given them counsel, they would not have sold him. But with the reckoning of the years and the right order of history these fables are finely refuted. For Judah already had a wife and three sons before Joseph was taken to Egypt.
007 Now Shechem is quite far from Odollam. For they are cities that were not located in the same tribe. Shechem was situated in Ephraim, which was later called Neapolis. Odollam, however, was located toward the evening, where the tribe of Judah dwelt. And it seems as if he moved by special sending of God into the same country, which afterwards his descendants had.
008 And he lodged with a pious honest man, who was very kind to him, and dealt kindly with him; and with him he lodged for some time, I think, not as if he had been his servant, but as a stranger, tending his cattle at Odollam, the city of Judah; and there he saw a Canaanite's daughter, and took her to wife.
(9) But someone might doubt this: whether he would have asked his father for advice, both because of his parting and because he also wanted to marry in foreign places? And it seems that the words in the text almost read as if he had done this without asking his father for advice. For it is not thought of the father's authority that he took her to wife at the father's command or advice, as it is said afterwards that Judah gave a wife to his son Ger. Nor can it be proved that he took a Canaanite woman as a wife without his father's consent; or if such a thing were to be proved, it would not follow that, according to this exh.
empel may also do the same. For he himself kept a different and better order with his son Ger. And because he had favor with his father for and for, he will undoubtedly have obeyed his teaching and admonition with the utmost diligence. For we shall hereafter hear that the father of the other brethren did not command or trust his son Benjamin to any but Judah, and waited with great anxiety for his return from Egypt.
(10) And I do not suppose that he so departed and went away, that he never returned to his father after that; but doubtless he visited him from time to time, to see what he was doing, and how his father and grandfather Isaac were. And perhaps, when Joseph was sold, he also went to visit his brothers, or came home again to his father's house from his landlord, with whom he had stayed for several years. Unless we want to take it for granted that he alone had the pasture and his cattle at Odollam, and thus would have moved from time to time from one place to another, either to shear the sheep or otherwise for other reasons.
(11) There is also a question concerning the grammar of the word, namely, whether the word "Cananite" is a proper name and is to be understood for one of the same people of the Cananites; or whether it is a generic word, so that it means as much as a merchant. For it is often used in the Scriptures as such a generic word. As, in the Proverbs of Solomon on 31 Cap. V. 24: "She makes a skirt and sells it; a girdle she gives to the Cananite," that is, "to the merchant." Therefore, it is uncertain whether this man was a grocer or not. For there is nothing in it from which one would like to assume and understand this.
12) The word "Suah" is not the daughter's name, but the father's; but the woman's name is not expressly put, nor is it enumerated in the genealogy of Christ. But Thamar is famous and became a mother of Christ. The sons of Judah Have
Nor did they have to have the honor, even though their lineage was quite large. So Judah's wife conceived and gave birth to their first son, whom his father named Judah Ger. To the other two sons, Onan and Selah, the mother gave their names. The name Onan came from the pain and difficulty of childbirth, just as Rachel, overcome by the great pain of childbirth, named her son Benoni. To the third she gave a better name and called him Sela, because she gave birth to him a little easier and happier.
The last part of the text: "And he was at Chesib when she gave birth to him" was given by Jerome: When he was born, she ceased to give birth. For this is what interpreters tend to encounter, that they sometimes interpret a word that is a proper name as a generic word, so that proper names generally derive from generic words and may be understood in the same sense. Chesib is the name of a city in Judah, which is otherwise called Achsib, Micah 1:14, where the name of the city is referred to, indicating that the king of Israel will fail there; for the words of the prophet are: "The city of Achsib will fail with the kings of Israel" 2c. There was also another Achsib, situated in the tribe of Aeser, about midnight; but this one in Odollam belongs to the tribe of Judah, or rather to the tribe of Dan, about noon. Jerome follows Aquila, and has thus given it to be a generic word, which I do not like. For such liberty to speak by peculiar figures or ways, and to make up new interpretations, which are somewhat strange, is not pleasing to me; as this reads very hard: She has been in the lie, she has ceased to give birth. For so it reads in the Hebrew, if it is a generic word: It has been lie with her childbearing, or, the birth has missed her.
14 Therefore I understand that it is a name of a special place, which is often mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. For there were two cities that had this
Name had, as Jerome also says; and the same interpretation rhymes with the history. For Moses wants to prove what he indicated right at the beginning, namely, that Judah was separated from his brothers, because he did not live with his wife in Shechem, but left his parents and brothers and went down to a man from Odollam, where he had been a sojourner and a stranger, and there he moved from one place to another, herding cattle according to the opportunity of the pasture, where he could have it best. He lived in Achsib, in Thimnath, and in Odollam, all of which were cities in the tribe of Judah, or rather in the tribe of Dan. Simeon subsequently held a wedding at Timnath.
015 Now therefore Moses saith, Judah had no certain place where he dwelt, neither had his fathers: but while his brethren abode at Shechem with their father, he went about, and had much communion with Hira of Odollam, who was his good friend and father in law. And it seems that there were still some pious Cananites left there, who showed Judah much kindness. For if they had dealt unkindly with him, he would not have made a brother-in-law with them. And afterward, when they were slain in Shechem, they doubtless came to the aid of the sons of Jacob, to avenge the violence done to them by the Shechemites, and to protect Jacob, that he and his household might not be slain by the neighbors.
16 But whoever wants to keep the way Jerome has given and interpreted it in Latin, and wants to look for secret interpretations, may well do so: as if it should be indicated herewith that Judah's wife has now failed to give birth and that she has ceased to give birth. For Judah did not bear any more children for nine or twelve years after that, as we shall see hereafter.
017 Now it is diligently to be noted, that all things hitherto related were done before the death of Rachel and Deborah, before Benjamin was born, Bilhah was defiled, and Dinah was weakened. For Judah was not born of his brethren.
He went away in the second or third year, after his father Jacob had arrived in Shechem and had lived eight or nine years in good quiet rest. But in the eighth or ninth year, or almost at the same time, the many tribulations came as a storm, when Dinah was weakened, Rachel died, 2c., and finally Joseph was sold. But what Moses goes on to tell about Judah's marriage, and the death of his sons and his wife, all this happened before.
(18) After this also shall be considered the reckoning of the years of Jacob and Judah. For when you compare what is told in this chapter with the years of Judah's age, it will seem almost incredible, and that not everything could have happened in such a short time between Jacob's going down to Egypt and Judah's birth. For when Jacob was four and fourscore years old, he took Leah and Rachel to wife; and when he went down to Egypt, he was a hundred and thirty years old. But Judah was born in the fourth year after Jacob was given in marriage: so there remain almost two and forty years between Judah's birth and Jacob's going down to Egypt. In that short time Judah became a husband and also weakened his daughter-in-law. For when he took his wife, he was thought to be twenty years old.
19 Now let us also suppose that the three sons were born within two years, to whom the father gave the daughters of the Canaanites after they had grown up and reached their twentieth year. Soon after the sons died, Thamar remained a widow for a year. The next year, Judah, her father-in-law, committed incest with her and fathered two sons, Perez and Zerah, with his daughter-in-law. Now if you add up all these years, there are four and forty years, but not more than two and forty years between Judah's birth and Jacob's going down to Egypt. And yet this is still the other generation. For afterward in the 46th chapter are enumerated two
The sons of Judah's grandchildren, Hezron and Hamul, whom Perez begot before they went to Egypt, must also be given twenty years before he grows up and is fit for marriage and childbearing. And if these twenty years are added to the previous ones, it will make sixty years. This is such a time that far exceeds the common and true reckoning of years.
20 Therefore we conclude that at that time nature was much stronger and more possible in male and female than it is now, so that the married couple could have children in the twelfth and thirteenth years of their age. For we will not be able to balance the chronology with history in any other way. Therefore we must consider that Judah was not more than twelve years old when he became married, and that within two years after that his three sons were born; at which time he was fully fourteen years old. In addition there were the twelve years of his son Ger, to whom he gave Thamar in marriage at the same age, when Judah was four and twenty years old: in which year also Ger and Onan were slain, or the next year after that, namely, in the fifth and twentieth year. Therefore Tamar did not give birth until the sixth and twentieth year of Judah, and waited until Selah grew up, who was two years younger than his brother Ger, perhaps eleven or twelve years old. But we will assume that she sat in her house as a widow for a year, and then it will follow that Judah was seven and twenty years old when he weakened his daughter-in-law. For we must not give more time to the widowhood of Tamar, because at the same time the women feared barrenness, contempt and cursing, from which they were most anxious to escape. After that, twins were born from the incest in the eighth and twentieth year, one of which, Perez, also took a wife in the twelfth year, which was Judah's fortieth year;
and he begat Hezron and Hamul. The same must also be given two years, unless perhaps they were twins. Finally, when Judah was two and forty years old, he went down to Egypt. This calculation of the years seems to be the closest to the order of history, and whoever wants to, may look for it in our chronicle, in which it is calculated even more precisely and diligently.
(21) But this must be admitted, that the fathers begat children much sooner at that time, when nature was still stronger than it is now and in this last time of the world. Therefore, I truly believe that it was a special work of God that Judah could have been able to beget children at the same age. At the present time there are very few of them who are mature enough in the eighteenth year of their age to be married and to beget children. The patriarchs, however, became capable of this within a few years by virtue of their strength, so that they also begat children before they were quite manly.
22 Since this chapter contains nothing else but the story of how Judah fathered children and left his brothers and went away, and about the most shameful incest he committed with Tamar, his daughter-in-law, a common question arises here again: Why did God and the Holy Spirit have these so shameful and unspeakable things written and kept so that they would be told and read in the church? For it seems that he did not do right in this, that he passed over other greater things, and that these, which are not worthy to be brought to light and to be kept in memory, were nevertheless worthy of it. For who would believe that such things can be taught for the salvation or betterment of the church? He tells how Judah departed from his brothers, took a foreigner as his wife, and then defiled his daughter-in-law with incest. It would have been better if this had been covered up and forgotten for eternity.
23 The canonists and papists can easily dispose of this question, as those who are there
1168 n. in. err. Interpretation of I Genesis 38:1-5. w. n. i7is-i7is. 1169
Saying that the Old Testament is a book of intercourse and fornication of the Jews. But with this they show their lack of understanding, and prove sufficiently that they are swine and coarse asses, by speaking of such things of which they have no understanding and of which they know nothing at all, and with this they also revile the Holy Spirit, as if he did not know what should be written or held against the church and congregation of God. Jerome also answered this question. But it is not the only reason, which he mentions here, that Christ wanted his genealogy from the beginning to be praised in the holy scriptures; and because Thamar was his mother, her name should therefore be known to everyone: But over this we have here a great consolation, that the holy fathers and such great patriarchs' children, Judah and the others, are described as having been so full of weakness and great blemishes or sin, with which this poor nature is burdened, and that God wonderfully governed and guided them with the Holy Spirit, but in such a way that He decreed that their own innate inclination, that is, the sin and fruit of original sin, was stirred up and broke forth in them. For this is a terrible sin of both Judas and Thamar, which can by no means be excused, even if it may be somewhat reduced.
24. but such examples are told us for teaching and comfort, and also to strengthen our faith, that we should thereby consider the great grace and mercy of God, who not only saved the pious and righteous, as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but also the unrighteous, as Judah, Tamar, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, who were very great sinners. So that no one should be presumptuous or proud because of his righteousness or wisdom, and again no one should despair because of his sins.
(25) Now in the Holy Scriptures the most beautiful examples of the dear fathers are praised, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who are like lights of the whole world, and in the church or congregation of God, like stars, the sun.
or dawn, were perfect in faith, hope and love. At the same time, however, great terrible sinners are described in it, who are as wicked and shameful as those who were pious and righteous. Reuben does his father as great a wickedness as the righteousness of Abraham was. Thus the righteousness of the greatest saints is held up to us, and also the sin of those who were extremely wicked, who nevertheless came from one lineage and one blood.
(26) This is the preaching of repentance, and of faith, or forgiveness of sins, lest any man be presumptuous or proud for his righteousness' sake, and that they also which are fallen should not therefore despair. For Judas and the other fathers' infirmities and faults, even their great monstrous cases or sins, are also told. And in this way the poor hearts, who know themselves guilty of sins, are to be raised up and comforted, namely, that one says to a poor sinner: Do not despair, for God calls you to trust Him and to believe His promise; and He can also make you righteous, holy and blessed, as He made those poor sinners blessed. It is the same God who humbles the proud and exalts the lowly. He does not want us to rely on our righteousness or to despair in sins, but to trust in His grace and mercy alone.
Therefore, these examples of the church and congregation of God are very necessary. For where would we remain? And what hope could we have if Peter had not denied Christ, if the apostles had not all been angry with him, if Moses, Aaron and David had not also fallen? For this reason God wanted to comfort the poor sinners with these examples and thus saw: If you have fallen, turn back, the door of grace is open to you; but you, who know that you are not guilty of any sin, do not be presumptuous or proud because of this; but leave both of you and put your trust in my grace and mercy.
28 This is the right reason why such stories, so full of disgraceful
The most important things are the fruits that are mixed into the legends or histories of the holy patriarchs. Moses with special diligence told at the same time the most evil fruits with the best ones. As in the New Testament Judas is also among the apostles, as a great miraculous example, for the comfort of the church, so that the godly do not despair. But not that the ungodly should have an example to follow, but that the penitent should keep it, so that they do not abandon all hope in God's grace and mercy, as if they could not be saved.
29 The Holy Spirit did not intend to write these pieces as an example to live by, but as a consolation, not to confirm the freedom to sin for the willing, but to awaken hope and faith. For by it he commands and keeps us from the forgiveness of sins, which is strong enough; for by it he comforts us to raise up, awaken, and strengthen those who have fallen in the church. And this teaching is not found in the books of the pagans or papists; the Holy Spirit has taught it in the Bible book alone.
(30) Then we are shown how the most holy men were, that they were not of stone or of iron, nor of coarse blocks, without understanding, without flesh and blood, but were men and like unto us in all respects: and where they did any good, that they did it not of their own strength of our flesh, but by the gift of the Holy Ghost. Therefore it may well happen that the same thing will happen to us that happened to them while they were still living in the same flesh that we also have in us.
(31) Secondly, the Holy Spirit also saw the Messiah and the birth of the Son of God, which is the most prominent cause. For this fall had to happen also in the same line, in which the Son of God was to be born. The supreme patriarch Judah, a father of Christ, has committed this unspeakable incest, so that Christ might be born from such a
Flesh, which would be exceedingly sinful and stained with a very shameful sin. For Judah begot twins with his daughter-in-law, a harlot so defiled with incest, which is how the line of our Lord and Savior Christ came to be. Then Christ must become a sinner in his flesh, as shameful as he can ever become. The flesh of Christ comes from such a storehouse, stained with abominable blood; likewise the flesh of the Virgin Mary, His mother, also, and of all the offspring of Judah: that thereby the unspeakable counsel of God might be signified of His grace and mercy, in that He took the flesh, or human nature, from an unclean flesh, which had been abominably stained.
For the scholastics dispute whether Christ was born of sinful or pure flesh? Whether God retained from the beginning of the world a pure droplet of flesh, from which Christ was to be born? To this I now answer: That Christ was truly born of true and natural human flesh and blood, which in Adam was corrupted because of original sin, but so that it could be healed again. As we then, who are surrounded with sinful flesh, believe and hope that it will happen that on the day of our redemption the sinful flesh will be cleansed and separated from all weakness, death and shame. For sin and death are such afflictions as are separated from us, and from them we may yet be redeemed. Therefore, when it came to the virgin, or to the drop of the virgin's blood, it was fulfilled what the angel Luc. 1, 35. said: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. The Messiah was not born of the power of flesh and blood, as John 1:13 says: "Not of the blood, nor of the will of a man" 2c., but nevertheless he wanted to be born of our flesh and of the corrupted blood. But at the moment of the virgin conception, the Holy Spirit cleansed the sinful flesh.
and sanctified, and the poison of the devil and death, which is sin, wiped away. Although death still remains in the same flesh for our sake, the leaven of sin has been swept out, and has thus become the purest flesh, cleansed by the Holy Spirit, and thus united in One Person with the divine nature. Therefore, in Christ there is truly no human nature other than in us. And Christ is a Son of Adam, of his seed and of his flesh: but as I said, so that the Holy Spirit overshadowed, wrought, and cleansed it, that it might be sent to that most innocent conception and pure and holy birth, whereby we might be cleansed from sins and redeemed.
For this reason this is written for the sake of Christ, whom the Holy Spirit wanted to put as deep into sin as was ever possible. Therefore, he had to be stained with blood and born of such stained flesh.
Thirdly, it should be noted that the Holy Spirit wanted to indicate in this history that God had thus accepted and chosen the seed of Abraham, but that He would not reject the poor Gentiles according to the flesh. The Jews have no reason to boast that they alone are Abraham's seed. For after Isaac they are no longer Abraham's seed alone; for Rebekah did not come from Abraham, but from Nahor. So Leah and Rachel were Bethuel's children; there the seeds were mixed: the seed of the Gentiles is mixed with Abraham's seed. Likewise Thamar is a Canaanite woman.
35 Therefore Christ did not spurn this Canaanite mother, but wished to be born of the seed of the rejected people, lest the Jews should exalt themselves exceedingly, and boast of their blood. For they must confess that they are also Idumeans and Parthians; and that even according to the natural right the Gentiles of our Lord Jesus Christ are mother, brothers, cousins, mothers and sisters, least of all for the mothers' sake. For they all came from this Tamar, which is the mother of the whole tribe of Judah.
and the flesh of Perez is composed of the Canaanite children and Abraham's seed. Therefore, Israel, by necessity, must recognize the Gentiles for its blood friends, relatives and brothers, and the same for the sake of the mothers. For the mother also makes sisters, brothers and wives, no less than the father. Although the order of the genealogy is not based on the mothers and the wives are not counted among the descendants, they are also listed and these wives are expressly and especially remembered, namely, Tamar, Ruth, Rahab, Bathsheba. There the Gentiles come into the community of the Israelite people, and that they become their companions not only of religion and faith, but also of one flesh. For indeed male and female become one flesh. Therefore the Jews and Gentiles are also one flesh and born of one flesh.
In this way God wanted to dampen the pride and foolishness of the most hopeful people, the Jews, who have always been hostile to the Gentiles. For they will have to admit, even against their will, that Jews and Gentiles are also brothers naturally and according to the flesh; for they will not be able to reject this mother, Tamar, even though the paternity and genealogy are not derived from the mothers. Moab says of Ruth: This is my daughter, and a mother of the Messiah, therefore it follows that also the Messiah is my son. Canaan also said the same of Thamar. And finally Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph, are they not also born of an Egyptian mother? Therefore it follows that the royal tribe in Israel is Egyptian, and Egypt rules over the people of Israel, if not from the line of the fathers, nevertheless because of the blood relationship and the nature. In addition to this, doctors say that the mother gives the child more nourishment than the father, because she nourishes the child in her womb for ten months from her blood alone, and after that, when the blood is changed into milk, she suckles the child with it.
37 Therefore the Jews have no cause to boast, but to humble themselves.
and to recognize the maternal blood. For by father they are Israelites, but by mother they are Gentiles, Moabites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Cananites. And this is also what God wanted to indicate, that the Messiah would be a brother and a brother's son or cousin of both Jews and Gentiles, if not according to the paternal genealogy, then because of the maternal nature, so that there would be no difference between Jews and Gentiles, except that Moses subsequently separated the Jewish people from the Gentiles with special worship and political rule.
38 But this is written, that every man might know that the Messiah would gather both Jews and Gentiles into one and the same church, even as they are joined together by nature and blood. And that is why I thought that the word "Canaan" should be understood as a generic word. For Christ wanted to be born of the Canaanites, as a Gentile people, and in this way he wanted to make peace between Jews and Gentiles. For all things must be gathered together again in Christ and, as it were, brought into one order; for he is not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. We Gentiles actually came from Japheth, but Ham and Canaan were related to Shem by blood. Although we are now somewhat strangers, we also come to the fellowship and unity of Christ by the same right as the Assyrians and Egyptians came to it.
039 These things have I said against the vain boasting of the Jews of Abraham's seed. For the whole nation of Israel came from Leah and Rachel, which was not Abraham's seed; the tribe of Judah came from Tamar, and David himself came from Moab. For this reason the pride of the Jews is to be punished greatly, so that they despise and hate the Gentiles in a completely hostile manner, since they are their blood friends for the sake of Tamar, their mother, and also for the sake of others, whom we have listed before, through whom the blood of the Gentiles and the Jews has been mixed.
40 Now these are the reasons why the Holy Spirit did not want to pass over this history: First, for the comfort of those who have fallen, and of the penitent; then for the glory of the Gentiles. Although the mothers do not belong in the genealogical register, which honor belongs only to the fathers, nevertheless both father and mother have the same flesh and blood, and in the descendants the blood friendship with Perez and Judah is raised. Thamar is now no longer sister-in-law, but mother according to nature. And the mother is just as much the substance, blood and body of the child as the father.
41. The same, however, should be held against the disgraceful, unrighteous canonists, who consider such histories, which originated and were described by the Holy Spirit, to be disgraceful and despise them, and, in the meantime, hold them harshly above the godless laws of the popes concerning the impure celibacy or celibate state, so that they have so darkened the right chastity and the whole life of married couples that even many good, pious hearts have shied away from marriage as a godless state, and that the youth has no longer been educated in housekeeping and other good works that belong to it and are necessary. As a result, the poor consciences have been terribly entangled and many other innumerable disorders have ensued in matters concerning the domestic and world government, since the inheritance is often not distributed properly.
Therefore it is the word of the wicked Satan when they say that in Genesis alone is told and written of the intercourse of the Jews. For Satan, out of his great, bitter hatred of the human race, has at all times taken it upon himself to disfigure, defile and destroy this poor nature, because he saw that God would accept it and honor it with eternal life. This must grieve and annoy the devil. And we see that this poor human nature is subjected to the mockery and power of the devil by God's decree, but God has nevertheless begun to adorn it, and in the life to come will shower and crown it with greater glory. It
In this life, everyone should certainly think highly of child rearing and also desire it, as it is also desired by all kinds of animals. But among men there are many who despise it; this was caused by the pope and the devil. There is no farmer who would gladly have or tolerate a cow that is barren, but should not fertility be much more pleasant and desirable in the nature of man than in unreasonable animals? To this is added the great weakness and disorder in man, which has been brought in by sin. But wait, God will cleanse and redeem this poor flesh again, as He has already showered it with the greatest honor and glory, because of the unspeakable union of human nature with divine nature.
43 I say this so that no one will accuse the very holy patriarchs of shame, for we see how the holy women also desire children with such great desire, so that they have also almost become senseless, that they would like to have children, as was said above, Cap. 30, v. 1, is said of Rachel; for this alone was her unique and special adornment and glory. Solomon also counted the womb of a woman among the three things that cannot be satisfied, Prov. 30:16. For this was planted in her nature, and she was created for this purpose, that she should be fruitful and bear children. Therefore she cannot but desire such multiplication; as God Himself says Gen. 1:28: "Be fruitful and multiply." And a woman who does not give birth still desires without ceasing that she may bear children, and is never satisfied with them. She does not stop. With us, however, this order of nature has been changed because of evil custom and for the sake of the papal statutes, from which we have learned to despise the rule of men and the world. For this reason, these examples should be diligently pursued and again drawn out of the filth of the canonists, so that we can judge them correctly and see and understand the intention of the Holy Spirit in such stories.
V. 6, 7: And Judah gave unto his first son a wife, whose name was Tamar. But he was wicked in the sight of the LORD: therefore the LORD slew him.
44 What is told in this place about the marriage of Gers, followed after Joseph was sold, and after other tribulations more, so shortly before have been told. But above, when the marriage of Judah is described, Moses does not remember the paternal authority. But I have no doubt that he entered this state with the will and advice of his father Jacob. But here is a clear text that Judah himself gave his son a wife; and I believe that this happened when his son Ger was twelve years old and Isaac was still alive, and when Joseph had already been sold and taken to Egypt.
45 The woman's name was Thamar, but whose daughter she was is not known. We have the assumption that she was a Cananite, as Judah's wife was. But that she is thus remembered is highly necessary, and this chapter is written for the sake of Thamar alone; for she is a mother of our Savior, the Son of God, for whose sake all the holy Scriptures were given, that he might be known and glorified. So then, I say, the Messiah came from this Tamar and was born, even though through fornication and incest. We are to look for him in this book and learn to recognize him; and although it is uncertain whether she was a Cananite or an Amorite (for the name of her people, from whom she came, is not so clearly expressed), she undoubtedly belonged to Canaan.
(46) Christ therefore became partaker of the blood of the Canaanites, and thus had in himself a body composed of the seed of Abraham and Ham, or Canaan, so that he would soon testify in the beginning that he did not want to reject the Gentiles, whom he had taken in, and had made worthy to receive into his own person. He did indeed punish the wicked atrociously, as is shown by the examples of the ungodly Canaanites and Sodomites, whom he drove out or even destroyed; just as he did not spare the Jews, as the natural branches, so that he should not also reject them.
have rejected. And the glory of the blood, whether of the fathers among the Jews, or of the mothers among the Cananites, has been of no use to them at all; for Christ does not want to have children of the flesh. He alone is a child of the flesh without all sin of the flesh; of all the others this saying remains firm, John 1:13: "Who are not born of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh" 2c. So now both Jews and Cananites may boast of the flesh, that sin is taken away and they are cleansed from it; just as the Son of God therefore took human nature upon Himself, so that He was completely clean from all sin, so that He thereby cleansed our blood and flesh, both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews. There now stands the dear Thamar; and Christ is the cousin of the Jews, not brother-in-law, but kinsman. Judah, when he gave a wife to his son and became a grandfather or father-in-law, was four and twenty years old.
(47) Moses added another thing, that Ger was evil in the sight of the LORD, and therefore the LORD slew him. But why did he not spare this holy seed, as the son of the patriarch Judah? To this I answer thus: The children of the flesh are not counted for seed, but of the Spirit, Rom. 9, 8. The Holy Spirit must come to purify the flesh, otherwise the fleshly children of Abraham as well as the Gentiles will be rejected and killed. Now follows in the text:
V. 8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your brother's wife and take her in marriage, so that you may raise up your brother's seed.
48 The Hebrew word, which is placed in this place, is not found anywhere else, except in Deut. 25:5, where it is commanded that a brother shall take his dead brother's wife in marriage 2c. This was not the law of Moses, but of the fathers before the law of Moses; from this it is clear that Moses collected many ceremonies and statutes that the holy fathers had previously established or instituted. Of the laws this was one, so still preserved or received and from the high patriarchs always came from one to the other. But it is
This law has truly been a heavy and vexatious one beyond measure, for it compels you to take your brother's wife in marriage, even against your will, if he has died without an heir, even though you have neither desire nor love for her, since it is considered impossible to love with chaste and conjugal love one whom you yourself have neither chosen nor desired, unless it is out of a violent passion for fornication. But how if she were barren, like the one reported in Matt. 22:24 ff. is reported? Therefore, I say, this was a very hard and severe law. But in these laws of outward ceremonies one must also look to Christ, whom one must seek in them.
49. but when in the 5th book of Moses Cap. 25, v. 5, that a brother should raise up seed for his dead brother, polygamy is included, that is, that one may have more than one wife, and the same is confirmed by Moses. And this was also the reason why Solomon had so many wives, some of whom will certainly have been related to him by blood or affinity, and if there was a poor female in the family, she will have kept herself to the king as to her blood friend or brother-in-law. Then they have joined themselves to the cousin, who will have fed many, and yet no doubt some have been his concubines besides the queen for the sake of this law: which truly has been a vexatious and unpleasant thing, namely, to be burdened or weighed down with so many wives or concubines, to whom you held neither desire nor love.
50 The word jabam means to make such a marriage alliance, as a blood friend is forced by law to take the widow, whom his deceased brother left without children, in marriage; or where no brother was left, according to the same law the other blood friends were obliged to do so. But who instituted this law in the first place, or where it came from, I do not know. Judah commanded his son Onan to take his brother's wife in marriage, which he reluctantly accepted.
and it seems as if he dealt with the woman all the more unkindly because of that, or since he was forced to take her, he refused to sleep with her. For he could not bear this annoying law.
51 Therefore Thamar, who was very fertile by nature, did not conceive by these two, Ger and Onan, and perhaps other sins were added to them. How then such an end of both indicates that their wickedness was very great; for the Lord killed them both in one year. We would like to say that the one was killed in the beginning of the other year, when he was twelve years old and was forced by his father to marry Thamar.
52. it has been truly a marvelous freedom, so the women had with it, that they may have free one after the other all brothers or relatives of their previous husbands, and where the woman has been barren, it has been truly a very unpleasant and heavy burden. And that is right, to force the evil desire, which is forced, because it does not want, and if it is thus forced, it flees nevertheless and turns away from those, so it was forced on her without her will. Therefore, I believe that this law will have been kept only by the pious and godly; but the wicked and ungodly will have despised and transgressed it altogether. It is written in the history of Ruth Cap. 4, v. 1. ff., how he who was her nearest kinsman, when he was to take her as his wife on account of the kinship, preferred to let the field or the piece of land go, and to take off his shoe, and to become a barefoot monk, and to give it to another (which was the punishment of those who transgressed the same law), before he would bear such servitude. This would truly be a terrible discipline against evil lusts, if this law should also bind us. For we learn how much trouble and work the love of spouses, so initially voluntary and very heated, tends to entail, since Satan often misleads the hearts and incites them to much unreasonable hatred, strife and quarreling.
053 Judah therefore saith unto Onan, Lay thee with thy brother's wife, and take her in marriage, (for so much is the meaning of the Hebrew word, not merely to be married, but to take thee to be his blood-friend, and to take her to wife,) "that thou mayest raise up thy brother's seed. This has been the final opinion of this law, and the brothers or otherwise the relatives, if still alive, have had to take care of this, so that the deceased brother's name would not be erased or extinguished in the country. Because in the people Israel everyone must leave children. But now follows in the text a terrible and shameful deed of the most wicked boy Onan.
V. 9, 10: But Onan, knowing that the seed should not be his when he lay with his brother's wife, let it fall to the ground, and destroyed it, lest he should give seed to his brother. Then the LORD was displeased with what he did, and he killed him.
This must have been a wantonly desperate knave, for this is a shameful sin, even more heinous than incest or adultery. We call it a sin of the soft, yes, also probably a sodomitic sin. For he lay with her, made her asleep, and when it came to the seed, he poured it on the ground, and corrupted it, lest the woman should conceive. Truly, at that time one should follow the order of nature, created by God for birth. Therefore, I say, it has been the most shameful sin to lure the seed and provoke the woman with it, and yet deprive her of it soon at the same moment. He was inflamed by evil envy and dislike, therefore he did not want to suffer that he should be forced to bear this unpleasant servitude. For this reason he was killed by God. It is an evil deed, therefore God has punished him.
55 And this is also what I said, that those who kept this law must have been especially pious. For it is a great burden to serve another, to raise up heirs, and to keep his offspring, to beget other men's children, to bring them up, and to keep them alive.
and feed them, leave them the inheritance, and all this under the name of the deceased brother. The world knows nothing of such love. It is an annoying thing to be the guardians of the orphans, to govern and provide for them; which in our lines is done according to imperial law. Help God! How many complaints and how great disloyalty are found in all the world! For it is quite difficult and an excellent work of love to apply faithfulness and diligence there, so that one may preserve others' goods and keep them. Therefore, this law contains great ardent love, which this prankster did not want to practice or prove, but would rather stain himself with such shameful sin than to raise up his brother's seed. Now Judah has also sinned, so a terrible punishment will soon follow.
Second part.
Of Thamar, and of Judah's incest with Thamar.
V. 11 Then Judah said to Tamar his wife, "Remain a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up. For he thought that he too might die like his brothers.
56 In this place the scribes dispute who might have been the father of Tamar, and the Jews, after their own fashion, have pleasure in buffoonery and fables, and say that she was the daughter of the priest's sem, and they want to conclude from this that Judah afterwards ordered her to be brought forth, that she would be burned for adultery, therefore that the priests' daughters, when they have given birth, are used to be burned.
(57) But I will leave off these antics, for they can be despised as easily as they have been invented. Shem was then fifty years old when he died, but Ger and Onan were twelve years old: Judah would not have allowed them to free Tamar, who was fifty years old. Therefore she was a Cananite like
Rahab, and how Ruth was born a Moabitess of the heathen flower.
Now this was also a very hard and strict law, that if the daughters were not fertile or their husbands died, they were easily cast out and returned to their parents. Therefore, it was a difficult thing to marry the daughters. But other peoples also have other laws. This or other such laws do not bind us at all. Judah, however, thinks that he has justly denied his daughter-in-law the third son, for otherwise he would not have refused to give him to her in this way, and yet he sins by being so strict about it. And this was a very cold and loose excuse, that he said: "Perhaps the third son would also die" and I would therefore have to remain without children, since my wife also died to me. But it will become clear from the following text that he gave his son Selah another wife, and thus despised Thamar and left her. For he sent her again to her father's house, and so despised and forsook her. He did not keep this law, which commanded that a brother should take his dead brother's wife in marriage 2c. For Moses will say in v. 14 that Shelah had grown up, and that Tamar had not been entrusted to him.
Therefore, this Thamar was a poor, miserable woman, and it seems that everywhere else among the Jewish people the female sex was almost subservient and despised, and that they had to support themselves out of great need with their work, as with spinning and weaving. For it also seems to have happened with Thamar that she maintained herself at home with her father in the female way, as, with spinning and washing, quite difficult and miserable.
(60) And above, chap. 31, we have heard that Laban also increased his food and became rich from the work of his daughters Rachel and Leah. Likewise it is written in Isa. 4:1: "Seven women shall take hold of one man at that time, saying: We will feed and clothe ourselves; let us only be called by thy name.
called." And that was also a hard law. Now they are wonderful, splendid ladies. But among the heathen, and according to our custom, this law is not to be kept, nor is it to be held up as an example to be followed; but we are to follow and obey our rights and laws, and the present authorities, provided the worldly ordinances are not in themselves ungodly and contrary to the word of God. We shall not see what statutes and ordinances the Syrians or Philistines had; for every country keeps its own laws and customs, as it is said in the German proverb: So many a country, so many customs.
So Thamar went and stayed in her father's house.
All of this happened within three years. Ger and Onan died almost in one year, in which they were married. Thamar waited for the third to grow up, and in the meantime she remained a widow. Judah, however, saw through the fingers, and thus left the written law and gave his son another (for we may conclude from this); so that Thamar could have had no hope at all. And even though she had a good right to demand the third son according to the law, she will still have thought: I am a Cananite, despised, rejected and condemned. What should I do?
(v. 12) And it came to pass, when the days were expired, that the daughter of Shuah, Judah's wife, died. And when Judah had mourned, he went up to shear his sheep at Timnath, with Hira his shepherd, of Odollam.
022 It is said above, that the time of these many days shall not make more than one year together; for otherwise the other time would not be sufficient to beget the children and the children's children of Judah, who, when he had weakened his daughter in law, was seven and twenty years old, and in the eighth and twentieth year shall give birth to Thamar; whom Thamar's sons shall also beget children in the years that remain, until the two and twentieth year.
fortieth year. Let this be a year of these many days, of which it is said in the text that Judah's wife died in it after his two sons were killed. But if you count or reckon these days, not from the time that Tamar was rejected, but from the time that Judah was married, thirteen years will be added to them; and the same year will be ascribed to Tamar's widowhood.
63 Now Judah also was a widower, though not more than half a year, because his wife died after the rejection of Tamar and after the death of his two sons, Ger and Onan. It was also decreed in the law that they had to suffer for several months. And this is a very praiseworthy custom among all peoples, to mourn the dead, especially if they are relatives or parents. Moses did not remember that Judah had married when he was still of perfect and possible age, that is, seven and twenty years old. Therefore he abstained from marriage, but nevertheless did not live without wives. For thus the lives of the fathers must be described, that they might be like us in all respects according to the flesh, after sin and death, that the immeasurable and inexpressible love and mercy of God, that he might love us, might be glorified.
64 Moses said, "Judah should rejoice and go out with its head held high to shear its sheep. For these days were kept yearly as holidays, on which they also lived a little more gloriously and deliciously with food and drink, as 1 Sam. 25:2 ff. says of Nabal, that he prepared a feast for his shearers, where David also sent his young men 2c. As also happens with us in the time of harvest. For those who are tired from work and heat need food and drink. But these are teachings of good outward and civil manners.
But the cattle, as said above, Cap. 37, 13, has not been to Shechem with the father, although he will at times
but at Odollam, which was near Thimnath. Achsib was in the tribe of Judah, in the valley of the land of Judah. For therefore it is also said of Samson that he went down. And Lyra interprets it thus, that it went downhill from Jerusalem to Thimnath and again from the sea to Jerusalem it went uphill.
(66) I have interpreted the Hebrew word reeh into German, shepherds, because of which word the Hebrews quarrel fiercely, and so they plague us. For they say it means a friend, or one who is our neighbor, yet not our blood friend. As it is rightly given and interpreted in the Gospel, Matt. 22:39: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Jerome deals with this diligently and says that it is called shepherd, if one writes it with the little dot, which the Hebrews call cholem, thus roeh. But if one reads real, then it is to be interpreted that it means a friend. And he himself gave it in Latin, pastor seu opilio, that is, shepherd or shepherd. I will command it to the Hebrews. It seems as if it originally came from the Hebrew word reell, and it reminds of this meaning when it says in the beginning of this chapter that Judah stayed with a man from Odollam, who was an honest pious citizen and who gave Judah shelter. But it seems that Judah was a little higher than him. For Judah sent the goat through him, as through his servant. Therefore, I think that it was not his friend or neighbor, but he who was a little lower than he, who held Judah in honor. But I do not want to consider any of these opinions so certain, I would rather leave it undecided, as Jerome does, and leave it to the Hebraists to judge. Both interpretations are appropriate, although I am more inclined to the one, if the word real is understood to mean a shepherd. For so was the life of the patriarchs Isaac, Jacob and Judah, as of the peoples called nomads, who had no permanent place, but came from one place to another.
They wandered from one place to another, as their fathers did and as the shepherds and oxen drivers do in our day. So they also wandered in the wilderness, seeking new pastures daily, renting meadows and fields, and other places that were convenient for their cattle and flocks. Therefore David says in the 39th Psalm, v. 13: "I am both your pilgrim and your citizen, as are all my fathers. And so Jacob's sons were also scattered from time to time through various places and families for the sake of their marriage and affinity, which they had made; for they had nothing of their own in the land. Now follows in the text:
V.13. 14. And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy brother goeth up to Thimnath to shear his sheep. Then she put off the widow's garments which she had on, and covered herself with a mantle, and sat down at the door of the way to Thimnath: for she saw that Shelah was grown, and that she was not given to him to wife.
(67) Judah did wrong in not giving his daughter-in-law Tamar to his son as a wife according to the law, as he himself will confess later. But now she also sins in the same way. The Hebrew word, zaiph, is also found in the story of Rebekah, Cap. 24, v. 65, who came from Mesopotamia, and when she saw Isaac walking in the field, the text says that she took the zaiph, that is, the cloak, and covered herself with it to show reverence and discipline. For these were the customs of this people, that a woman was clothed differently from a virgin, and a widow also differently, which is a sign that they must have been fine chaste people, who were well brought up, before they went out of their way and fell into all kinds of sin.
68 But I think that this word must mean the great veil that women use to cover not only the hair, but also the whole head down to the armpits: it is a long veil, or a veil with a long line.
1188 L. ix, iso. wi. Interpretation of 1
large cover around the head. We will hear later that also the men had their own cover, so that they covered the whole head. As in the colleges were the student caps, so that they also covered the whole head and armpits. Such a covering, I believe, was also common among the Chaldeans; as Ezk. 23, 15. is told that the princes of the Chaldeans came with pointed, colorful hats on their heads 2c. They will have been large wide caps. So both men and women had their special ornaments to cover their heads up to the armpits. And in our times, in some places in Germany, it is also customary to wear several covers or caps, so that both neck and mouth are covered, so that only the eyes can be seen.
(69) This was not an adornment for widows, but for other matrons who did not want to wear mourning garments, but joyful and festive garments. So Thamar took off her mourning clothes and put on the mantle (in Hebrew? zaiph), and not only covered her head with a proper and honest veil for matrons, but also adorned her whole body beautifully and honestly. I hear that it is also common among the Turks that the women cover both the head and the whole body in this way. And there is a tale of one who was a prisoner in Turkey, in which he testifies that he never saw a housemother talking to her husband with her head or face uncovered. The Greek word is theristrum, which they interpret to mean a summer garment that is useful and comfortable for reapers in the harvest.
(70) Now when Tamar came forth adorned and adorned to provoke or entice Judah, Moses says that she sat down at the door (in Latin: in ostio oculorum), that is, on the sheath, which is a peculiar figure or way of speaking in the Hebrew language and not at all common in Latin, and reads as if one would say in Latin: in janua vel foribus duorum oculorum. For it is the dual,
The first is that in Latin it should be expressed as follows: us, via sinistri oculi, altera dextri, in German: one way of the left eye, the other of the right eye. Therefore, on the crossroads, the eyes tend to be directed on two sides, namely, to the right and to the left. The others have given it in Latin: in divisione fontium, at the division of the sources. Jerome, however, interpreted it in Latin: in bivio sive in compito, that is, on the crossroads, where one who travels over land must diligently watch which way he wants to go.
(71) So Thamar sat on the sheath, but in such a way that she was most inclined and went on the way that went to Thimnath. But this is her intention, that she wanted to deceive her father-in-law. Which was truly daring and dangerous enough, and not without great sin. For this reason, Thamar was a foolish and wicked woman, whom God so defiantly tempted.
(72) And it seems that she was not driven by fornication to do this. For the reason is clearly stated in the text, namely, how she saw that she was despised, and that she did not marry Judah's third son, Sela, which was due to her by right and according to the law. For this law was kept most strictly, namely, to raise up heirs to the deceased brother and to preserve the descendants, and that this must be done through the brother or else one of the closest friends. But whether the Gentiles were also bound by the same law is uncertain. The fathers kept it honestly and very strictly; for that is why Judah so earnestly commanded his son Onan to lie down with Tamar, who was his deceased brother's widow, and take her in marriage.
73 But when Tamar saw that she lacked what she had hoped for, and that she could not have the third son in marriage, she made this cunning plot, not as if the heat of fornication had tempted or driven her to it (for otherwise she might well have attached herself to another), but to carry out her right. For she has the
There is no doubt that they had the most just cause to be angry and to demand the third son as a husband. For the betrothal was not only de praesenti, as they were wont to call it, that they vowed such to each other themselves, but also the consent of the parents had come to it. For God's law commands that Sela be this Thamar's bridegroom by virtue of divine right, and such a command is much stronger than where the parents, or even the consent of the bridegroom and the bride would have been; for they are both compelled to it as by God. Therefore, Thamar has a glorious cause to desire Sela in marriage, for he was her bridegroom, and was guilty because of the commandment of God that he should have taken her in marriage.
(74) This law, I say, though very sharp and severe, has been strictly kept by others, and according to the same law Sela is the husband, and Thamar the wife, that they should not be divorced, according to the rule of Matt. 19:6: "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. She kept the same commandment and boasted of it in her heart. This Sela, she will have said, is my husband, I am his wife and am the right matron in this house, I belong to the house; why then should I suffer that he should be taken from me or be deprived of me? Judah will have provided the match, sins against this law, and wants to divorce, which is thus joined together, gives his son another, despises and rejects this one.
(75) Therefore Thamar rages and is not angry without a cause. Although she acts foolishly, she has felt more anger in her heart than lust; for she thinks: "Behold, I am now despised and rejected without any cause, and I will have to bear this disgrace forever, because I was the rightful wife according to the law, but I was rejected by my father-in-law without any fault on my part, and because I did not forfeit this with any sin. And so I will now be deprived of the fruit of my womb, and there is no hope that I could otherwise be married, but will spend my whole life in miserable pain.
I will have to spend the rest of my life complaining that I will be abandoned and despised forever. Therefore she tries as hard as she can and tries to deceive Judah. And I will believe that if she had been able to deceive Shelah herself, she would have done so with all her diligence. The law made her courageous, even though she should have shied away from it because of her blood, for it is a blood shame; but out of anger and impatience that she had to bear such shame and scorn, she dared to commit such an abominable deed, which was by no means befitting her.
(76) But such grave sins of the saints are told so widely and in so many words for our comfort, that we may know that the patriarchs and holy matrons were like us, who sometimes did great high things, which we cannot understand and follow; as some of them are told Heb. 11:7 ff. But sometimes they also did foolish and blasphemous things, even the most horrible sins, so that God alone might be praised and glorified in our works, both good and evil: in good things, which he himself did in us; but in evil things, which he forgave us out of grace and mercy.
(77) And Judah and Tamar became great sinners, not that God told them to do so, but that He made it happen and wrote it down, holding it up to His church as an example and a consolation. Thamar cannot excuse herself, but she has overcome her impatience and the shame that she should remain lonely and barren. For she has been completely inflamed with great desire and eagerness to beget children and heirs, and wants to become a mother in the house where the law has assigned and given her the right of motherhood. She wants to have it, should she also get it from the father-in-law himself.
This is a woman's impatience, so that she sins greatly against the laws in which all men are commanded to be chaste and modest, and it cannot be denied that this sin should not have been an incest. For since she could not have become a mother of the son or next of kin
Blood friends, she provokes and moves the father-in-law himself to have slept with her; which is dishonest and lewd enough.
79 Thus one sin brings another: the sin of Judah brings with it the sin and shameful incest of Tamar, and the same thing happens as they say: Nulla calamitas sola: No misfortune comes alone. For the poor woman lets herself overcome the contempt and disgrace, because she sees that Selah, as Moses says, had become great, and she is rejected, because she was not given to him as a wife. I think that Judah had done this secretly, and that Thamar had not been publicly rejected in court and given to another wife, but that she had nevertheless suspected and noticed this; for hardly a year had passed since the death of Judah's wife; as the text does not speak of years, but only of days; although otherwise the Scriptures tend to understand years when they speak of days. Since her previous husband, the other son of Judah, died, Sela was eleven years old, and Thamar could have waited another year for him to become old enough to marry. But she sees that there is no hope at all that she will get him; therefore she is now driven and moved to commit this great sin because of the disgrace and that by divine right she should have been the housemother in the house. Then she thinks: I also want to do something that should be called done.
V. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face.
80 In this place it is asked, How was it that Judah did not know Tamar his daughter in law, whom he should have known least of all by her eyes, which were open and unveiled, and also by her voice? for he talked with her, and was well acquainted with her before, and was his companion two years, when she was the wife of his two sons, Ger and Onan, since he heard their language daily, and could easily distinguish it from others? For there is such a great difference of voices that even the little birds distinguish their mothers from their mothers.
by the voice. Therefore it is a strange thing that Judah did not become aware of all this. What then was the cause? Answer: When a man is particularly anxious about something, he has neither sense nor thought. For he that is so earnestly intent on one thing sees or hears not at all what else comes before his eyes or ears; as may be seen in the daily experience of this life, and it is commonly said thus: Pluribus intentus minor est ad singula sensus, that is, When one is intent on many things, he cannot wait so well for any one in particular. When I hear one word and diligently attend to it, my mind is in my ears, and cannot be so much concerned with what otherwise comes before my eyes. So also, if my mind is occupied by one of the other external senses, whichever it may be, its effect in the others is weaker. Therefore Judah is completely of the opinion that a whore is sitting there, and because this alone is in his mind and before his eyes, he has been able to pay attention neither to the voice nor to the eyes of the woman. But if someone is not satisfied with such an answer to this question, he may think that it was a miracle, or that Judah was blinded either by God or by the devil, that he neither saw nor heard.
V. 16-18. And made his way to her by the way, and said, Dear, let me lie with thee. For he knew not that she was his cord. And she answered, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest lie with me? He said: I will send thee a kid of the flock. And she said, Give me a pledge, till thou send me. And he said, What pledge wilt thou that I give thee? And she said, Thy ring, and thy cord, and thy staff, which thou hast in thine hand. So he gave it to her, and lay with her; and she conceived by him.
(81) According to this account, it seems that Judah may have been accustomed to fornication and whoredom, as if he had also been burdened with vice before. For how is it possible that Tamar should have made this consolation to herself in her heart?
that Judah might be deceived under the appearance that she was a harlot, when she had not known that he had dealt in it, and had indulged in improper mingling?
82) And why did Judah not go straight to the flock, having resolved in his heart to do only this one thing, to shear the sheep, but left them, and suddenly, seeing the harlot, was inflamed with evil desire? How does he come to this so suddenly? But we do not want to have such suspicions, so we would rather conclude: Thamar thought Judah was a good, pious man, and only wanted to see if she could get her due rights in this way, since she had often tried in vain. It seems as if she had made various attempts and had been asked several times by her father, her brothers-in-law, the sons of Jacob, and her blood friends whether she could obtain something from her father-in-law with good will; but it was all in vain. Therefore, she now attacks the matter in a different way, not that she suspected him of fornication, but that she would like to get her way, no matter what.
(83) But if anyone thinks that this suspicion was justly laid on Judah, I will not excuse him. For it is nevertheless no small sign of recklessness to feel such shameful heat so soon, as if he had been very inclined to it by nature and his way of life. But no matter what, Thamar thought that she would try everything she could to the utmost, because otherwise she would have missed all the other attempts. However, she could not put off herself how this attempt would turn out or what the outcome would be, nor could she rely on divine government. For she could not call upon God for help, just as Judah did not pray; for the Holy Spirit does not provoke or drive anyone to fornication or incest: and where one lies in sin, no prayer can be right. Therefore we conclude that they were both sinners and guilty;
even though their sin was subsequently forgiven and remitted.
(84) But Judah prayed that he might go in unto Tamar, as the scripture saith, that is, to lie with her; and it was not added in what place they committed the incest, because Moses saith, as they sat openly by the way, that they saw them that passed by. I do not think that they were lying together in public in front of the people after the manner of the philosophers, so called Cynics, but may have gone into a house stone or cave, or into the next forest. And there she became pregnant through the shameful incest, and the flesh came out of the loins of Judah, from which Christ was to be born, and thus, stained with sins, has always been reproduced until the conception of Christ.
This is how our Lord God deals with our Savior. He allows Him to be conceived in such a shameful blood disgrace, so that He may take true flesh to Himself, just as our flesh is also conceived and nourished in sins. But afterwards, when the time came for him to receive our flesh in the virgin body of his mother, it was cleansed and sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit, as the words of the angel read, Luc. 1:35, when he said to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you," 2c.; and yet in truth it was stained flesh from Judah and Tamar.
For this reason, I say, all this has been described for Christ's sake, so that it might be known that he would indeed be born of sinful flesh, yet without sin. Therefore, what David says of himself in the 51st Psalm v. 7: "Behold, I am conceived in sins," the same is also said of Christ's flesh, which was not yet accepted, nor yet cleansed, but as it was in the body of Tamar: but afterward he accepted it, when it was cleansed, that he might bear the punishment of sins for us in his body.
87. But Moses also continues to tell what Judah gave Thamar for a pledge, until he
would send her the promised goat, namely, a petschier ring, its string and staff. The Hebrew word pathil means a thread. In the plural pethilecha, as it is set in this place, panniculus tuus contortus ex filis factus, a woven, knitted cloth, and has been a garment so the men used to cover the head with it. It was not a mourning garment. For Moses said before how Judah mourned and was comforted over the death of his wife. For this reason he has now again clothed himself gloriously. And I think it must have been a plaited linen cloth to cover his head, according to the common usage of the same people. For the Hebrews interpret it to be a double and plaited cloth, as Luc. 16, 19. is said of the rich man, that he clothed himself with purple and fine linen: which actually was a clothing of the head and neck. And now the Turks also need such clothing. Likewise it is also written in Ap. 19, 12. is written about Paul that they also kept sweatcloths and coils of his skin over the sick, which were clothes so that he could cover his head and neck. So Thamar asked Judah to give her the woven linen cloth, in Hebrew pethilecha, which covered both the head and the neck, as in Greece they cover both. We have hats or berets that we use. This place will not have been far from Thimnath, therefore he thought he would soon be able to claim his pledge again, as, the ring, the cloth, so that it covers the head, and the staff, so especially belong to the men, Arrhabo is a Greek word, which afterwards the Latins also used, but it came without doubt from the Hebrews, who in their language call a pledge erabon.
In addition to this, one can see here what kind of life the people led at that time. There was a very good and beautiful peace in the whole country, therefore they did not use any weapon or sword, and this patriarch did not carry any bag, money or weapon, since it would have been fitting that such an excellent man, who was such a
The man, who had to govern a large household, should have been equipped with food, at least with one or two florins. But he carries nothing more with him, but his ring, the staff with the dress. O what a fine blessed peace that is! Therefore he cannot give the woman any money, but promises her a he-goat. At the same time, the merchants and traders of our time were not the same, but they exchanged goods, gave cattle for grain, bread and other necessities.
89 Thamar did not ask for money or a pledge, but wanted to have semen. She wants to be a mother, and sets out, goes away from there, does not wait for the goat, which was promised to her, but keeps the pledge; so that they want to indicate, as it seems, that they do not yet want to be satisfied with the coitus. And I wonder how she could have known that she was pregnant. She was a wonderful woman, and it seems that she wanted to try this even more, where she lacked this, which she had hoped for. But she tried it to the utmost and succeeded. For it was a great honor among the people, where the women were fruitful, for the sake of the blessing and law of God. With us it is not greatly respected, therefore we cannot understand such histories. Among them, nothing was more shameful than the celibate life and barrenness, because the female sex was created for childbirth and child rearing. We do have a desire and love for fertility in cattle, so that our property and food may be increased, and cattle that are barren and do not bear young are soon led to the slaughter; but in the married state, no attention is paid to this.
The pagans also made a very fine law (they may have taken it from the fathers, or followed nature in it), as can be seen from the comedy: by virtue of it, they were forced to marry their closest blood friends, or to give them the bride's dowry or dowry.
91 Therefore, the disdain for the marriage
The first thing is to punish the state, especially when people are involved in unseemly mingling. If you can live chastely, it is good: if not, it is much better and more honest to become married than to indulge in unseemly lust. And even though you will not have much good, you will still be able to live chastely and modestly in the fear of God. So such customs and laws have been useful and beneficial in common regimes, for which it is very useful that the cities be full of children and young people. And if now such order and law were also customary and confirmed in our common life, as the Jewish people had been bound to it, then there would also be less disgrace and fornication. But the very great wantonness that is now being practiced is going violently through the whole world and is disfiguring human nature with frightful aversions. People who are inclined to pleasure and good days are afraid of the work and toil that the married state brings; or, if they do enter it, they look to it rather as a remedy for fornication than as a means of desiring to beget children in it. And these are the proper fruits of the celibate state of the papists.
The holy fathers took wives for the desire and love of begetting children, whom they also raised with great diligence, and governed their family with great labor. That was their own thing. We have become priests, we have desired to lead a priestly life, we have turned to idleness, gluttony and other pleasures of this life, and we have put aside care and housework. The popery still clings to us very much, and this damage and evil cannot be repaid with any help or in any way, which the celibate life of the papists has brought to this holy state, which God Himself has instituted. For there is no help for it, if it comes so far that one makes habits out of public vices, only to sin freely without all shyness, as Seneca says; as it also happens with us, who should seek and understand the right price of the married state from the holy scripture. For the
People who are corrupted in pleasure and idleness despise both the domestic and the worldly regiment; after that, they also mock the spouses as such people, who are said to be drowned in pleasure and fornication.
The married state is by no means such a tender life, but is full of innumerable care and toil, even full of sweat and hard work; the pleasure is well atoned for. But you, monk or priest, who lead an unmarried life, are drowned in idleness and pleasure; as someone has rightly and wisely said: The monks do not lead a spiritual life, but a life of pleasure; they despise and diminish the other classes, so that they may feed on other people's goods, and have the rule over the whole world and live in the highest glory. This is actually the highest and most tender idleness, namely, enjoying other people's work and gathering the goods of the whole world in heaps.
(94) For the sake of Thamar's sin, let this be considered all the more diligently, lest we think that she sinned out of unchastity. She has indeed sinned very grievously, but she has done so out of impatience for the shame that was upon her, which gave her cause for this sin. For she is grieved that the highest honor of women should be taken from her, namely, to be a wife, and especially the son of this Judah, and that she should thus be deprived of all the adornment with which a housemother was once adorned. This was a justifiable anger, which can also be excused. For we see how badly it upsets us when we suffer even a small "damage" to our honor, dignity or goods. But what is left for the poor woman, since she has been deprived of her glory, that she cannot be a mother, and must be deprived of the house, children or offspring, and in addition of the whole household? For this reason she has great cause to be angry and should not be condemned so easily, although she is not to be excused. For such a woman must be captive and as it were in bondage. She was called and ordained by God that she should honor the house of God.
and praise, but is now rejected by Judah. And so they have both sinned against God's commandment.
V.19. And she arose, and went, and put off her mantle, and put on her widow's garments.
From this it is evident that Thamar must have been a piously honest woman, for she is not proud, has not made herself mean to others, does not seek unseemly pleasure, and is only concerned that she may become a mother in the house into which she was placed by God. Therefore, she took off her clothes so that she could be clothed and put on her widow's garments again, sitting and suffering, and because she became pregnant, she continues to wait for God's blessing.
It is a marvelous diligence of the Holy Spirit to describe this disgraceful, lewd history, that he also elaborated everything to the utmost, that he also did not hesitate to speak of the birth of the twins and how the afterbirth made a rupture. Why did the very pure mouth of the Holy Spirit thus descend to such lowly, despised things, which are also lewd and unseemly, and in addition, condemnable, as if such things should be of any use to teach the church and congregation of God? What does the church have to do with it?
(97) To this I reply, as before, that all this is told for the sake of Christ, who is described throughout the Scriptures as our brother, our blood friend, and our kinsman, who is also somewhat more closely related to us than any of our beloved friends. For he is brother and cousin after the line of Abraham of all the children of Israel. According to the mother he is a brother, cousin, sibling of all the Egyptians, Cananites, Amorites; for he is born of Tamar, Ruth, Rachel, and Bathsheba, Uriah's wife.
98. But with us, who come from Japheth, he is not a sibling, but he is our brother-in-law even according to the flesh. Yes, if we go up to Adam, he is our brother.
He is also our cousin and a sibling of ours as well as of the Jews, and we may boast of this kinship no less than they do. Although such kinship does not matter, it is even condemned, John 1:13 and Romans 9:8, unless faith is added to it and the word of the begotten seed, through which the flesh is regenerated and raised again, so that it is corruptible, sinful and condemned, which is why only the Jews boast with such great pride. But what is the use of being a brother or mother of the stained flesh, which is subject to the eternal judgment of God? Although it is useful to know that such glory is not peculiar to the Jews, or that it belongs to them alone, but that it is also common to the Gentiles and belongs to them, if not after Abraham, then after Adam and all the patriarchs up to Noah, for there the whole human race is divided into three brothers. By the way, we were all at the same time in the loins of Noah. But the blessed seed was not yet there, which should again raise the heavy fall of our corrupt nature. Therefore, I say, it is nowhere fitting to boast of the fellowship of nature, if not yet raised again; and this alone is the right honor, that Christ is promised and given to Eve.
99) Now the blessed seed is described, which came from the corrupt, lost and damned seed and flesh, but in such a way that the same seed in itself remained without sin and uncorrupted. By nature Christ's flesh is one with our flesh, but in His conception the Holy Spirit came and overshadowed and purified the flesh that He took from the Virgin, so that He might be united with the divine nature. Therefore in Christ the flesh is wholly holy, pure, and clean, but in us and in all men it is altogether corrupt and unclean, save only as it is regenerated in Christ.
100 And so the Holy Spirit descends with His most pure mouth, and speaks also of the abominable sin, and of the sinfulness of the body.
The Holy Spirit is near, both in the righteous and the unrighteous, in the shameful and the honest, in the vile and in the beautiful people, although he is not near, but he is not near in the righteous and the unrighteous, in the shameful and the honest, in the vile and the beautiful people, although he is not near in the righteous and the unrighteous, in the vile and in the beautiful people. The Holy Spirit is near, both to the corrupt and the incorrupt, to the righteous and the unrighteous, to the shameful and the honest, to the abominable and to the beautiful; although he does not do this, he is not the originator or founder of sin and corruption, but if he were not present there and near to the sinners, who would purify and amend the shameful and sinful flesh again?
Therefore, the narrative in this 38th chapter testifies to the presence of the Holy Spirit, that he is so close that he also gives his tongue and uses it for such vile and shameful things. Yes, where he describes such things, he uses many more words than in other things, so that it seems to be a matter of course and not necessary to talk about it at length; so that we may know that God is always striving for his creature and especially for the Messiah and Christ, whom he thus brings through sinners and sinful birth.
V.20-22 Judah sent the goat by his shepherd from Odollam to fetch the pledge from the woman, but he did not find her. Then he asked the people of the same place, saying, Where is the harlot that sat by the way side? They answered: There was no harlot there. And he came again to Judah, and said: I have not found her; and the men of the same place say, There was no harlot there.
102 I have said above that the Hebrews dispute whether in Hebrew one should read ro or re; for some have given it or interpreted it, friend, but the others, shepherd. And this is also Jerome's interpretation, and it seems that this text agrees with him, since the man of Odollam is considered a servant of
is sent to his Lord. That is why I like this better than the interpretation of the Jews. For although Judah lodged with him, it must be taken for granted that he was of great reputation and had special favor with the host, and also with the other Cananites, who held him in great honor, and kindly gave him and shared with him what he needed for housekeeping.
103 Perhaps he also cultivated the teaching and priestly office with them after the manner of the other patriarchs, who practiced worship in all places with teaching and praying; as one finds many examples of this in their histories. For where faith is, it is not silent, but teaches and instructs the people, exhorts the people to faith, to prayer, to sacrifice, and to praise God; as Rom. 10:10. is written, "If a man believe with his heart, he is justified; and if he confess with his mouth, he is saved." If you firmly believe and have the word in your heart, it is impossible that you should not also confess and speak of it with your mouth. So from the word in the heart comes also the confession of the mouth, that you praise God and thank Him for His benefits, that He revealed the teaching of His word, and that you also teach the same to others and thus publicly confess it; as Judah taught his household, his host and neighbors and brought them to the knowledge of God, and as the apostles went about the world, spreading the teaching and calling on God. Otherwise Judah would not have been able to dwell safely and without danger in the land of the shirts, but would have been cast out by those who were not pious, if he had not made some of them his friends by teaching them rightly and serving them with the word. One of them is his host, whether he was a shepherd or a good friend, who was converted to the God of Abraham through the word that Judah taught.
104 But Moses needs to speak here again in the same way as he did shortly before, which was common among the Hebrews, and reads in Latin: ostia.
oculorum super viam, that is, on the sheath, as it approaches and is opened as it were; that is what they are called ostium oculorum, as one would like to give it in Latin. Thamar sat there, in the place that goes to Thimnath. That this place was not far from Thimnath is indicated by the fact that while Judah went there to shear the sheep, Tamar went away. For as soon as Judah came there, it is believed that he sent her the he-goat. All this happened in one day. Therefore, the shepherd's path must have been close to the herd of Thimnath. I think it was almost as far as a quarter of a German mile, and that Judah thought she would stay there until he sent the goat.
105 One might also suspect that they had made themselves a little house or hut in the same place, which would have been convenient for such a lewd business, in which they sat by the road; perhaps Judah had gone into this, that the shepherd was waiting for him outside. For it is quite consistent with this that they did not devise the deception of themselves, but that they may have informed and ordered their friends or relatives to do so, who had heard how they were to be rejected and put back into their father's house. Therefore they will have taken pity on Tamar and her accident, and thus secretly pursued Judah; and with such deceit and trickery they also brought him into the snare and caught him. For it is not believable that they should have sat openly in the open air.
This assumption of mine is confirmed by the answer of the neighbors. For when the shepherd asked about the harlot, the people of the same place answered that there had been no harlot, since they had undoubtedly seen and known Thamar, but had still concealed it. And as it seems, they wanted to say thus: We do not want to report it yet, but soon after you will know it yourselves.
107 In this way, I think, they will have trained Thamar, so that by such deceit they will restore her to her rightful place.
place and honor. And it is almost such a deception as that Jacob deprived his brother Esau of his blessing by his mother's giving. For Thamar was cast out with everlasting shame, and had to despair that she would yet beget children, as the words of Judah are, when he said to her, "Remain a widow in your father's house," in which he sinned grievously. For he should have kept her at home in his house and given her his son Sela in marriage according to divine right, which he himself transgresses, and does her wrong with great dishonor and lies. Therefore it seems that this deception is right and just. For otherwise Thamar would have had to despair of her honor. Therefore her friends and relatives were moved to advise and help her in view of her misery, so that she might, rightly or wrongly, as she might or would, regain and appropriate her maternal honor. And because Judah was in great esteem and too powerful for them to force him to restore Thamar to her rightful honor, they attacked him with cunning and overcame him with it.
(108) I take it from the answer, where the neighbors say, Why do you ask us much about the whore? Do you think that we entertain such loose women here? These words indicate that they had knowledge of this deed and instigated it, since they answered him with such pride: Do you think that we have whores here? For they keep the deception secret, cover it up, do not say that she is their blood friend, and thus secretly wish that she would only be pregnant, then they would reveal the thing; as it will be announced afterwards to Judah who the whore was.
The Hebrew word kadeshah has not yet been used in this book of Genesis. For above Moses said that Judah meant that Thamar was a sonah in Hebrew, which actually means a whore, as Rahab also was. But the rabbis want to have, it is such a word, which has many meanings, and means, whore and also hostess. And therefore it comes that Et-
1206 D. ix, ""-208. interpretation of I Genesis 38:20-24. w. n. ivss-inv. 1207
Some argue that Rahab was not a whore. But from what we have heard above, it is clear what the true meaning of this word is.
The word kadeshah, which Moses uses in the Hebrew language, means holy, as Isaiah says in chapter 6, v. 3. V. 3: "Holy, Holy" 2c., and is a very common word. From the same comes another Hebrew word, mikdash, which means the sanctuary or temple; and the sanctified are those who are ordained or prepared for something; as when one says, The kings of the Medes are sanctified, that is, they are prepared for war. So Moses often uses this word in various meanings, Deut. 23, 17: "There shall not be among the children of Israel, neither whore nor knave", which is in Hebrew, neither kadosh nor kadeshah, there shall be all husbands, husbands and wives.
(111) But it seems that the shepherd wanted to speak a little more chastely and honestly: therefore he calls her in Hebrew kadeshah, a hostess, not like Judah, a whore, as the Hebrew word sonah actually means. For there are many words in the Hebrew language, as in other languages, which not only have various meanings, but are also used in such a way that one must understand the opposite; which figure is called antiphrasis. Thus in the Latin language, bellum, lucus, sacrum, etc., as the poet says: Auri sacra fames sacred hunger for gold, that is: You cursed and damned avarice. The same is also very mean in the German language; as when one says: Ei! das ist ein fromm Kind, ein pmer Gesell; ei! der will gut werden. For there the word "good" or "pious" is understood for shameful or evil, by this figure called antiphrasis. So in this place he calls this woman a holy whore, as if he wanted to say, "The holy child, a pious little daughter;" for the neighbors answered cunningly, as said, namely, they have not seen a whore there. The Holy Spirit has told everything so diligently that it is a wonder that he has lost so many words in such stories. But he is not afraid that he also tells about ungodly things.
and shameful things, so that they may also be held up to the church for teaching and comfort.
V.23. Judah said, "She has it, she cannot bring shame on us; I have sent the goat, and you have not found her.
Judah does not want to argue. "She habs her," he says, as she wills, and adds one more thing, "Surely she cannot bring shame upon us." For this is the right understanding of the Hebrew text. But what that is said, I do not know. Our interpreter gave it: "She can't tell us lies, as if I hadn't sent her the goat. The rabbis of the Jews interpret it: That this shame be not revealed and come to light. Which interpretation is not only wrong and unjust, but also ridiculous. For this thing is manifest; how then can it be kept secret? Judah sends her the goat, and the shepherd clearly asks about the harlot, indicating that he has brought the goat and wants to pay the harlot's wages. This does not mean to hide the deed or to keep it secret. The neighbors asked what he meant by the goat, and he answered: The goat was sent to the whore; there was nothing secret about it, neither in words nor in deeds.
Third part.
Of Thamar's pregnancy; how she is to be burned over it; and how she finally gives birth to two sons.
V. 24. For three months Judah was told, "Your wife Tamar has prostituted herself; and behold, she has conceived by prostitution.
No doubt these were the words of Thamar's relatives and friends who looked after her and cared for her. Otherwise, they would not have cared whether she lived honestly or dishonestly. But because they told this to Judah as soon as they heard it, it seems that they had made this counsel with fornication.
have. Before they concealed it with diligence, because they did not know yet that she was pregnant. For if Tamar had not been with child, they knew that it would be better to conceal it than to reveal it. But now that they know that she is with child, they have gladly told Judah. Then the gospel began.
(114) Moses says, "About three months, when the child began to live, they did not wait until she had grown a little stronger in her body and the child had also grown, but they hastened and defied, and mocked Judas, as it were, that he had been so craftily deceived by Tamar, and now they have revealed who the harlot is, whom they did not want to know before, when the shepherd was looking for her. As if they wanted to say: You hurry too much with the shepherd and with the goat, you come too early. Listen now: Thamar, your daughter-in-law, has fornicated. But who has committed the sin with her, you may see; for there is no one whom we can accuse of this sin except you alone. Now Judah pronounces judgment on his own neck, as David did when Nathan came to him, 2 Sam. 12:5-13; but he also confessed his sin.
And Judah said, Bring her forth, that she may be burned.
(115) Then you see that this law also came from the fathers, as did the other, that a brother should raise up seed for his dead brother. For at that time there was also a punishment inflicted on the daughters of the priests when they had given birth, namely, that they should be burned with fire, even if they had already been married. Therefore Thamar also demanded that such punishment should be inflicted on her. For she was a priest's wife, and perhaps in the other line and family of the Cananites also a priest's daughter. However, this cannot be known exactly.
116 For the Jews to dream that she should be born of Melchizedek is too far-fetched, is also unrighteous.
hear. For Melchizedek was then dead at fifty years of age; and if we were to say that she was begotten at the last age, it would follow that she must have been fifty years old when she took Judah's sons in marriage, which is impossible.
I believe that not only the daughters, but also the wives and all other women in the families of the priests were subject to this law and judgment. For God wanted to make a great difference between the secular authorities and the office of the priests, and the priesthood had to keep the laws of discipline and respectability with greater seriousness than the others by virtue of such laws. Therefore, he also decreed greater punishment for the transgressors. Jacob was a priest with all his sons, who were scattered from time to time, and each one taught, prayed and sacrificed in his own place, as Ishmael and Isaac did in the house of Abraham, and one of them was the firstborn, a lord and ruler over all the others. So Reuben, before he was rejected by his father, was the firstborn, to whom also two parts of the inheritance were due. The Gentiles to whom they came also took them for priests, and when they heard their teaching, they were very glad and rejoiced that such holy people had come to them, who taught and reported to the people about the knowledge of God and about invocation or prayer, and would pray for them; and therefore they received them with reverence and dealt with them kindly.
118 Therefore, when Tamar was married to the sons of Jacob, who were priests, and was accused of fornication, the punishment was immediately given to her, that she should be burned for the stain, so that she would defile the whole family and the priesthood. Perhaps Judah also took this cause as a remedy, since he saw that she would thus be taken away and killed with good reason, so that she would no longer be a burden to him and his family.
he soon condemned her to death without all consultation, yes, even without all compassion; and has truly passed a sad and horrible sentence on this woman, who nevertheless went with a heavy body, if one should have spared her for the sake of the fruit. Unless this had been the custom, that she had been kept in prison and kept until she had given birth. But if the fruit was punished at the same time as the mother, then it was truly an exceedingly harsh law.
V. 25 And when she was brought forth, she sent unto her husband, saying, Of the man that this is, I am with child. And she said, Knowest thou what this ring is, and this cord, and this staff?
(119) Now Judah is in the snare, where he was brought by the deceit and trickery of Tamar and her kinsmen. Well then, they will have said to him, you wanted to see this whore, who she was: she was our blood friend and your daughter-in-law, whom you rejected. Take the staff, the ring 2c., recognize from where they have come into our hands?
V. 26. Judah knew it, and said, She is more righteous than I; for I have not given her to Shelah my son. But he slept no more with her.
120 Judah has accused himself very severely, and absolved and absolved Tamar; he does not excuse or conceal his sin at all. And it is truly a wonderful accusation that he would rather lay all the blame on himself than on Thamar. Therefore it is asked, which of them has sinned most grievously, Judah or Tamar? He did not commit adultery or incest, but only fornication; but Tamar is guilty of both sins, because she was a bride and a wife of Judah's third son, Selah, who is her husband according to divine law and who could have accused her of adultery; but that she lay with her father-in-law is a very shameful incest.
121 Therefore, they cannot rely on any
way be excused, although the sin of Judah is somewhat smaller. But if there had been a righteous speaker, who would have taken up the cause of Tamar, he could have made it more violent and greater. And will perhaps the friends of Thamar have spoken thus to Judah and accused him: Thou hast not only reproached Tamar, but also all our family; thou hast deprived us of the honor that Tamar had not become a mother, thou hast deprived us of thy son; thus hast thou spoiled all our descendants, as much as was in thee. Such pieces they will undoubtedly have put on Judah, although they are not written, and will have said: Thou art a priest and teacher of the divine word, governing other people with doctrine and invocation: but thou dost shamefully disfigure thy office with such evil examples. It should have been your duty to stand firm over the laws, in which justice and honor were commanded; but in spite of these laws, you now revile those whom you should have honored and nurtured. Therefore you should be punished much less than Thamar, our kinswoman, whom you have deprived of her highest honor, namely, the maternal and priestly honor, and where this honor is lost, this life is also bitter and completely repugnant to one.
(122) Therefore Judah was right to say, "She is more righteous than I," even though incest is a great sin. But he has committed more and greater sins, which are grossly contrary to God's law and justice, and might well be accused of church robbery, capital murder, and all other kinds of sins and wrongs. But Judah was humbled so that he might recognize and confess his sin, namely, that he had cast her out of the house and deprived her of her priesthood and maternity, and even of all her descendants, children and heirs.
123 And in this way this patriarch had to be described, so that he would know that he was a sinner, so that he would not despise other sinners before him, as if he himself could not also fall, because he had priestly authority and honor and also led the teaching office. For many things are found here
Sins, all great and ghastly, have come together in one heap.
But this is held out to us for our consolation. The great saints must make great falls, so that God may show that he wants all men to be humbled and to be included in the register of poor sinners; and if they recognize and confess this, they will find grace and mercy in him. If there is a case, what should be done to him? For those who crucified Christ heard Christ's prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. One should be careful not to sin, but if someone has fallen, he should not despair. For God has forbidden both despair and presumption, on the left hand and on the right. On the right side one shall not be proud or presumptuous; but on the left side neither shall one despair or despair at all. On the straight highway one should remain. A poor sinner shall not drop trust in God's mercy; a righteous man shall not be proud. "The Lord is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His goodness," as the 147th Psalm v. 11. says. He hates those who are presumptuous and proud, and loves those who still persevere in fear, hope and confidence, not in ourselves, but in God's mercy.
(125) Thus the saints are humbled and their sins made known, so that they may instruct us with their examples and show us the right middle way between despair and hopefulness or presumption.
126 Last of all, Judah, recognizing his sin, inflicted a punishment on himself to show that he had repented sincerely, because he had abstained from Thamar and other wives. No doubt he also asked his relatives to forgive him because he had weakened their friend, and they in turn asked him to forgive them because they had deceived him and provoked him to commit such a grave sin.
127 And so a great heap of sins is gathered here, namely, Judah, Thamar and their friends. But the
Judah's sin is greater for the sake of the magisterium and church regiment, which he administers until then. But since all their sins were forgiven, so that they hurt each other, they were reconciled on both sides, and Tamar was restored to her former honor in the house of Judah, although she would rather have freed his son Selah. But since this could no longer happen, it was pleasant for her that she was again led from her father's house, since she was in danger of eternal barrenness, into the house in which the maternal honor and the house rule had been assigned to her by God.
What the office of the holy matrons was, as Sarah's, Rebekah's, Leah's, Rachel's and Tamar's, is evident from the histories of the patriarchs. They were shepherd-wives, therefore they governed their house, looked after the cattle, milked the cows and goats, collected the wool, milk, cheese, butter and such other things and held consultations. This was the housework of the patriarchs, and Mrs. Thamar presided over such work. Sela's wife may have had her own place in the house, but I think Thamar would have been the most distinguished. They have been fine, splendid matrons, have not been spoiled in idleness, lasciviousness or good days, but have been diligent in the office of housekeeping. It was also with the cattle breeding a far-reaching and laborious thing and full of hard work, in addition much domestic servants belonged. For so Jacob says afterwards before Pharaoh Gen. 47, 3: "Your servants are cattle herders, we and our fathers."
Therefore, from nothing can one better determine what kind of life these matrons led, than precisely from what their husbands had for possessions and goods. They did not have their own houses, fields, wood or mines, but cattle, milk, butter, cheese. They were vain cattle maids, as now with us also noble matrons deal with such housework and cattle breeding. And at the same time kings and princes have also endeavored with it and have taken care of it; and at that time there was no other handling, but that they had cattle for others.
They gave him goods and exchanged them with the goods. So Judah gives a goat for a whore's wages, who was a great prophet and priest and has a large and numerous family at home, but has neither penny nor farthing, which he could have given to the woman. But there is no doubt about it, these matrons must have been very diligent in their office, since to the cattle breeding belongs particularly large diligence, care and work. And they were not ashamed to take upon themselves such a small, unworthy work; for God was also pleased with it and was a lord and guardian of these very holy matrons and archmothers, since he did not pay much attention to other princes and kings.
V. 27-30. And when she was about to give birth, twins were conceived in her womb. And when she gave birth, one hand came out. Then the womb took and tied a red thread around it, saying, "He will be the first to come out. But when he drew his hand in again, his brother came out; and she said, Why hast thou for thy sake made such a breach? And they called him Perez. Then his brother came out, having the red thread around his hand. And they called him Serah.
See how diligently the Holy Spirit has described this wretched and miserable birth. For he delights in his creature and creature. But when we look at it, we not only have no special joy in it, but are also so blinded that we do not see the works of God. There is a great marvelous thing about procreation and birth even in unreasonable animals, as when a cow brings forth a calf, a sheep a lamb; how much more is it to be marveled at and honestly held that a woman conceives and gives birth to a man! For we are all born out of the womb of woman into the world by birth, that is, by death; for mothers with children are in certain danger of death. And even among the pagans, a special respect and reverence for this work has remained; like the
Romans allowed women to wear golden ornaments for the sake of childbirth, so that they would be honored and comforted by this heavy burden, toil and labor that they must bear when they give birth to children. Because God extends this miracle over the entire human race, as well as over all animals on the face of the earth, and makes it so common, it is held in contempt because it happens every day: but the Holy Spirit adorns and honors His creature, and delights to look upon it and to praise it.
In this place, not only is the birth described for the sake of the children, but also the great danger of the mother when she gave birth is told. Thamar herself did not know that she was carrying twins in her womb, just as pregnant women cannot know this before they give birth. But now that she is in childbirth, the twins are appearing, and the trouble has begun. The matter has put them both, Judah and Tamar, in great fear and terror. For they have been in the greatest fear and danger, and no doubt will have been very hard pressed, thinking of their sin, of which their own consciences have accused them. Ah, Judah said, what have we done now! The Lord will kill the mother and I will be deprived of the two sons. For always, when tribulation and danger come, the conscience and the newcomer also come, that a man then first of all becomes fearful and anxious, because he has committed sin. And if the human heart cannot refrain from this, it must tremble, be frightened and accuse itself and say: "Behold, I have sinned; now I must also suffer this punishment for such sin.
So we see that because of this danger, this birth was very difficult, which caused not only the parents, but also the whole family such great terror and fear. Sela, the son of Judah, the shepherd or innkeeper and the other people of Odollam sighed miserably and called upon God for help with sighs and prayers. And this was the proper practice of the priesthood, that they should exhort with exhortation,
The people who have gone through the process of invocation and confession of sins have said: Dear Lord God, we confess that we have sinned; have mercy on us and forgive us our sin. These signs, in which we accept such things, are not uncertain and vain. For such things often happen in the lives of the saints, and the conscience of sin is never so stirred or so strong as when one is in trouble, anguish, and harm. When we are well, sin rests and sleeps, and we always live so securely. For without the law sin is dead, as St. Paul says of himself Rom. 7:9: "I lived without the law." But tribulation or misfortune opens one's eyes and awakens the conscience so that it can no longer rest, but always bites and tortures.
We must think that it also happened here in this whole family. For when Thamar began to give birth, the twins were seen in her womb and one of them gave up one hand. There was certainly great distress and they saw death before their eyes. For this is a great danger when the foot or the hand of the child first comes out in the birth, and the mother cannot give birth to the child properly unless the head first comes out so that the womb can take hold of it. But where hands or feet come out first, it is very inconvenient and dangerous, so that where God does not help miraculously by grace, the fruit must often be torn out of the mother's womb by individual pieces. The tickling sensation of the poor women passes, and great mortal pains arise instead of the previous pleasures they may have had. There the joke is over and the dying begins. How in this place three souls die at the same time, as, the two twins and the mother. How should Judah's heart have trembled in his body?
The wistful mother did what was due to her office, she posed as if there was still hope and strength that she could make a heart for the mother with it. "This one," she said, "will be the first.
Come out." For these words comforted the mother and indicated that there was still good hope; just as the wailing mother said to Rachel, when she wanted to comfort her, but did not want to tell her beforehand how it would go: "Do not be afraid, for you will also have this son," Gen. 35:17. But Rachel passed away, was overcome by the hard work, so that she had to die over the birth.
But it behooves the mothers of sorrow to be courageous, and as Virgil says of Aeneas, to present themselves outwardly as if they still had good hope, and to comfort the poor mothers in their work and say that they themselves also want to have good hope. For hope makes those who suffer harm, sorrow and hardship still wonderfully comfort themselves in their hearts; as Aeneas says there in Virgil: Dabit Deus his quoque finem, that is: God will one day also put an end to this misfortune. A mother of sorrow should have such prudence and strength in herself that she still has good hope in her heart even in the present open distress and danger, and that she also gives such hope to her mother in her work with comforting words.
But now the child is not yet born, and it seems as if the danger is getting greater and greater, because the child pulled his hand in again. Although the wistful mother comforted them and called them to be confident, their hope was still very uncertain. Therefore they will have sighed and prayed more and more, and said: "Lord, now help! There was a little hope before, but now it is gone. Therefore sin came to life again and reigned, and since they thought of the blood shame, both Judas' and Thamar's hearts were greatly troubled and afflicted. This repentance and atonement was hard enough, and it was also a great sorrow and bitter remorse. For there was the danger that the pains of childbirth would cease, without which no mother can give birth. And the first work of nature, when it should have given birth, was in vain, after the child pulled the hand in again. Therefore
Judah cried and prayed in great anguish and tears that the mother and the twins would not perish. And at that time, the temptation of the epidemic of lust and other disgrace or frivolity did not take place, which people usually enjoy in idleness and good days, when everything is full. It is a matter of life and limb that mother and children stay with each other when the labor pains are over. The whole house was filled with weeping, sighing, wailing and sorrowful lamentation.
But at that very moment God the Lord was present, and by a new miraculous work He helped to bring about such a birth. The first, where the text says: "And when she now gave birth, one hand came out", is pitiful and miserable: but the other, which reads: "And behold, his brother came out", is full of consolation and joy, which followed the pitiful terror and fear. For this one was born right and happy, therefore she did not want to despair because of the previous one, who has now become the other one. And the wistful mother was, as it were, horrified by this and cried out with great astonishment: "Why have you torn such a crack for your own sake? As if she wanted to say: "You mischievous one, may God protect you, you have almost made a wicked tear.
The word pariz means among the Hebrews a murderer, a highwayman, a thief of shrubs, who does not walk on the right army road, but goes to and fro in the woods and along the byways, secretly pursuing the people who go overland, robbing and damaging them: or who otherwise refuse to submit to common laws and orders, but go there by force, raging and raging according to their mad wild head. That is why, said the wistful mother, this rift is
for your sake, so that you would come out first. The right order of nature has not been kept here, but you have come forth and been born through such a rift, and for your sake both mother and twins have suffered great violence; for you almost killed them with such violence.
(139) Thus the mother of sorrow rejoiced and made merry for the sake of such blessed violence, which was pleasant to both mother and children. For she has gained a happy and joyful end, because she has brought salvation and life to those who, because of her, were worried that they would perish and die. It is now well advised that they no longer think of the fear, especially that which was so frightening and dangerous, as Christ says John 16:21. For beyond all hope and quite unexpectedly, the mother with the twins was kept alive through this rupture and the other birth also happened happily and easily.
140 Until then, the history of Judah and Tamar, which I would rather have explained in a simple way than to create strange allegories and secret interpretations from it. For it is much more useful and necessary to treat and explain the history solely for the sake of the clumsy and unrhymed glosses of the Jews, which even confuse and confound the order of the history. For this reason, we should remember how it was indicated at the beginning of this history, and in other places as well, that Judah was given in marriage before Joseph was sold, which Moses began to tell above and which he will fully explain in the following chapters. For as this is the most grievous of all the other calamities and afflictions that Jacob had, so it was also the last.