Right in the middle of Joseph's story, Genesis takes a detour. Judah goes down from his brothers, marries a Canaanite, has three sons. The first, Er, is wicked; God kills him. The second, Onan, refuses his duty to Tamar; God kills him too. Judah promises Tamar his third son but never delivers. Years pass. Tamar dresses as a prostitute, sits by the road, and Judah sleeps with her—leaving his signet, cord, and staff as pledge. When her pregnancy shows, Judah demands she be burned. She sends back his belongings: "Identify, please, whose these are." The same phrase the brothers used with Joseph's bloody coat. Judah's confession: "She is more righteous than I." From this union comes Perez—ancestor of David, ancestor of Jesus. God writes the Messiah's genealogy in scandalous ink.

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