Chapter 38 of the book of Genesis, which falls right in the middle of this weekās Torah portion Vayeshev, recounts the story of Judah and his family. The question we will deal with today is: Why is this story here?
Just to be clear, I am not asking why this story is in the Bible. Rather, the question is why this story is recorded right here, between chapters 37 and 39 of Genesis. Allow me to explain.
Chapter 37 ends with Josephās arrival in Egypt after the sale.
Then, after chapter 38, the Judah story we are discussing, chapter 39 begins as follows:
Chapter 39 continues with the story of Josephās time in Egypt from his arrival there and onward.
To sum up, chapter 37 ends with Josephās arrival in Egypt. Chapter 39 picks up the story of Joseph right where chapter 37 left off. There is no gap in time between the events in these two chapters. Chapter 39 is the immediate continuation of the conclusion of chapter 37. Chapter 38 interrupts this narrative. Which leads us back to my original question; why is this story here?
You might be thinking, āWell, maybe this story is here because this is when it happened?ā The problem is that this is impossible. Allow me to explain.
Chapter 38 begins as follows:
After telling us that āAt that timeā Judah met and married his wife, the narrative of chapter 38 then goes on to record the following series of events:
- Judahās wife becomes pregnant and gives birth to their first child, Er
- Judahās wife becomes pregnant and gives birth to their second child, Onan
- Er grows up and marries Tamar
- Er dies
- Onan then marries Tamar
- Onan dies
- Tamar is told to wait until Judahās third son Shelah grows up and is old enough to marry her
- Judahās wife dies
- Tamar waits until Shelah grows up, but Shelah does not marry her
- Judah mistakes Tamar for a prostitute and has relations with her; Tamar becomes pregnant
- Tamar gives birth to twins, Peretz and Zerah
Now, the Bible does not tell us exactly how long this story took to play out. We are not told the ages of the participants. That said, we can assume that at minimum, this story lasted approximately 2 decades. To illustrate the point, chapter 38 begins before Judah met his wife and then describes how two of Judahās sons from that wife grew up and married Tamar. What is the bare minimum for just this part of the story? How old were Er and Onan when they married Tamar? But chapter 38 doesnāt end there. We then have a delay of a number of years, presumably, while Judahās third son grew old enough to marry Tamar as well. This is followed by Judahās eventual union with Tamar leading to the birth of two more children.
To answer our question, we must remember Judahās role in the sale of Joseph. The other brothers originally wanted to kill Joseph. It was Judah who came up with the plan to sell him instead.
This is the first time in the Bible that we see Judah speak or take any leadership role among the sons of Jacob. While at first glance Judahās conduct here appears commendable, after all, he saved Josephās life, the Jewish sages were critical of Judah. The rabbis explain (Bereshit Rabbah 85) that we see from Judahās words to his brothers that he knew that what they were doing was wrong. Therefore, Judah should have stopped the entire plot against Joseph and brought Joseph back to Jacob safely.
To put this another way, the other brothers may have justified their conduct in their own minds. They were ready to kill Joseph. But Judahās conscience bothered him. He knew what they were doing was wrong. And yet, he didnāt end the plot completely. Not wanting to put himself at risk by protecting Joseph from the other brothers, he failed to take full responsibility when he saw injustice being committed.
Then we read the story of Judah and his family. We read of Judah first failing to take full responsibility for Tamar. Judah did not fulfill his commitment to her to give his third son Shelah to her as a husband. We then see Judah slip into immoral behavior, thinking Tamar was a prostitute. But then the story takes a critical turn.
When Judah thought Tamar was a prostitute, Judah gave her his cord and staff as collateral until he could send proper payment. After it was discovered that Tamar was pregnant, Judah, not knowing that he was the father, ordered Tamar be brought out to be put to death for her immorality.
Notice that Tamar did not say, āJudah is the father.ā She merely presented the cord and staff and asked Judah to identify the owner. Had Judah decided to protect himself from shame, he could have easily denied ownership of the items. But this time Judah took responsibility. He admitted guilt and humbled himself, recognizing not only that he was wrong to sentence Tamar to death, but that he was wrong in withholding Shelah as well. Not to mention the embarrassment he incurred by being exposed to all as having solicited the services of what he thought was a prostitute.
After this story, throughout the rest of the book of Genesis, it is Judah who is the unequivocal leader of the sons of Jacob. It is Judah who takes responsibility and at risk to his own life to save Benjamin. And it is Judah who is eventually blessed with the eternal kingship of Israel.
Iād like to suggest that the words, āAt that time,ā at the beginning of Genesis 38 refer to the end of the story. In other words, in the wake of the sale of Joseph, Judah decided that he would never again shirk responsibility, even at risk to his own life and honor. Then, when confronted by his own guilt in the Tamar situation, Judah publicly repented and took full responsibility, regardless of the damage to his own reputation. Genesis 38 interrupts the Joseph story because Judahās personal development was a direct result of Judahās own feelings of guilt in the wake of the sale of his brother.
Genesis 38 is the story of the emergence of Judah as the leader of Israel, and forefather of the royal line of David. The Bible teaches us that the prerequisites of this leadership are humility, admission of oneās own guilt before God and man, and doing what is right regardless of the risk to oneās own status and even oneās own life.