1The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers. 3Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram. 4Ram became the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon. Nahshon became the father of Salmon. 5Salmon became the father of Boaz by Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse. 6Jesse became the father of King David. David the king became the father of Solomon by her who had been Uriah’s wife. 7Solomon became the father of Rehoboam. Rehoboam became the father of Abijah. Abijah became the father of Asa. 8Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram. Joram became the father of Uzziah. 9Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah. 10Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah. 11Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel. 13Zerubbabel became the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim. Eliakim became the father of Azor. 14Azor became the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim. Achim became the father of Eliud. 15Eliud became the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan. Matthan became the father of Jacob. 16Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations.
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly. 20But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”
22Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child,
and shall give birth to a son.
They shall call his name Immanuel,”
which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”
24Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself; 25and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.
The story (in Gen 38:6-36) regarding Judah and the woman Tamar is a complex narrative that reveals several areas of marital practices of persons living in the Ancient Near East. First of all, is the practice of Levirate Marriage. When a husband died, the brother of the deceased brother was obligated to take his brother's wife and bear children for his brother by the brother's wife. However, it becomes quite complex in the case of Judah's sons and Tamar. Several of Judah's sons died for a variety of reasons, and the woman Tamar became the wife of each of these brothers. Upon the death of Onan, who died because of violating God's law, Judah had Tamar go to her father's home to wait for the next son of Judah who was only a boy at the time. In the story, Judah's wife died and he went to the city of Timnah. In the meantime, Tamar removed her widow's garments and disguised herself, since it became obvious that Judah was not going to be given to Shelah, who had become a man. She acted as a prostitute, disguising herself to fool Judah into having sexual relations with her to bear a child, it appears, and he had relations with her.
The story continues by showing Judah's hypocrisy. He denied Tamar, in violation of the levirate practice, from bearing children as would be expected with the mature Shelah, and yet when she was found with child, he sought to have her killed, though he saw no issue in his having sex with an alleged prostitute. Tamar turned the tables on this attempt by showing the items that Judah had left with her but finally admitted that Tamar was more righteous than he had been. From this sinful union, however, Tamar bore two children, Perez and Zerah.
The account in Genesis 38 demonstrates several matters of proper marital responsibilities, including the duty of following the Levirate law, the issue of deception by Judah and Tamar, and the attempt to maintain justice by Tamar in the cultural period of this story. One may also see that God's plan and providence are furthered, despite human activity, in that Perez and Zerah became ancestors of the tribe of Judah, partly affirmed in that Tamar is among the few women mentioned in the genealogy (family histories) of the ancestors of the Messiah, Jesus.