John Calvin Commentary Genesis 38:24

"And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and moreover, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt." — Genesis 38:24 (ASV)

And it came to pass about three months after. Tamar could have exposed the crime sooner, but she waited until she would be demanded for capital punishment, for then she would have stronger ground for protest. The reason Judah subjected his daughter-in-law to such a severe punishment was that he considered her guilty of adultery. For what the Lord later confirmed by His law seems then to have prevailed by custom among people: that a young woman, from the time of her betrothal, should be strictly faithful to her husband.

Tamar had married into the family of Judah; she was then betrothed to his third son. It was not, therefore, simple and common fornication that was the issue for judgment, but the crime of adultery, which Judah prosecuted on his own behalf because he had been wronged through his son.

Now, this kind of punishment is proof that adultery has been greatly abhorred in all ages. The law of God commands adulterers to be stoned. Before punishment was authorized by a written law, the adulterous woman was, by common consent, committed to the flames. This seems to have been done by a divine instinct, so that, under the direction and authority of nature, the sanctity of marriage might be fortified as by a strong guard.

And although a man is not the master of his own body, but there is a mutual obligation between him and his wife, yet husbands who had illicit relations with unmarried women were not subject to capital punishment. This was because that punishment was inflicted upon women not only because of their immodesty, but also because of the disgrace the woman brings upon her husband and the confusion caused by the clandestine mixing of lineage.

For what else will remain safe in human society if permission is given to secretly introduce the offspring of a stranger? To steal a name that may be given to illegitimate offspring? And to transfer to them property taken from the lawful heirs? It is no wonder, then, that in former times the fidelity of marriage was so sternly upheld on this point.

How much more vile, and how much less excusable, is our negligence today, which fosters adulteries by allowing them to go unpunished. Capital punishment, indeed, is considered too severe for the gravity of the offense. Why then do we punish lesser faults more severely? Truly, the world was deceived by the schemes of Satan when it allowed the law, engraved on everyone by nature, to become obsolete.

Meanwhile, a pretext has been found for this utter madness: namely, that Christ dismissed the adulteress safely (John 8:11), as if He had truly undertaken to impose punishment on thieves, murderers, liars, and sorcerers. Therefore, it is futile to try to establish a rule from an act of Christ, who deliberately refrained from the role of an earthly judge.

However, it may be asked, since Judah, who thus boldly usurps the right of the sword, was a private person and even a stranger in the land, from where did he get this great liberty to be the judge of life and death?

I answer that the words should not be taken as if he were commanding, by his own authority, that his daughter-in-law be put to death, or as if executioners were ready at his command. Rather, because the offense was confirmed and made known, he, as her accuser, freely declares the punishment, as if the sentence had already been passed by the judges.

Indeed, I do not doubt that assemblies were then customarily held in which judgments were delivered. Therefore, I simply explain that Judah commanded Tamar to be brought forward in public so that, after the case was tried, she might be punished according to custom. But the specification of the punishment implies that the case is one that allows no dispute, because Tamar is convicted of the crime even before she is summoned to judgment.