וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוּדָה֩ לְתָמָ֨ר כַּלָּת֜וֹ שְׁבִ֧י אַלְמָנָ֣ה בֵית־אָבִ֗יךְ עַד־יִגְדַּל֙ שֵׁלָ֣ה בְנִ֔י כִּ֣י אָמַ֔ר פֶּן־יָמ֥וּת גַּם־ה֖וּא כְּאֶחָ֑יו וַתֵּ֣לֶךְ תָּמָ֔ר וַתֵּ֖שֶׁב בֵּ֥ית אָבִֽיהָ׃
Da sprach Juda zu seiner Schwiegertochter Tamar: Bleibe als Witwe im Hause deines Vaters, bis mein Sohn Schelah herangewachsen ist; — denn er dachte, dieser möchte auch sterben, gleich seinen Brüdern. Und Tamar ging hin und blieb in ihres Vaters Haus.
On the Unchangeableness of God
[137] Tamar was bidden to remain a widow in the house of her father, her one and only saviour (Gen. 38:11), for whose sake she has left for ever the intercourse and society of mortals, and remained desolate and widowed of human pleasures. Thus she receives the divine impregnation, and, being filled with the seeds of virtue, bears them in her womb and is in travail with noble actions. And when she has brought them to the birth, she wins the meed of conquest over her adversaries, and is enrolled as victor with the palm as the symbol of her victory. For Tamar is by interpretation a palm.