1:3 Thamar. It is significant that four women are mentioned in this royal genealogy of Jesus—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah (Matthew 1:3,5-6). All four were special trophies of God’s grace. Tamar may have been a Canaanite who posed as a harlot to seduce Judah (Genesis 38:13-18); Rahab was also a Canaanite and had been a prostitute (Joshua 2:1); Ruth was a Moabitess (Ruth 1:4), a member of a nation committed to idolatry and opposition to the people of God; and a Hittite woman, Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, committed adultery with King David (II Samuel 11:2-5). All of these women could, by the law, have been excommunicated from Israel, executed, or both. God, however, not only redeemed them, bringing them to saving faith in Him, but even included (and mentioned) them in the human genealogy of the royal line leading to Jesus.