Genesis 38 makes a brief departure from the story of Jacob’s son Joseph’s life in Egypt to relate the somewhat distasteful story of Jacob’s son Judah’s sexual encounter with his widowed daughter-in-law Tamar whom he mistook for a cult prostitute. Although this story may be revolting to our modern sensibilities, it allows us to explore the ancient Hebrew tradition of levirate marriage under which the eldest surviving brother of a man who died childless was required to take his brother’s widow as wife and father offspring by her for his dead brother. More importantly, Perez – Tamar’s son by Judah – became the forefather of Jesus’ mother Mary and her husband Joseph in fulfillment of the prophecies about the coming Messiah and of God’s eternal plan of salvation for all mankind.