Comentários de Citação sobre Gênesis 38:18

This was also the intention of Tamar. She said to her father-in-law, Judah, who wanted to sleep with her. She said to him: give me your talit with the zizit as a pledge, if you want to sleep with me. That is, she thought to herself. Perhaps when Judah will sleep with me in his zizit, the zizit will not allow him to sleep with her, as happened in the story we have written about above. Tamar thought: I will hide Judah’s zizit so that he will not see them.⁶I have not found the source of this story. However, Ramban in his commentary on Genesis 38:18 identifies the “cord [petil]” with the zizit.

Please (Havah na). The word havah often means “prepare yourself.” Yehudah requested that she consign herself to him exclusively so that no harlotry would be involved.

AND IF A MAN ‘YIKACH’ (SHALL TAKE) HIS SISTER. Scripture mentions the term kichah [“taking,” which generally denotes the taking of a woman as a wife] in the case of a sister, although betrothal to her is not valid, because a brother and sister sleep together in one house, and when his desire overpowers him, he takes her and draws her to himself, and he does not have to come to her as one does to a woman who is a harlot. Similarly it is the way of Scripture to use the term “taking” in the case of all those with whom one remains alone, for a wife and her mother,²⁴⁴Verse 14. [a wife] and her son’s daughter and her daughter’s daughter,²⁴⁵Above, 18:17. a wife and her sister,²⁵⁹Ibid., Verse 18. and a brother’s wife²⁶⁰Further, Verse 21. are all [found] with him in one house [hence Scripture uses the term “taking” in each of these cases]. For a similar reason Scripture uses this expression in the following verse, A man shall not ‘take’ his father’s wife.²⁶¹Deuteronomy 23:1. The expression and he see her nakedness is an euphemism, since Scripture modifies its expression in speaking of forbidden relationships. Sometimes it calls sexual intercourse “uncovering of nakedness,” as it says in the case of most of the forbidden women, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness, for it is the way of those who commit fornication to uncover her skirts, similar to that which is said, and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face;²⁶²Nahum 3:5. and at times it calls it “entering,” thus: If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her;²⁶³Deuteronomy 22:13. to come in unto us;²⁶⁴Genesis 19:31. and he came in unto her, and she conceived by him.²⁶⁵Ibid., 38:18. Many times Scripture calls it “lying,” and here it refers to it as “seeing,” since brother and sister lodge together and there is no need for uncovering of skirts. Similarly Scripture uses the euphemism “knowing,” as in the following expressions: And the man knew Eve his wife;²⁶⁶Ibid., 4:1. and he knew her again no more;²⁶⁷Ibid., 38:26. a virgin, neither had any man known her.²⁶⁸Ibid., 24:16. And Scripture states [here in the verse before us] and she see his nakedness, meaning to say that she too desired his nakedness in her heart and consented thereto. Now it mentions these expressions only in the case of a sister, because in all forbidden relations when a man approaches a woman for the purpose of uncovering her nakedness, it is generally with her consent, and otherwise she can remove herself from him and cry for help, but in the case of a brother [and sister] who lodge together, it may be that it was done without her knowledge, and therefore Scripture mentioned that she too “saw his nakedness.”