Matthew 1:3

Phares and Zara. These were children of Thamar (Tamar) by Judah (see on Gen. 38:6-30). Thamar, probably a Canaanite (see Gen. 38:2, 6), was Judah’s daughter-in-law.

Thamar. It is the exception, rather than the rule, to find women named in Hebrew genealogical lists. Even so, Matthew refers to them incidentally rather than specifically as genealogical links. The fact that the names of such honored women as Sarah and Rachel are omitted suggests that the four women mentioned were probably in each case included because of unusual circumstances. It is likely that all four — Thamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bath-sheba — were probably of Gentile origin. Herein lies an implied rebuke to Jewish exclusiveness, and a tacit recognition of the fact that Jesus belongs to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews.

With the exception of Ruth, scandals were attached to the names of all these women. A merely human historian might have chosen to pass over their names in silence for fear that the honor of the Messiah be tarnished. But Matthew specifically quotes the Master as saying to the Pharisees that He came not “to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (ch. 9:13). It may be that Matthew, himself a publican and therefore sometimes classed with harlots (see ch. 21:31, 32), found in his heart a tender place for others who were generally shunned as living beyond the pale of respectability.