Q: Did Judah marry Tamar? In the Genesis 38 text it says Judah it says Judah did not sleep with Tamar again after she became pregnant?  —Victoria

A: Genesis 38:1-30 tells us that Judah fathered Perez and Zerah, the twin sons of Tamar. Genesis 46:12 listed them as his sons together with Er and Onan. In the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew 1:3 says ^“Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).” This means that while Tamar was officially acknowledged as the birth mother of Perez and Zerah, she was never officially recognized as a wife to Judah.

Genesis 38:26 says that “Judah . . . said, ‘She is more righteous than I am…’. And Judah never slept with Tamar again.” It would seem that having repented of his sinful behavior, Judah took responsibility for the twin sons he fathered with Tamar outside of marriage, and he chose not to indulge in a sexual relationship with Tamar again (Genesis 38:26). It also appears that Judah never married Tamar.  —KT Sim

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