Skeletons in the Closet

Women in Jesus’ Genealogy (Matt. 1.1-17)

Matthew begins with 17 verses of “begats.” Mostly we skip it. There are theological insights hidden there, however, like Easter Eggs in a  DVD.

Three groups of 14. In gematria, the Jewish system of number symbols, 14 is David’s number. D is the 4th letter in the Hebrew alphabet, W (V) the 6th. Add the numbers, you get 14. So each group announces Jesus’ relation to David. The breaking points are highlights of Israelite history, starting with Abraham, then David the stellar king, and after the deportation to Babylon.

The list includes five women (except Mary, each of them a shady lady in some respects): Tamar (v. 3), Rahab and Ruth (v. 5), the former wife of Uriah (v. 6). This week our Bible study groups looked at Tamar, Genesis 38.

Tamar’s story interrupts the saga of Joseph, just as he was going down to Egypt as a slave. Judah had three sons; he married Er the eldest to Tamar. But Er died. Judah told son #2 Onan to do his duty and raise up an heir for his brother. (This is levirate marriage, see Deut. 25.5-10.) Without knowledge of the resurrection, you needed offspring to keep your line going. Onan, however, didn’t want an “heir” of his elder brother’s to inherit 2/3 of his father’s estate; so he practiced a crude form of birth control to prevent pregnancy. Onan also died.

Many biblical interpreters have used Onan’s story as a way to discourage boys from masturbation, but that’s a misuse of scripture. The issue here is that Onan refused to follow the law and raise up an heir for his brother.

Judah didn’t want to lose his third son Shelah to a “black widow.” He shelved his daughter-in-law in her father’s house. When she realized he was not going to let her keep her dead husband’s name alive in israel, Tamar took action.

She disguised herself as a temple prostitute, a woman involved in Canaanite worship through ritual sex. Not knowing who she was, Judah had sex with her, but not before she secured tokens from him that would identify him at a later date. (A comparable act would be giving her his driver’s license and VISA card, until he brought cash payment.) But when his friend returned with payment, the so called temple prostitute had disappeared.

Family discovered Tamar was pregnant, and planned to burn her. (Double standard! No sweat for the man.) But she produced the items belonging to Judah, proving she had acted only to secure an heir for her husband, and keep the line going.

Since it is the line eventuating in the Messiah, God also wanted to keep the line going. Her loyalty and hutspah served not only her husband, but Almighty God as well! In that way “she was more righteous than Judah.” (Gen 38.26)

Tamar took grave risks of being maligned, even being burned, to accomplish what in her time and place was an honorable goal. As a single woman, she had no power. Yet she confronted the head of a clan, successfully.

Jesus must have known the stories about his mother, and have felt the sting of slurs against himself as a “bastard.” When he was confronted with the woman taken in adultery (John 8.1-11), did he think about Mary’s suffering?

The Messiah’s genealogy includes the most powerless, poorest people of the society—single women, and not even the “respectable” ones! Surely, we too need to think of women who are left out and lost by our society, if we are truly to be part of Jesus and Mary’s household.

Next: The Miss Kitty and the Longbranch of Jericho, Rahab (Joshua 2)