"And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his Genesis 38:1-15 Now Judah was coming from the sheep folds and he saw the woman sitting outside her tent which was by the side of the road that leads to Timnath, and he stopped to look at her. He was able to see, even thorugh the garments which were wrapped tightly around her, that her body was lean and pleasant. It had been a long time since he had lain with a woman, and he felt suddenly aroused. He saw her looking up at him, and through the veils he was able to see her eyes. The eyes seemed to be smiling at him. He smiled back and said, "Let me lie with you now." He saw her nod just so slightly, and silently she rose to her feet, turned around, and entered her tent. Judah followed, his heart beginning to beat quickly. Silently she motioned to him to sit at the foot of her bed. He sat, and she approached him and placed her finger at the lips below the veils in a motion indicating that he should remain silent. He sat and stared up at her. She came to him and slowly she removed his garments until he wore only his loin cloth. As he reached for her she drew away and motioned for him to wait. Then, for the first time, she spoke to him. "You may undress me, my lord, but you may not uncover my face. He whom I serve does not permit it." She knelt down beside him and allowed him to begin undressing her. His fingers trembled as he parted the soft garments and revealed the woman's skin beneath. He looked at her body as he undressed her, and saw that her youth was passing away, and he felt a tender compassion for her. As the palm of his hand moved across her skin, as he carressed her shoulders and her breasts, he spoke: "My lady, am I not see your face as I love you?" She moved away slowly and shook her head in negation. "It is not permitted", she whispered. She stood erect and the loosened garments fell from her body, revealing the still sweet femininity that fascinated and re-aroused Judah. She turned from him and approached a small table upon which rested an incense censor. "I shall invoke my Deity's blessing. Perhaps He will be gracious to me this day", she said as sheput fire to the incense. Judah smelled the wonderfull aroma as the fumes filled the tent. "What is His name?", he asked her. "His name is Truth", she answered, "for He fullfills His promises to those who are faithful to Him." Beneath her veils she smiled but it was a bitter smile as she remembered the promises of a husbnand that Judah had promised her, and had refused to fullfill, leaving her a chained widow, without a man, without children, Would his God be proud of his broken promises, she wondered. No matter, she told herself as she watched the smoke rise and inhaled the aroma. She would help him to fullfill them now. She turned again to him and saw that his passions were enflamed. She spoke to him. "What will you pay me, that you may come into me?" Judah smiled at her, and answered: "I will send you a goat from my flock." Tamar's own heart beat fast now at his smile, but she betrayed no emotion. She came toward him and knelt beside him again, allowing him to slip his arms around her waist, and pull her to him. He fell back upon her bed and pulled her on top of him. "If you do not remove your veil, I cannot kiss your lips", he said to her. "It is not permitted", she repeated, "but you may kiss my body and I shall part my lips as though you were entering me there with your tongue." He pressed his lips against the incredible soft warmth of her throat. Her hands moved to his face and then she carressed the back of his neck. She closed her eyes and felt him hardening, embracing her very tightly. She moved her mouth to his ear and whispered, "Will you give me a token till you send the goat?" He blinked in surprise and ceased kissing her. He asked, "What token shall I give you? She answered, "Your ring, and your bracelets, and your shepherd's staff." And he promised them to her. Then he held her very tightly, and her body felt so good to him, and her skin tasted so sweet, and her sighs and moans quickened him very much, fornot only has he not had a woman for a long time, but her very carresses and embraces made him feel that she really wanted to lie with HIM more than any other, and he allowed that feeling to overcome him, leading him to very intense passion with her. And in truth, her loving betrayed her real emotions, for ovet the years that she had lived in his home, waiting for him to give her a husband, she had fallen in love with him, and had longed for him, but she knew that he feared to husband her because she was twice a widow. Yet here and now, they were together, locked in love making, each feeling the intensity of the other which was far more than making love. So they did with each other all that lovers may do, writhing in love's pleasures, touching and embracing, feeling and moving in rhythm together, till they crescendoed together, sending forth the joyous sounds of their loving from the tent, though none was there to hear them. So Judah loved Tamar as a KEDESHAH, not knowing she was his own daughter-in-law. And she loved him in return as a woman loves a man, forgiving him for withholding a husband from her, for she knew that her Deity would not forsake her, knowing that, in the end, Judah would be her husband. "And she conceived by him. And she arose, and went away, and laid by her And the messianic seed was sown. For from their loins sprang Perets, the
brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was
Hirah. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose
name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. And she
conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. And she
conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. And
she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name
Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. And Judah took a
wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. And Er, Judah's
firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew
him. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and
marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the
seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto
his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he
should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did
displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also. Then said Judah to
Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father's house,
till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die
also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's
house. And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife
died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers
to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. And it was told
Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to
shear his sheep. And she put her widow's garments off from her, and
covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open
place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was
grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. When Judah saw her,
he thought her to be a KEDESHAH; because she had covered her face."
veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood."
Genesis 38:18-19
ancestor of David the king.