There beside a dusty road,
Near the village of Enaim,
Sat a nearly unseen prostitute,
And Tamar was her name.
Staring through her covering veil,
She watched that dusty road,
Waiting for a single man,
Her plan would soon unfold.
Sitting there and waiting,
Remembering her past.
Evil husband Er the first,
But who would be the last?
Er's young brother Onan then,
He who spilled his seed.
Giving her no child to leave,
Because of evil greed.
But Onan's deed was wicked,
So God then took his life.
Then Judah promised Tamar
To Shelah as his wife.
But Shelah was so very young
That Tamar had to wait.
But even when he had grown up
The widow had no mate.
So there beside the dusty road,
She waits with folded arms.
Watching for her father-in-law,
To tempt with disguised charms.
Then Judah came and stopped and smiled,
And asked about her fee.
Held out his hand to the lady there,
Saying, Come now and sleep with me.
I'll send a young goat, my chord and my stick
And the signet ring of my clan.
Taking his arm she smiled 'neath her veil,
At the cleverness of her plan.
Three months later Judah got word
That Tamar was now with child.
"Bring her and burn her," his shouted reply,
And the look in his eyes was wild.
She sent this word to her father-in-law,
This lady who hadn't seemed smart,
A chord, a ring, and a walking stick,
They pierced the guilty man's heart.
Judah was caught and admitted his guilt,
She's more in the right than me.
Sins of the mind are worse than the flesh,
This truth she has helped me to see.
Author notes
This comes from the 38th chapter of Genesis, the fascinating story of Judah and Tamar, his daughter-in-law. All comments certainly welcome.
Written March 9th, 2004
In a list
A contest entry
- I wanna read about them bible times! (CONTEST) by .
300 points, ended May 10, 2004, 11 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 17 of 17
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wow this was a great story
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wow, what a great job of telling the story. i've always found this story to be interesting and have always wondered what poor tamar must have been going through. good job at telling the story. it had great flow and you made it very clear.
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You have done another wonderful job again. This story has always puzzled me some. I mean, I understand just what happened and just why. I know how she finally became pregnant. The thing that amazes me is that Judah was so very quick to judge her, even to the point of death, when he knew that he was doing the same things. Although he did not know at first that it was himself who had gotten her pregnant, he did nothing that she had not. It puzzles me that he could feel her worthy of death, when he was no more pure than she. I'll hush
Your poem just got me started thinking on this again. God Bless, Penny
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HAH- this is neat! i like how you got it to fit into this format! it seems to help make it interesting! Thanks again for pointing it out to me!
Keep it up and never give up---God Bless---Eli -
Good job at telling this accurate tale of Judah and Tamar. There is a very intersting story behind the birth of the twins from this illicit affair. God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform!
Best wishes,
Hoosierpoet -
hey good job, thanks for entering!
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You did a wonderful job capturing the essence of this tale.
Isaiah
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it is a well written account of tamar.you did a wonderful job.for the sake of placing in the contest,you may want to go back and write from tamar's position,since that is what the contest calls for.i think you could handle that quite well by the efficient way you have penned this.there are so many incredible writes in this contest,you want to have as much edge as you can.the rules call for you to be the person,not just write about them.give it a try,i bet you could become both tamar and judah speaking.you are a great writer and i can't see it presenting any enormous problem for you.write as both or take a position and write as either.come on,you can do it.
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OK, that's it. I'm learning that I'm clueless when it comes to the Old Testement. I just keep reading stories I don't recognize at all. It's a great poem though.
Ray -
This is an excellent piece. Well done. This is one of my favorite Old Testament tales.
Mark
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A wonderful story taken from
the book of genesis...i love this story,
a really wonderful write you have here!!
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This one has a ballad-like quality, I think. Something for folk-nights. I like the way you tell the tale in a straightforward way. As it's a Biblical tale, your reader must assume that you're not personally condemning the league of seed-spillers who onanize on the Internet?
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Wow, awesome write. I've never heard it told so well before. I loved the rhyme scheme and everything else about it. Great job and congratulations.
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Fabulous
An excellent retelling of this Genesis story. Your rhymes are flawless and flow incredibly well and the point of the story is well made. I love how the final verse sums up the lesson for the reader.
Incredible write.
Absinthe
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People too often forget that the Bible is filled with stories about people - sinner who all need salvation. This calls for some interesting stories, such as the one you have presented here. Tight rhyme scheme and impeccable storytelling - each poem of your I read continually get better
All my best in the contest
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I'm not surprised by the excellent rythym of this poem, as this is standard fare for you. I am impressed at your ability to recall a story from the Bible so poetically.
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I love this story in Genesis - perhaps partly because it shows how these patriarchs of old were also very human. Also, out of this affair came the twins Pharez and Zarah - it was through Pharez that the royal line of David, and the following kings of "the House of Judah" came, and later Mary (see Matthew 1 and Luke 3) the mother of Jesus, came from this royal line. However, Zarah also had a royal line, and the two dynasties "merged" about 588-585 BC, healing the "breach" between the two sons (Gen. 38) and establishing what became the royal lines of the kings of many of the European dyasties (which has remained quite a secret!). The word "Royal" is a combination of two words: "Roy" (ancient word for king) and "al" or "El" - a name for God - David's throne was anciently known as "the throne of God" or "the throne of the Lord" - and was called this in numerous Old Testament scriptures. Those who can trace their ancestry back to the royal House of Windsor, can also, believe it or not, trace their ancestry back to Adam & Eve! (I have seen the charts). For a little more information on the subject of how the royal families united, you can read my poem "The Sage of Tara Hill"
Best regards,
Moses
Edited on Mar 09, 3:25 p.m. because 'add'.
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