And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She has been more righteous than I; because I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.
All Commentaries on Genesis 38:26 Go To Genesis 38
John Chrysostom
AD 407
What is the meaning of “She has more right on her side than I”? In other words, she is guiltless, whereas I condemn myself and without anyone to accuse me I confess—or rather, I have sufficient accuser in the pledge given by me. Then Judah goes on to supply a defense for Tamar by saying, “because I did not give her to my son Shelah.” Perhaps, however, this happened for the reason that I am about to give. I mean, Judah thought that it was through her fault that death fell on Er and Onan. For fear of this he did not give Shelah to her despite promising to do so. Accordingly, so as to prove in fact that she was not responsible for their death but rather that they were punished for their own wickedness (“God took his life” the text says, remember, and again, “he put him to death,” in reference to the second one), Judah himself had intercourse with his own daughterinlaw all unawares. He learned by later developments that, far from it being her fault, those men’s wickedness made them liable to suffer punishment. So Judah admitted his own sin, delivered her from punishment and, the text says, “had no further relations with her,” showing that he would not previously have had intercourse with her if he had not done so in ignorance.
