The Bible is littered with the scandalous acts, beliefs and behaviors that come as a shock to anyone who has been taught to regard the Bible as a single-minded manifesto of virtuous heroes. No biblical literature is more scandalous than the story of this “harlot by the side of the road.” When we finish hearing the true story of Jesus’ ancestor Tamar we are left with the unsettling realization that some very seductive, devious and downright naughty stuff was going on in ancient Israel. How very modern!

Joan Shiels has a BA in Religion and a MA in Theology with an emphasis in Bible as Literature. She was drawn to the Bible, in large part, by these stories of wild and wily women.