The Protective Red Thread

When Tamar disguises herself as a זוֹנָה (zonah), “sex worker,” to trick her father-in-law into sleeping with her, Judah falls for her ruse, and Tamar becomes pregnant with twins. As she is giving birth, the midwife binds שָׁנִי (shani), “scarlet,” around the hand (or wrist) of one of the babies:

^{ברשׁית לח׃כח} וַיְהִי בְלִדְתָּהּ וַיִּתֶּן יָד וַתִּקַּח הַמְיַלֶּדֶת וַתִּקְשֹׁר עַל יָדוֹ שָׁנִי לֵאמֹר זֶה יָצָא רִאשֹׁנָה.

^{Gen 38:28} And when she was giving birth, one put out a hand, so the midwife took and bound scarlet (shani) upon his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”^[1]

The term “scarlet,” here, is short-hand for a red-dyed thin piece of yarn or fabric.

Scarlet Cord in Rahab’s Window

Scarlet also features in the story of the Israelite spies who scouted Canaan prior to the entrance into the land. After saving two of the spies from capture in Jericho, a zonah called Rahab asks in return that the Israelites spare her and her family when they inevitably conquer the land of Canaan (2:12–13). The two men agree, adding a condition to their promise:

‏^{יהושׁע ב׃יח} הִנֵּה אֲנַחְנוּ בָאִים בָּאָרֶץ אֶת תִּקְוַת חוּט הַשָּׁנִי הַזֶּה תִּקְשְׁרִי בַּחַלּוֹן אֲשֶׁר הוֹרַדְתֵּנוּ בוֹ וְאֶת אָבִיךְ וְאֶת אִמֵּךְ וְאֶת אַחַיִךְ וְאֵת כָּל בֵּית אָבִיךְ תַּאַסְפִי אֵלַיִךְ הַבָּיְתָה.

^{Josh 2:18} When we are coming into the land, you shall bind this cord of scarlet thread (tiqvat chut ha-shani) in the window from which you made us descend, and you shall gather your father and mother and brothers and all of your father’s house to yourself at home.

If Rahab follows these instructions, the men will guarantee the safety of those who remain in her house during the attack on the city (v. 19). Although the accounts of Tamar and Rahab provide a reason for the use of the threads, neither explains why they are red in color.

Red Thread Dread

Some modern commentators assume that the mention of scarlet in the stories of Tamar and Rahab is negative, related to Rahab’s profession as a zonah and Tamar’s temporary disguise as one.^[2] After all, associations between the color red and illicit sexual activity seem to be omnipresent—from the scarlet-clad “whore of Babylon” (Rev 17:4–6) to Nathaniel Hawthorn’s Scarlet Letter to the term “Red-Light District,” to name just a few.^[3]

For example, biblical scholar Scott Noegel argues: “The author [of the Rahab story] transforms the scarlet cord from an emblem of prostitution into a symbol of hope.”^[4] Anthropologist Elly Teman writes of these scarlet threads: “It is a sign of repentance, in that both Tamar and Rahab were forgiven for their sins of harlotry.”^[5]

Scarlet as Blood and Oppression

Granted, the Bible does include passages in which scarlet imagery conveys a negative message. For example, Isaiah’s description of sin as scarlet criticizes the wealthy residents of Jerusalem, who oppress the poor while indulging in luxury:^[6]

^{ישׁעיה א:יח} לְכוּ נָא וְנִוָּכְחָה יֹאמַר יְ־הוָה אִם יִהְיוּ חֲטָאֵיכֶם כַּשָּׁנִים כַּשֶּׁלֶג יַלְבִּינוּ אִם יַאְדִּימוּ כַתּוֹלָע כַּצֶּמֶר יִהְיוּ.

^{Isa 1:18} Come now, let us argue it out, says YHWH: If your sins are like scarlet (shani), will they become like snow? If they are red like crimson (tolaʿ), will they become like wool?^[7]

In ancient times, scarlet was likely highly valued due to its striking bright red hue and colorfast nature, meaning that it did not easily fade over time. The dye is made out of crushed female kermes beetles (from which we get the English word “crimson”). Since the bodies of about eighty beetles are required to make a single gram of dye, it is incredibly expensive to produce.^[8] The high cost of scarlet meant it could be associated with people, especially women, who were frivolous or even oppressive with their wealth.

In addition, Jeremiah describes Jerusalem as a woman dressed in scarlet and adorned with gold and makeup in an attempt to attract lovers:

‏^{ירמיה ד:ל} וְאַתִּי שָׁדוּד מַה תַּעֲשִׂי כִּי תִלְבְּשִׁי שָׁנִי כִּי תַעְדִּי עֲדִי זָהָב כִּי תִקְרְעִי בַפּוּךְ עֵינַיִךְ לַשָּׁוְא תִּתְיַפִּי מָאֲסוּ בָךְ עֹגְבִים נַפְשֵׁךְ יְבַקֵּשׁוּ.

^{Jer 4:30} And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet (shani), that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.^[9]

The scarlet color of Jerusalem’s clothing is reminiscent of Jeremiah’s accusation against the city—בִּכְנָפַיִךְ נִמְצְאוּ דַּם נַפְשׁוֹת אֶבְיוֹנִים נְקִיִּים, “on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the innocent needy ones” (2:34).^[10]

Scarlet as Beautiful and Pleasing

Negative passages like the examples above are a minority, however. More often, scarlet serves as an indicator of wealth, luxury, and a pleasing aesthetic effect, especially in association with women.

Daughters of Israel – David, lamenting Saul’s death, reminds them that Saul clothed them luxuriously in scarlet and gold when he was king:

‏^{שׁמואל ב א:כד} בְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל שָׁאוּל בְּכֶינָה הַמַּלְבִּשְׁכֶם שָׁנִי עִם עֲדָנִים הַמַּעֲלֶה עֲדִי זָהָב עַל לְבוּשְׁכֶן.

^{2 Sam 1:24} O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with scarlet, in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.^[11]

The ideal wife – כָל בֵּיתָהּ לָבֻשׁ שָׁנִים, “Her entire household is clothed in scarlet” when it snows (Prov 31:21).

A woman’s lips – The Song of Songs describes the female lover’s lips as being כְּחוּט הַשָּׁנִי, “like a scarlet thread” (Song 4:3), and, more obscurely, her head as being כַּכַּרְמֶל (reading karmel as karmil), “like scarlet,” and her hair כָּאַרְגָּמָן, “like purple” (Song 7:6).^[12]

Since scarlet imagery can carry either negative or positive connotations, which of these senses applies in the stories of the Tamar and Rahab?

Is Sex Work Inherently Sinful?

Neither story comments negatively on Rahab or Tamar’s sex work. Rather, the stories are consistent with the Bible’s generally neutral presentation of female sex work, which it only prohibits for married women and the daughters of priests (Lev 20:10; Lev 21:9; Deut 22:22).^[13]

Proverbs even reflects an important social role played by sex workers, advising young men to seek one out rather than to commit adultery with a married woman:

‏^{משׁלי ו:כו} כִּי בְעַד אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה עַד כִּכַּר לָחֶם וְאֵשֶׁת אִישׁ נֶפֶשׁ יְקָרָה תָצוּד.

^{Prov 6:26} For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread, but the wife of another stalks a man’s precious life.^[14]

Moreover, the biblical narratives of Tamar and Rahab present them as the heroes in stories about Israel’s survival during its challenging early history. Tamar secures the continuation of Judah’s line, while Rahab ensures that the Israelite spies return to Joshua with the information that enables them to conquer Canaan.

The positive presentation of these women does not support negative interpretations of the red threads they use. An examination of the uses of scarlet elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible and its cultural world, however, reveals a positive ritual use for red threads that does fit the context of both narratives.^[15]

Scarlet in Ritual

Scarlet is a material element in two purification rituals:

Red heifer for removing corpse pollution (Num 19): requires burning a red heifer along with עֵץ אֶרֶז וְאֵזוֹב וּשְׁנִי תוֹלָעַת, “cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet (sheni tolaʿat),” to make a special kind of ash.^[16]

Tzaraʿat, a skin affliction that could affect people or property (Lev 14): employs similar materials—‏שְׁתֵּי צִפֳּרִים חַיּוֹת טְהֹרוֹת וְעֵץ אֶרֶז וּשְׁנִי תוֹלַעַת וְאֵזֹב, “two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet (sheni tolaʿat), and hyssop” (v. 4; cf. v. 49). One bird is killed, and the rest of the items (including the remaining live bird) are dipped in its blood, which is sprinkled on the person or house requiring cleansing. The living bird is then released.

The choice of scarlet for these rituals is not explained by the biblical authors, but considering that these rituals purified the Israelites and their camp from pollution and its consequences, the scarlet may have served an apotropaic (i.e., protective) function.

The Rabbis’ Red Thread

The significance of red thread is highlighted by its inclusion in the tzaraʿat rituals based on Lev 14 in the Mishnah, in which one binds a scarlet thread around the living bird before releasing it (Neg 14:1–2). Likewise, the Mishnaic version of the scapegoat ritual on Yom Kippur (Lev 16) includes binding a scarlet thread to the head of the goat sent into the wilderness (Yoma 4:2).

Noga Ayali-Darshan argues that the use of red thread in these rituals is not a rabbinic innovation, but rather that it draws on actual Second Temple Period ritual practices.^[17]

Ancient Near Eastern Parallels

Similar rituals exist in earlier, 2^nd millennium B.C.E. Syro-Anatolian texts as well, in which the binding of threads (including red-colored threads) transfers a bad thing from the body of a person to an animal or figurine that will remove it from society. For example, in one of the steps in a Hittite anti-witchcraft ritual, the practitioner places red threads on the bewitched person and then ties them to a figurine after reciting the following words:

[Whoever] has made him blood red, whoever has bewitched him, I am taking from him blood redness and bewitching and I am giving (them) back to its [owner]…^[18]

Red Thread for Pregnancy and Childbirth

Mesopotamian texts describing rituals related to pregnancy and childbirth, which often attribute miscarriages and other problems during pregnancy to sorcery, also make use of red thread and ritual acts of binding:

For excessive bleeding – A Neo-Assyrian medical text includes red wool among several objects bound around a woman who was experiencing excessive bleeding during pregnancy.^[19]

To prevent a miscarriage – Another Mesopotamian medical text recommends tying a sanitary napkin made of red-colored wool to the pregnant woman and rubbing her with a paste of various materials to protect her from both sorcery and miscarriage.^[20]

The binding of various parts of the woman’s body seems to symbolize the suture desired to stop her bleeding.^[21] This is further suggested by rituals enacted during the birth of a child that refer to loosening the knot of the womb (sometimes imagined as being bound with a thread) so that the baby can come out.^[22]

The idea seems to be that when a thread is symbolically tied (whether by a midwife or an evil sorcerer), it creates an impenetrable boundary that can, for example, keep a person’s life-blood inside them or trap a baby in the womb. A red color for such a thread is especially appropriate due to its resemblance of blood.^[23]

The Purpose of the Red Thread in the Stories of Tamar and Rahab

The stories of Tamar and Rahab both draw on the ritual significance of red thread, though neither contains a ritual performance. In the Tamar narrative, the unusual sequence of Zerah and Perez’s births suggests a potentially difficult labor:

^{ברשׁית לח׃כח} וַיְהִי בְלִדְתָּהּ וַיִּתֶּן יָד וַתִּקַּח הַמְיַלֶּדֶת וַתִּקְשֹׁר עַל יָדוֹ שָׁנִי לֵאמֹר זֶה יָצָא רִאשֹׁנָה.

^{Gen 38:28} And when she was giving birth, one put out a hand, so the midwife took and bound scarlet (shani) upon his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”

The biblical authors describe the thread as a way of identifying the first baby to emerge from the womb, but the midwife’s act of binding a scarlet thread on Zerah’s hand may have originated in a protective ritual.^[24] Mesopotamian rituals for the protection of newborns reveal a fear of kūbu demons: the malevolent spirits of stillborn babies, who would attack their living siblings.^[25] Perhaps twins represented a particular danger in this context, since if one was stillborn, he would be in prime position to attack his living sibling.^[26]

^{ברשׁית לח׃כט} וַיְהִי כְּמֵשִׁיב יָדוֹ וְהִנֵּה יָצָא אָחִיו וַתֹּאמֶר מַה פָּרַצְתָּ עָלֶיךָ פָּרֶץ וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ פָּרֶץ. ^לח׃ל וְאַחַר יָצָא אָחִיו אֲשֶׁר עַל יָדוֹ הַשָּׁנִי וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ זָרַח.

^{Gen 38:29} But his [Zerah’s] hand retracted, and his brother came out! So she said, “What a breach you have breached for yourself!” And [she]^[27] called his name Perez. ^38:30 And afterwards, his brother came out, upon whose hand was the scarlet, and [she] called his name Zerah.

Perez, of course, is quite the opposite of stillborn. Yet his role as one who makes a “breach” indicates the need to reinforce the proper boundaries around Zerah’s body, keeping it safe from this twin who cannot be bound.^[28]

In the Rahab narrative, the apotropaic symbolism of the red thread is even clearer, as its binding in the window of her house protects those inside from bloodshed. Thus, far from hinting at something salacious, the red threads in the Tamar and Rahab narratives likely reflect a remnant of ancient protective practices.