Person Old and New Testament
Tamar
Also known as Tamar =ESV, NIV; Thamar =KJV
Tamar was Judah's daughter-in-law who, after being wronged by him, bore twin sons Perez and Zerah. Mentioned in 7 verses across 4 books, first at Genesis 38:6.
Why it matters. Judah's daughter-in-law who bore Perez and Zerah
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Tamar
Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah, married first to his son Er and then to Onan (Gen.38.6-11). After being wronged by Judah, Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute and conceived twins by him (Gen.38.13-24). She gave birth to Perez and Zerah, who became ancestors of the tribe of Judah (Gen.38.29-30; Rut.4.12; 1Ch.2.4). Tamar is praised for her righteousness in contrast to Judah (Gen.38.26). She is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Mat.1.3).
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
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Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 7 verses across 4 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.