Tamar: Justice in Disguise

What happens when the system designed to protect you becomes the very thing that abandons you?

In this episode of our Women in Scripture: Unseen, Unheard & Unstoppable series, Ric Shields welcomes biblical Hebrew teacher and ordained minister Barbie Odom to explore one of the Bible's most misunderstood women—Tamar.

Together they unpack the cultural background of Genesis 38, revealing how Tamar courageously pursued justice when every avenue of protection had failed her. Her bold actions not only exposed hypocrisy but became the turning point in Judah's redemption and ultimately placed her in the lineage of Jesus.

Discover what Tamar teaches us about dignity, courage, repentance, justice, and the God who redeems even the messiest stories.

Transcript

TITLE: Tamar – Justice in Disguise

GUEST: Barbie Odom

SEASON: S5, E28

SERIES: Women in Scripture

DATE: July 14, 2026

 Ric Shields (00:09):

Thanks for joining us on the DoorWays® Ministry Podcast. My name is Ric Shields, and today I'm joined by my friend, Barbie Odom. Both Barbie and her husband, Milton, hold ordination credentials with DoorWays®.

(00:20):

Let me tell you a little bit about Barbie. Following her high school graduation, Barbie lived in Israel for four years and participated in Project Kibbutz, a discipleship-based and service-oriented outreach there. That's where she met and married Milton. They've served as youth pastors and later joined Youth with a Mission and lived in inner-city Richmond, Virginia for four years.

(00:42):

Barbie taught biblical Hebrew at Augustine Christian Academy for 10 years and at Tulsa University for one year while earning a Master of Divinity degree from Oral Roberts University.

(00:52):

She has a beautiful voice. I love to hear her sing and a strum along on her guitar. Barbie and Milton are the owners of Fort Knox Locks. They've been married 44 years, have 15 grandchildren and wait – 16 because one's not quite born yet but on the way, and they're expecting that baby soon.

(01:11):

Let's take a look at the woman from scripture we're discussing today by considering this question. What do you do when the system that was supposed to protect you actually fails you? Not once, not twice, but completely. Before we go further, please be aware that today's conversation touches on themes of exploitation and injustice that may seem sensitive for some listeners.

(01:37):

This story is not neat and clean. It's not easy to explain to anyone, let alone your kids. It doesn't fit neatly into a Sunday school outline, but God didn't ignore the woman who was used, overlooked, dismissed, and passed around like a responsibility that no one wanted to carry. She was promised security and then quietly abandoned. She had no voice in the matter. She had no advocate to help and was given no options.

(02:04):

And then she does something that makes us uncomfortable - something bold, risky, even controversial, and yet it forces justice into the light. Her story is right out of the pages of the 38th chapter of the book of Genesis. It's a story about power and silence. It's about hypocrisy hiding behind respectability and what happens when someone refuses to disappear.

(02:29):

And here's the tension we can't ignore. What if the people we're most tempted to judge are the ones God is using to expose what's broken? This is the story of Tamar, and this story may be closer to ours than we think.

(02:46):

Barbie, thank you so much for agreeing to speak with me today about Tamar's story.

Barbie Odom (02:52):

Thank you for having me. I'm so delighted to be able to talk about her.

Ric Shields (02:57):

For listeners who may be unfamiliar with Tamar's story, can you give us a 30-second overview of her story before we dive into it?

Barbie Odom (03:05):

Yeah. So, Tamar is, as far as we know, or understand, is a Canaanite woman. So, she's not of the tribe Jacob's family. She is the daughter-in-law of Judah. And Judah has left his family and gone to live with the Canaanites, married a Canaanite woman, had three sons, and Tamar... I'm sorry, that's the Hebrew pronunciation.

Ric Shields (03:34):

Okay, let's go with that. I want to use the proper pronunciation, so thank you for that.

Barbie Odom (03:38):

Tamar is married to the oldest son who the Bible says very wicked and we'll talk about the potential of what that means. And it says in Hebrew that "God makes him dead." Doesn't use the word for kill, but it uses the word for dying, but in the causative form, which is interesting and strange.

(04:01):

According to the rules of the day, she is given to the second son in order to give the first son a lineage. And also, to keep her having a future because that will take care of her future. He is also evil, and we'll talk more about that, and "God makes him dead."

(04:22):

At this point, Judah's afraid of giving his third son to her because he's afraid he will also die. So, he sends her back to her father as a perpetual widow and promises the third son when he's old enough, but he is never going to do that. So, this story is about how she finds justice for herself.

Ric Shields (04:45):

Makes him dead. That's interesting. I'm glad you point that out. I'm trying to figure out, that's like I have some ideas, but in either way, dead is dead. <Laugh>

Barbie Odom (04:53):

Dead is dead.

Ric Shields (04:55):

So, this story in Genesis 38 is an interruption in the Joseph narrative. Why do you think this story is placed here and what does that signal to us about its importance?

Barbie Odom (05:05):

We're going to talk about that a lot because that's incredibly significant. Judah is the one who has said, "Hey, let's just sell Joseph." He betrayed his brother. He betrayed his father. We'll see that later he is the one who offers to give his life in place of Benjamin so that he doesn't grieve his father further in the story of Joseph and all of that. Why? What happened? There's something that happened and it's in this chapter to change his whole perspective and narrative.

Ric Shields (05:41):

So, Tamar is widowed twice, left in a system that just absolutely fails her. You've already spoken a bit about this but tell us about the cultural and legal reality she's facing in that moment.

Barbie Odom (05:53):

So, there's something called Levirate marriage and it is actually in scripture as well. It's in Deuteronomy. They carry this law forward. But it was a common law even mentioned in the Hammurabi code, which was written 200 or 300 years before the Ten Commandments were written. What it was, was exactly what happens in this chapter. If a brother dies, the next brother is obligated or someone in the family is obligated to give that widow child so that she has a future. In that culture, if you were a widow without children, you were not taken care of. It was a very scary thing. Also, you could be considered cursed. So especially since she has two dead husbands, she was in a very precarious position.

Ric Shields (06:46):

Even today, if somebody has two dead previous husbands, a third guy comes along is going to say, "I'd really like to know how they died. And did you have any part to play in this?"

Barbie Odom (06:57):

I actually have a friend who's in that situation. But interestingly enough, this Levirate law is still practiced in some places. Not as strictly, but it is still a thing.

Ric Shields (07:11):

I'm so glad you've got all this background. Thank you. That's why we're doing this.

(07:15):

So, Tamar disguises herself and takes a bold, risky step. We're keeping this podcast PG, so we're not going to necessarily talk about it very specifically, and yet we have to. How do you see this? Was it desperation? Was it courage? Or do you think maybe it was calculated justice?

Barbie Odom (07:35):

It's all three of those things. She was desperate. She was put in a place of perpetual widowhood. She was sent back to her father's house, which was an act of shame for her in that culture. She had no children, which is an added curse. She was obviously never going to be getting what she had been promised by Judah. It took incredible courage for her to do what she did. And it was very smart. So, it was very calculated. She was insisting on this law being fulfilled in her, in the only way she could think to do. And I think that was incredibly smart.

Ric Shields (08:14):

Yeah, you're right. It was all of those things.

(08:17):

You're listening to the DoorWays® Ministry Podcast. My name is Ric Shields, and I'm joined on this episode by Barbie Odom. Barbie lived on a kibbutz in Israel for four years and teaches biblical Hebrew. Her experience and understanding of the language and culture are among the reasons I asked her to join me today.

(08:35):

So, Judah unknowingly engages with Tamar. Not only does he engage with her in an act of prostitution, but he also contracts with her. He doesn't even know it's his former daughter-in-law. And then later, he condemns her. What does Judah's condemnation of Tamar, before realizing his own guilt, reveal about the blindness of power and moral double standards and religious hypocrisy?

Barbie Odom (09:03):

Let's talk about Judah for just a minute. We'll see later in the story - "it's okay for me, but not for thee." That definitely comes out. Of course, at this time and in this culture, there was a huge double standard. The women did not have as many rights. Men dominated. And interestingly enough, we see in the Jewish law that is coming out later, a huge shift towards more and more freedom and honor to women. And in fact, this story ends up being an incredible honor to women because Tamar is so influential in Judah's life. Judah is an absolutely terrible person. He's left his family. He's decided he's going to be a Canaanite because -

Ric Shields (09:48):

He can live where he wants to, not where he's been told he should live. He's going to do what he wants.

Barbie Odom (09:54):

It's very possible that he's left the faith of his fathers and joined the Canaanite cult. Because if indeed he thought she was a Canaanite prostitute and a temple prostitute, he was heading to shear his sheep, which was an act of this is how he's making his living. And the whole point of cult prostitution was enacting sexual acts so that you would appease the god so that they would increase your flocks to make you prosperous.

(10:27):

It sounds very possible that he had embraced the Canaanite religion even. He's done what he never should have done and gone and married a Canaanite woman in the first place, was forbidden. And he's betrayed his father, he's betrayed his brother, and he raised some really evil sons. So, this guy's a mess. He's quite the mess and obviously is not a very loyal person.

Ric Shields (10:56):

So, Tamar doesn't speak loudly, but she presents pretty interesting evidence. What can we learn about wisdom in confronting injustice?

Barbie Odom (11:07):

The whole story of that is fascinating to me. Judah has lost his wife. We've got to talk about what she did here. She throws off her widow's weights and dresses like a prostitute. Is waiting by the gate. And she knows that he's going to ask her to do what a prostitute does. How does she know that? She must know a little bit about this guy. She's so smart because she asked for his signet ring and his cord, which is what the signet ring would've hung on, and his staff. So, this is like asking for his credit cards, asking for his driver's license.

Ric Shields (11:50):

His banking information.

Barbie Odom (11:52):

It's his whole identity. And the staff represents authority. So, it's very possible he was a man of means and he was respected. He had these things, which meant that he had stuff. She asked for it and he's so desperate that he is willing to give away his identity so that he can have a few minutes of pleasure and perhaps even hopefully appease the god so that he can be prosperous.

Ric Shields (12:22):

Buy another ring, get another staff, have another cord. Yeah.

Barbie Odom (12:26):

But we know that later when he sends his friend back to take the kid, which he offers the goat, which she says, "But I need some assurance." And she asked for those things. And he says, "Okay, here you are." And the next day he sends the goat that he had promised and she's not there. And so, he's like, "Oh, , let's just keep this on the down low because I don't want to be made a laughingstock."

(12:54):

He knew that what he did was really dumb. And that if people heard about it, they would be like, "What in heck were you thinking to give her your whole identity?"

Ric Shields (13:04):

He's really dumb. And this woman, this female is really smart, smarter than me. She's really smart.

(13:08):

In fact, that's what happens. What begins to change here in Judah? Because he says when he finds out, here's what happened. He says, "She is more righteous than I." Wow.

Barbie Odom (13:20):

This is the moment of redemption. Now, of course, the scripture leaves out a lot. We're not reading, "And he was terribly convicted and he falls on his knees and he asks God to forgive him for all the terrible things he's done," which is what we would like to read. At least I would. But no, all we get is this one sentence, but this is the pivotal sentence of the whole story. And for the future, because everything changes after this.

(13:49):

So, we have to talk about how she handled this because he finds out that she's pregnant and his immediate response is, "Bring her out. We're going to burn her. We're going to put her in a pyre and burn her up." And she comes out, but she quietly gives him these things, the staff, the cord, and the signet ring. And this is when he says, "She is more righteous than I."

(14:18):

The thing that's so cool about this story is she did this very quietly. She did not turn it into some drama and shame him publicly. And this is a huge deal in the Jewish faith. They honor Tamar and have built some of their ethics on this story. That it is, one of the quotes that I read in a Jewish book that I read, "Whoever shames his neighbor in public, it is as if he shed his blood." So, the Jewish people have taken this story and really built a solid perspective on how to treat injustice and how to treat other people with dignity rather than humiliating them.

(15:04):

And that's how she handles it, which I just think is incredible. She doesn't humiliate him. She lets him come to this place on his own. And I think that's incredibly powerful.

Ric Shields (15:17):

And the Bible doesn't say it, but you can't help but wonder did she come up to him kiss him on the cheek and say, "Hi, Father-in-law."

Barbie Odom (15:25):

I don't know. There's so much that is left unsaid that we would love to read about. Because after this, she's part of the fam because we hear about them and then the two sons that are born, the twins are born from this encounter. They obviously, they're in the genealogy of Jesus. And interestingly enough, it is twins.

(15:50):

So, the son that is eventually born first is Zerach is the name of the one who stuck his hand out first and they tied a red cord around his hand. And then he withdrew his hand and then Perez is the one that was born. And Perez is in the line of Jesus in the line of David.

(16:08):

But interestingly enough, in Matthew (chapter) one, Zerach is also mentioned. Just mentioned as the brother of the twin who actually is in the line of David and Jesus. So, I think that's fascinating. Why? We had this big discussion about it. Why is he mentioned in Matthew? It's not even actually in the line of Jesus. I kind of lost my train of though. Where were we?

Ric Shields (16:32):

Turning Point is redemption and how she come up and maybe kissed him on the cheek. We don't know.

Barbie Odom (16:37):

We don't know. But she, but what she does do is show him the father of my children is the owner of these. And he goes, "Okay. All right."

Ric Shields (16:45):

Hello. Nice to meet you again.

Barbie Odom (16:49):

There's so many parallels of deception here because he had gone down away from his family. He had used clothing to deceive his father that was actually washed in the blood of a goat, a baby goat, a kid. And a baby goat is involved in this story. She uses clothing to deceive him. Just, it's all very interesting and a fascinating... There's so many more things we could talk about. We could go down some really interesting rabbit trails.

Ric Shields (17:21):

Some rabbit trails we could, couldn't we?

(17:22):

God is never mentioned explicitly in this chapter. So where do we see his presence anyway?

Barbie Odom (17:29):

We see his presence in that verse that you mentioned where he says, "She is more righteous than me." This is the point of his repentance and his redemption. Everything changes after that.

(17:44):

So, is God mentioned explicitly? No. But his presence so evident throughout it all. Even the way he honors Tamar, which of course, because she's in the line of David and Jesus, that's an incredible honor. He drew her in. That's an act of God.

(18:03):

It's just the story of taking the most rascally person, which is Judah, and using this woman to turn his life back into the path that he was meant to be on is just such a God thing. Wouldn't you think that Joseph would be the good guy? He's amazing. He's a Jesus type. Why isn't he in the line of David and Jesus? It's Judah. And it's because of Tamar. God used Tamar to bring him back. And that's incredible.

Ric Shields (18:40):

She becomes part of the lineage of Jesus. We read in Matthew chapter one, you mentioned earlier. So, what does her inclusion say about how God redeems painful and messy stories?

Barbie Odom (18:52):

There's a couple of things there. First of all, I love this thing that I read. It's by this Jewish rabbi. He said, "To be the chosen people does not mean that other people are not chosen." And I think God makes a really clear point about that by including this Canaanite woman tomorrow in the lineage of King David and Jesus and Ruth. I'm sure you're going to have somebody talk about Ruth. Ruth was a Moabitess. The Moabites were perpetual enemies of Israel, yet there's a Moabite in the lineage of King David and Jesus. So, God is making a real clear point here that in one way or another, we are all chosen. He loves us all. He wants us all included in the family of God. And no one's left out, really. So, I think that's a big part of it. But also, that he would take Judah and he'd be the father of all of this. It's just incredible.

Ric Shields (19:53):

It is.

Barbie Odom (19:54):

I mean, I would've picked Joseph.

Ric Shields (19:57):

There's hope for us, Barbie. There is hope for us. <Laugh>

Barbie Odom (20:00):

There's hope for us because that's me and you.

Ric Shields (20:02):

Yeah, that's right.

Barbie Odom (20:03):

We're Judah.

Ric Shields (20:05):

Barbie, were Tamar sitting across the table from us today, what do you think she would want the church to understand about justice, dignity, and courage?

Barbie Odom (20:15):

I think one of the things she would say is there needs to be, in life, correction - because we're all sinners - everyone. We know we need Jesus. We need to grow. We need discipleship. We need correction. But to be careful not to shame. We need to be very conscientious of the dignity of each person no matter what the situation is and treat each person with dignity and find ways whenever possible to avoid shaming a person. That is one message I believe she would have.

(20:50):

And the other one is to be open to be that person in someone else's life that totally turns around their trajectory. She was so influential in Judah's life and changed the history of his life. And I feel like there's probably people in our lives that we're looking at and going, "Oh, there's just no hope." Or "That person's beyond the pale." But no, they're not. And who knows? Maybe God would use me to change that person's life.

Ric Shields (21:25):

Tamar's story doesn't resolve neatly. A woman pushed to the margins becomes the one who exposes injustice at the very center. And Judah, the man with power, position, and a voice, finally says the words that shift everything. In Genesis 38:26, he says, "She is more righteous than I." That is more than a confession. That is a reversal.

(21:51):

Perhaps we need to ask ourselves this question. Where have we been too quick to judge and too slow to listen? Because God has a way of lifting voices we have ignored and writing redemption stories through those we would have otherwise skipped.

(22:06):

And by the way, this isn't just some story tucked away in Genesis. Tamar's name shows up in the lineage of Jesus. You see, God doesn't sanitize broken stories. He redeems them.

(22:20):

If you benefited from the content of this episode, I hope you'll take a minute to like, comment, subscribe, or forward it to a friend. I think your friend would appreciate hearing it too.

(22:32):

I'd like to give a special thank you to Raymond and Dr. Aletha Oglesby for sponsoring this series on women in scripture with a generous gift. Your gift would also be appreciated and will help to touch others with the love, grace, and hope found in following Christ Jesus. Please visit our website at doorways.cc/give for instructions about how you can support this ministry.

(22:54):

Next week, I will speak with my friend Joy Thorp about Zipporah, the wife of Moses from the Book of Exodus chapter four. It's a story that is a bit unusual while filled with perception, protection, and courage. I hope you'll join us.

(23:09):

As we close this episode, it's my prayer that you will receive this blessing from the book of Ephesians 3:20-21. "Now To him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us. To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever." Amen.