Interesting Facts

• This individual is identified by multiple names in the sources: Aliyath, Betasu’el, and Bedsu’el.
• She is explicitly stated to be the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua.
• She is mentioned as not permitting her son Shelah to marry Tamar.
• Her death is noted as occurring at the revolution of the year.

Genealogy

• Aliyath, also known as Betasu’el or Bedsu’el, was the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. She became the wife of Judah.
• Together they bore three sons: Er, Onan, and Shiloh (also spelled Shelah).
• The sources do not provide information about her ancestry beyond her father, Shua, nor do they mention any other marital connections or offspring beyond her children with Judah.

Historical Context

Aliyath’s life took place in the land of Canaan during the time when the sons of Jacob were establishing themselves in the region, prior to their descent into Egypt. Judah’s marriage to a Canaanite woman highlights the interactions and intermingling between the Israelite family and the local populations. The mention of her Canaanite origin might provide context for the later issues surrounding the marriage of Judah’s firstborn son, Er, as the source indicates he wished to take a wife from the kinsfolk of his mother, but Judah would not permit him. Her role as a mother and wife within Judah’s household reflects the patriarchal family structure of the time. The detail that she did not permit her son Shelah to marry Tamar after the deaths of Er and Onan suggests a potential concern for the well-being or life of her remaining son, possibly due to a belief that Tamar was somehow responsible for the deaths of her first two husbands. Her death is noted without further elaboration, occurring at some point after the birth of her sons and before the events involving Tamar’s deception of Judah.

Narrative

Aliyath’s narrative presence in the sources is relatively brief but significant in understanding Judah’s early life and family. She enters the story when Judah “went at that time to Adulam, and he came to a man of Adulam, and his name was Hirah, and Judah saw there the daughter of a man from Canaan, and her name was Aliyath, the daughter of Shua, and he took her, and came to her”. This establishes her as Judah’s wife and a Canaanite by origin. Her primary role in the narrative is as the mother of Judah’s three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. A notable point in her narrative is that after the deaths of her first two sons who were married to Tamar, she did not allow her youngest son, Shelah, to marry Tamar, indicating a protective instinct or perhaps a perceived negative association with Tamar. The text states, “Bedsu’el, the wife of Judah, did not permit her son Shelah to marry”. Her death is mentioned as a temporal marker, occurring before the later events involving Judah and Tamar, as the text notes, “And at the revolution of the year, Aliyath the wife of Judah died” and subsequently Judah’s interaction with Tamar took place “in process of time” after her death. While she does not have direct dialogue attributed to her in the provided excerpts, her actions, particularly her decision regarding Shelah and Tamar, influence the unfolding events of Judah’s family history. Her Canaanite background also serves as a subtle undercurrent, highlighting the early interactions between Jacob’s sons and the people of the land.