| Tamar, Judah's daughter-in-law (Genesis 38) is an important and enigmatic biblical figure. The enigma stems from the dichotomy between Tamar's daring, unconventional behavior and her elevation to prominence in the Bible and later Jewish tradition. Despite her transgressive behavior, Tamar is praised by Judah when he recognizes his own error, and Tamar ultimately becomes King David's ancestress. The question this study attempts to answer is how Jewish biblical commentators interpreted and transformed Tamar's complex figure.;The study presents Jewish religious writings on this topic from the earliest sources through the centuries. Interpretations of Tamar are reviewed and analyzed with respect to how they developed her figure at different times throughout the millennia of Jewish exegesis. Each genre of interpretation is introduced and placed in its historical context. The analysis traces the process of Tamar's transformation in the earliest interpreters, such as the Targum, Philo, Pseudoepigrapha, early Midrash, and Talmud. It proceeds with the classic medieval commentators, the Hasidic writings, and the feminist interpreters of the modern period.;The study demonstrates that, beginning in the Bible itself, Tamar evolves from a morally ambiguous, controversial character into an admirable heroic woman and a national symbol of morality. The exploration of exegetical sources reveals a striking degree of consistent praise for Tamar over a period of twenty centuries. This is seen in the ways Tamar is raised to the level of a saint in the ancient liturgical poetry, in Tamar acquiring cosmic significance in the mystical traditions, and in Tamar becoming a representative of the disenfranchised in modern feminist interpretation. While the criteria for praise change, the admiration for Tamar remains constant.;This work also illustrates how various genres and disparate traditions interact, and how new motifs introduced by an early interpreter later become authoritative tradition in later periods. Finally, this panoramic perspective of interpretive traditions depicts how commentators articulate their own communities' moral lessons and religious ideals. Tamar emerges as an example of constructive transformation through interpretation. |
