Genesis 38: Judas Interruptus

Chapter 38 pumps the brakes on the Yosef story and instead gives Yehudah his turn in the spotlight. Yehudah’s only significant reference until this point was his suggestion in the last chapter to sell Yosef instead of kill him. Reuven, Levi, and Shimon have all appeared more often. Why does he get his own chapter now? Rashi quotes the midrash to explain that after the brothers saw how distraught Yaacov was, they blamed Yehudah for suggesting the sale and not telling them to return him. Yehudah left the family in shame. This is a nice answer, but logically it seems weird that the brothers would not realize that telling their father that his favorite son was torn apart by wild animals would not go over well. Sfrono picks up on the punishment for Yehudah’s actions viz a viz Yosef, but instead of Yehudah being shunned, Sforno explains that because Yaacov was made to mourn over his “dead” son, Yehudah was punished to mourn over two dead sons. This explanation is quite harsh and does not explain why Yehudah was double punished. Also, it seems like the Torah gives another reason for Yedhuah’s son’s deaths. (see 38:7-10). One would have to have a creative reading of “and God was displeased with what he did'' to mean God was displeased with what Yehudah did in the last chapter. Ibn Ezra explains that this chapter actually happened later on but was inserted here to compare Yosef’s interaction with Potiphar’s wife and Yehuda’s interaction with Tamar. Yosef was able to refrain himself, while Yehudah slept with Tamar. The explanation offers a reason for the juxtaposition, but not the motivation behind the juxtaposition. There does not seem to be a consequence later on in the Torah for these disparate reactions of the two protagonists. In other words, so what? The Malbim looks ahead and sees the placement of the Yehudah story here to emphasize the future redemption that will come from Moshiach, a descendant of Yehudah. This tension between the tribes of Yehudah and those of Yosef will continue for hundreds of years. While not relevant to the contemporary story in the Torah, Malbim’s explanation does fit the grander story of Tanach. Yosef’s descent to Egypt is the beginning of the slavery story and ultimately the story of the Israelite nation. At this point, the Torah foreshadows the end of that story