The 5
4 women are mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy and another is referenced. With so few, it seems to shout out the significance and importance of them being there. I was intrigued, especially after reading about the first woman, and decided to research them all. Their stories are dark and rough. They are by no means perfect. Yet God is there moving and using them for such a great purpose. They were a part of our salvation. Let’s meet them.
TAMAR is introduced to us in Genesis 38. She marries Judah’s firstborn son.
Genesis 38:7 - Now Er, Judah’s firstborn son, was evil in the Lord’s sight, and the Lord put him to death.
It was the next family member’s duty to step in and redeem her husband, producing offspring to carry on his name. Onan, Judah’s next son was given this task.
Genesis 38:9-11 - But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he released his semen on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so he put him to death also. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He might die too, like his brothers.”
Tamar has had a rough life. She was married to an evil man and he died. She got a second chance at marriage only to have him die as well. Then she was sent back home childless, to wait for a 3rd chance.
After a long time, Judah’s wife died and Tamar still wasn’t redeemed by his youngest son. She decided to take matters into her own hands.
Genesis 38:14-15(condensed) - Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” So she took off her widow’s clothes, veiled her face, covered herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah….When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
Pending the payment of a young goat for her prostitution, she requests that Judah leave his signet ring, cord, and staff as a guarantee for the future payment.
Genesis 38:18 - So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
When he went to send the payment of the goat he was unable, for the “prostitute” was gone and no one knew who they were inquiring for.
Genesis 38:23-26 - Upon hearing Judah replied, “Let her keep the items for herself; otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.” About three months later Judah was told. “Your daughter-in-law, Tamar, has been acting like a prostitute and now she is pregnant.
“Bring her out,” Judah said, “and let her be burned to death!”
As she was being brought out, she sent her father-in-law this message: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Examine them. Whose signet ring, cord, and staff are these?”
Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her intimately again.
An incredibly messy turn of events and that is where her story ends. Giving birth to Judah’s twins, one of which continues on the family line in Jesus’ genealogy.
RAHAB is a more well-known character. We meet her in Joshua 2 and 6:22-27. She is a prostitute in the town of Jericho, which is terrified of the impending destruction from the Israelites. Her life is dark and difficult.
One night 2 Israelite spies come into Jericho to asses the town. Rahab takes them into her home and hides them. The king of Jericho sends men to her door requesting that she hand them over. She admitted to having them in her house but said they had left the city right before the gates closed and encouraged the men to quickly pursue them, for they might catch up to them. Once the coast was clear she had the spies come out of their hiding place and made an agreement with them to keep herself and her family safe during the attack on Jericho.
Joshua 2:9 - She said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you.”
Both parties kept their promise and Rahab and her family were removed from the city before everything in it was burned. I can’t even imagine watching your city go up in flames. This is where her story ends. We find through the documentation of Jesus’ genealogy that she has relations with Tamar’s great great great great grandson and gives birth to Boaz.
RUTH immediately comes into play in the book of the Bible Ruth. Ruth was a Moabitess, a foreigner. She married a Bethlehem man who traveled to her land. He passed away before they had kids. All of the immediate men of that family had died and she had no chance of a redeemer. Despite having watched her father-in-law, brother-in-law, and husband pass she seems to believe in their God. Her mother-in-law encouraged her to stay at home with her parents and have a chance with a new husband and family. Ruth chooses to stay by her mother-in-law's side and travel with Naomi, her mother-in-law, to her homeland, an unknown land to Ruth. Due to this, she is a widow and poor as well.
Ruth 1:22, 2:2 - They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest… Ruth asks Naomi “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?”
She ends up in Rahab’s son’s field. He immediately noticed her among his workers and inquired about her. Her story captivated him and he offered her protection and provided for her.
Ruth 2:11-12 - "Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me; how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. May the LORD reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
What a blessing this was amidst her hardship. By choosing to go out and gather fallen grain she not only was choosing to work a hard long day to provide for her mother-in-law and herself, she was also risking being raped or attacked. Boaz and Naomi, both address this:
Ruth 2:8-9 - “Don’t gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants…Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you?”
Ruth 2:22 - “It is good for you to work with his female servants, so nothing will happen to you in another field.”
Upon further conversation with Naomi, it turns out that Boaz is a redeemer for their family. Following her mother-in-law’s instructions she approaches Boaz about it.
Ruth 3:9,12-13 - “I am Ruth your servant. Take me under your wing for you are a family redeemer.”
“Yes, it is true that I am a family redeemer, but there is a redeemer closer than I am… If he wants to redeem you, that’s good. Let him redeem you. But if he doesn’t want to redeem you, as the LORD lives, I will.”
Boaz stuck to his word and approached this other man in front of elders to ensure it was immediately and legally taken care of. Redeeming the field that belonged to Naomi sounded good to the man, but when Ruth was mentioned it became less tempting.
Ruth 4:5-6 - “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the Moabitiess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.”
The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it. -
Boaz willingly “ruined his own inheritance” and married Ruth. They gave birth to Obed, who is the grandfather of King David.
BATHSHEBA is found in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 with King David. While she is not directly named in Jesus’ genealogy, she is referenced.
Matthew 1:6 - David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife.
Yes, she was Uriah’s wife.
2 Samuel 11:2,4-5 - One evening David got up from bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing —-- a very beautiful woman… David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her…. The woman conceived and sent word to inform David, “I am pregnant.”
While David chose to stay behind from battle, Bathsheba’s husband along with all of Israel was out to war. It breaks my heart when I try to put myself in the shoes of a woman whose husband is out to war. This was Bathsheba. Then she is approached by the king’s messengers. Did she willingly commit adultery? Was she raped? We don’t know. But regardless of the details, we know that this darkness happened and there was evidence for all in her pregnancy.
David called Uriah home from the war and sent him home, hoping he would sleep with Bathsheba and the pregnancy would be covered up.
2 Samuel 11:9,11,14-15,26-27 - But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house… “The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!”... The next day David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote: Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies…. When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband, Uriah, had died, she mourned for him. When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the LORD considered what David had done to be evil.
It is hard to imagine what state Bethsheba was in at this point, it depends on the answer to the previous situation. If she was raped, this would be extremely tragic and devastating. She not only went through something awful, but now her husband has been murdered and she has to marry the man who did it all. If she willingly committed adultery, it then depends on her state of mind with Uriah. Had she already counted him as dead? Was she pained that he loved war or his country more than her? Did she want him dead? Was her time of mourning just a ritual or was it heartfelt? Did she want to be married to King David and couldn’t wait for that lifestyle? There are a lot of unknowns, and just as before, regardless of the answers, it was darkness. Her life as we know it, has been marked by darkness.
2 Samuel 12:15,18 - The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became deathly ill… On the seventh day the baby died.
And the darkness continues. Her first child, the product of the adultery, the reason for Uriah’s death, is gone. I don’t even want to think about losing a child and there was so much more, so many complications on top of that, such darkness.
2 Samuel 12:24 - Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba; he went to her and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon. The LORD loved him.
Solomon carried on the family line to Jesus.
In Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2, we meet MARY, Jesus’ mother, a poor young girl, who is betrothed to Joseph.
She lived in the lowly town of Nazareth. Nazareth wasn’t even mentioned in the Old Testament as well as other records of writing. It is remarkable for it’s completely unremarkable nature. It was 6 miles from the closest major road and had no good water supply, only one fairly weak well. This is where we meet her, in Nazareth.
Then she is approached by an angel telling her of the great news. She is the mother of the promised savior, the One they have been waiting for since Eve. What an honor.
But what about her marriage? She was now a pregnant young girl, who wasn’t married. What would Joseph think? Would he believe her? Would he end their engagement in divorce? He didn’t believe her and he came close to ending their engagement, but God intervened.
Then at 9 months pregnant, she traveled 4 days, 90 miles, on a donkey, to Jerusalem with Joseph to be counted for the census. They were left staying with the animals, potentially because of rejection for the shame they brought onto Joseph's family with her pregnancy. And that is where she gave birth, without a midwife, with no one, but Joseph by her side, animals surrounding her, and a feeding trough to lay her baby in. That is where she slept while recovering from delivery, on the floor, amongst the animals, with no bottles for Joseph to help. Yet God reassured them, they experienced the shepherds coming and the wise men coming years later.
After the wise men, they had to move to a foreign land, Egypt, to protect this treasure of a boy. They stayed in this foreign land, that had a bad connection with their history, until it was safe to return home.
She then experienced the fear of losing this precious son on a long journey. For 3 days she didn’t know where he was. (Luke 2:41-50)
At some point after this, it is supposed that she became a widow.
She got to witness Jesus’ first miracle. (John 2:1-12)
She witnessed him speaking to a multitude of people, his ministry beginning. She experienced the hostility from the scribes of Jerusalem who responded by, saying he was possessed by demons. (Mark 3:31)
She experienced her hometown, Nazareth, forming a mob and trying to throw him off the cliff. (Luke 4:28-30)
And being in Jerusalem for Passover, she witnessed her son being brutally tortured and killed on the cross. (John 19:25-27)
There is no record of her getting to see him after his resurrection.
Life isn’t perfect. It isn’t beautiful in many lights. God knows that and He works in it and through you. Take heart, God is in the midst of your darkness.
TAMAR is introduced to us in Genesis 38. She marries Judah’s firstborn son.
Genesis 38:7 - Now Er, Judah’s firstborn son, was evil in the Lord’s sight, and the Lord put him to death.
It was the next family member’s duty to step in and redeem her husband, producing offspring to carry on his name. Onan, Judah’s next son was given this task.
Genesis 38:9-11 - But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he released his semen on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so he put him to death also. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He might die too, like his brothers.”
Tamar has had a rough life. She was married to an evil man and he died. She got a second chance at marriage only to have him die as well. Then she was sent back home childless, to wait for a 3rd chance.
After a long time, Judah’s wife died and Tamar still wasn’t redeemed by his youngest son. She decided to take matters into her own hands.
Genesis 38:14-15(condensed) - Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” So she took off her widow’s clothes, veiled her face, covered herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah….When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
Pending the payment of a young goat for her prostitution, she requests that Judah leave his signet ring, cord, and staff as a guarantee for the future payment.
Genesis 38:18 - So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
When he went to send the payment of the goat he was unable, for the “prostitute” was gone and no one knew who they were inquiring for.
Genesis 38:23-26 - Upon hearing Judah replied, “Let her keep the items for herself; otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.” About three months later Judah was told. “Your daughter-in-law, Tamar, has been acting like a prostitute and now she is pregnant.
“Bring her out,” Judah said, “and let her be burned to death!”
As she was being brought out, she sent her father-in-law this message: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Examine them. Whose signet ring, cord, and staff are these?”
Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her intimately again.
An incredibly messy turn of events and that is where her story ends. Giving birth to Judah’s twins, one of which continues on the family line in Jesus’ genealogy.
RAHAB is a more well-known character. We meet her in Joshua 2 and 6:22-27. She is a prostitute in the town of Jericho, which is terrified of the impending destruction from the Israelites. Her life is dark and difficult.
One night 2 Israelite spies come into Jericho to asses the town. Rahab takes them into her home and hides them. The king of Jericho sends men to her door requesting that she hand them over. She admitted to having them in her house but said they had left the city right before the gates closed and encouraged the men to quickly pursue them, for they might catch up to them. Once the coast was clear she had the spies come out of their hiding place and made an agreement with them to keep herself and her family safe during the attack on Jericho.
Joshua 2:9 - She said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you.”
Both parties kept their promise and Rahab and her family were removed from the city before everything in it was burned. I can’t even imagine watching your city go up in flames. This is where her story ends. We find through the documentation of Jesus’ genealogy that she has relations with Tamar’s great great great great grandson and gives birth to Boaz.
RUTH immediately comes into play in the book of the Bible Ruth. Ruth was a Moabitess, a foreigner. She married a Bethlehem man who traveled to her land. He passed away before they had kids. All of the immediate men of that family had died and she had no chance of a redeemer. Despite having watched her father-in-law, brother-in-law, and husband pass she seems to believe in their God. Her mother-in-law encouraged her to stay at home with her parents and have a chance with a new husband and family. Ruth chooses to stay by her mother-in-law's side and travel with Naomi, her mother-in-law, to her homeland, an unknown land to Ruth. Due to this, she is a widow and poor as well.
Ruth 1:22, 2:2 - They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest… Ruth asks Naomi “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?”
She ends up in Rahab’s son’s field. He immediately noticed her among his workers and inquired about her. Her story captivated him and he offered her protection and provided for her.
Ruth 2:11-12 - "Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me; how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. May the LORD reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
What a blessing this was amidst her hardship. By choosing to go out and gather fallen grain she not only was choosing to work a hard long day to provide for her mother-in-law and herself, she was also risking being raped or attacked. Boaz and Naomi, both address this:
Ruth 2:8-9 - “Don’t gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants…Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you?”
Ruth 2:22 - “It is good for you to work with his female servants, so nothing will happen to you in another field.”
Upon further conversation with Naomi, it turns out that Boaz is a redeemer for their family. Following her mother-in-law’s instructions she approaches Boaz about it.
Ruth 3:9,12-13 - “I am Ruth your servant. Take me under your wing for you are a family redeemer.”
“Yes, it is true that I am a family redeemer, but there is a redeemer closer than I am… If he wants to redeem you, that’s good. Let him redeem you. But if he doesn’t want to redeem you, as the LORD lives, I will.”
Boaz stuck to his word and approached this other man in front of elders to ensure it was immediately and legally taken care of. Redeeming the field that belonged to Naomi sounded good to the man, but when Ruth was mentioned it became less tempting.
Ruth 4:5-6 - “On the day you buy the field from Naomi, you will acquire Ruth the Moabitiess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property.”
The redeemer replied, “I can’t redeem it myself or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it. -
Boaz willingly “ruined his own inheritance” and married Ruth. They gave birth to Obed, who is the grandfather of King David.
BATHSHEBA is found in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 with King David. While she is not directly named in Jesus’ genealogy, she is referenced.
Matthew 1:6 - David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife.
Yes, she was Uriah’s wife.
2 Samuel 11:2,4-5 - One evening David got up from bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing —-- a very beautiful woman… David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her…. The woman conceived and sent word to inform David, “I am pregnant.”
While David chose to stay behind from battle, Bathsheba’s husband along with all of Israel was out to war. It breaks my heart when I try to put myself in the shoes of a woman whose husband is out to war. This was Bathsheba. Then she is approached by the king’s messengers. Did she willingly commit adultery? Was she raped? We don’t know. But regardless of the details, we know that this darkness happened and there was evidence for all in her pregnancy.
David called Uriah home from the war and sent him home, hoping he would sleep with Bathsheba and the pregnancy would be covered up.
2 Samuel 11:9,11,14-15,26-27 - But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house… “The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!”... The next day David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote: Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies…. When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband, Uriah, had died, she mourned for him. When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the LORD considered what David had done to be evil.
It is hard to imagine what state Bethsheba was in at this point, it depends on the answer to the previous situation. If she was raped, this would be extremely tragic and devastating. She not only went through something awful, but now her husband has been murdered and she has to marry the man who did it all. If she willingly committed adultery, it then depends on her state of mind with Uriah. Had she already counted him as dead? Was she pained that he loved war or his country more than her? Did she want him dead? Was her time of mourning just a ritual or was it heartfelt? Did she want to be married to King David and couldn’t wait for that lifestyle? There are a lot of unknowns, and just as before, regardless of the answers, it was darkness. Her life as we know it, has been marked by darkness.
2 Samuel 12:15,18 - The Lord struck the baby that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became deathly ill… On the seventh day the baby died.
And the darkness continues. Her first child, the product of the adultery, the reason for Uriah’s death, is gone. I don’t even want to think about losing a child and there was so much more, so many complications on top of that, such darkness.
2 Samuel 12:24 - Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba; he went to her and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon. The LORD loved him.
Solomon carried on the family line to Jesus.
In Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2, we meet MARY, Jesus’ mother, a poor young girl, who is betrothed to Joseph.
She lived in the lowly town of Nazareth. Nazareth wasn’t even mentioned in the Old Testament as well as other records of writing. It is remarkable for it’s completely unremarkable nature. It was 6 miles from the closest major road and had no good water supply, only one fairly weak well. This is where we meet her, in Nazareth.
Then she is approached by an angel telling her of the great news. She is the mother of the promised savior, the One they have been waiting for since Eve. What an honor.
But what about her marriage? She was now a pregnant young girl, who wasn’t married. What would Joseph think? Would he believe her? Would he end their engagement in divorce? He didn’t believe her and he came close to ending their engagement, but God intervened.
Then at 9 months pregnant, she traveled 4 days, 90 miles, on a donkey, to Jerusalem with Joseph to be counted for the census. They were left staying with the animals, potentially because of rejection for the shame they brought onto Joseph's family with her pregnancy. And that is where she gave birth, without a midwife, with no one, but Joseph by her side, animals surrounding her, and a feeding trough to lay her baby in. That is where she slept while recovering from delivery, on the floor, amongst the animals, with no bottles for Joseph to help. Yet God reassured them, they experienced the shepherds coming and the wise men coming years later.
After the wise men, they had to move to a foreign land, Egypt, to protect this treasure of a boy. They stayed in this foreign land, that had a bad connection with their history, until it was safe to return home.
She then experienced the fear of losing this precious son on a long journey. For 3 days she didn’t know where he was. (Luke 2:41-50)
At some point after this, it is supposed that she became a widow.
She got to witness Jesus’ first miracle. (John 2:1-12)
She witnessed him speaking to a multitude of people, his ministry beginning. She experienced the hostility from the scribes of Jerusalem who responded by, saying he was possessed by demons. (Mark 3:31)
She experienced her hometown, Nazareth, forming a mob and trying to throw him off the cliff. (Luke 4:28-30)
And being in Jerusalem for Passover, she witnessed her son being brutally tortured and killed on the cross. (John 19:25-27)
There is no record of her getting to see him after his resurrection.
Life isn’t perfect. It isn’t beautiful in many lights. God knows that and He works in it and through you. Take heart, God is in the midst of your darkness.
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