Vayeishev 38:15 · unit 1

Parashas Vayeishev · Passuk 38:15

The Complete Passuk

וַיִּרְאֶ֣הָ יְהוּדָ֔ה וַֽיַּחְשְׁבֶ֖הָ לְזוֹנָ֑ה כִּ֥י כִסְּתָ֖ה פָּנֶֽיהָ׃

When Yehudah saw her, he thought her to be a zonah; for she had covered her face.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sotah 10b.

Sefaria — Sotah 10b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
״כִּי כִסְּתָה פָּנֶיהָ״ — וּמִשּׁוּם דְּכִסְּתָה פָּנֶיהָ חַשְׁבַהּ לְזוֹנָה? אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: שֶׁכִּסְּתָה פָּנֶיהָ בְּבֵית חָמִיהָ.

English: “For she had covered her face” — and because she covered her face he took her for a zonah? R’ Elazar said: [Rather,] that she had covered her face while in her father-in-law’s house.

On the daf / in context: Sotah 10b explains Yehudah did not recognize Tamar because she had been modestly veiled throughout her time in his household.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13. The phrase is read as background fact, not the immediate cause of the mistake.

What Is Learned

Yehudah failed to recognize Tamar because of her prior modesty in his house, not merely because of the veil at the roadside.