As the text of Genesis often reveals, family drama is at the heart of the moral choices of Abraham and his descendants. In this episode, Jacob's 4th son Judah chooses to marry a Canaanite woman with whom he has 3 sons. Nothing seems amiss until the eldest boy is full-grown and himself married to a woman named Tamar. At this point, three men in succession treat Tamar woefully: Er, her husband whom the LORD puts to death due to his wickedness, Onan, whose greed prompts him to sexually assault Tamar, and Judah, the father-in-law who more/less abandons her for years on end.
Ultimately, out of desperation, Tamar acts in a way that reveals Judah's own hypocrisy and culpability, something he only sees at the last minute before further injustice occurs. The story of Judah and Tamar thus ends with a warning against self-righteousness and hypocrisy, a reminder that our actions have consequences.
