Vayeishev 38:24 · unit 3
TT #41 · Parashas Vayeishev · Passuk 38:24
Parashas Vayeishev · Passuk 38:24
The Complete Passuk
וַיְהִ֣י ׀ כְּמִשְׁלֹ֣שׁ חֳדָשִׁ֗ים וַיֻּגַּ֨ד לִֽיהוּדָ֤ה לֵאמֹר֙ זָֽנְתָה֙ תָּמָ֣ר כַּלָּתֶ֔ךָ וְגַ֛ם הִנֵּ֥ה הָרָ֖ה לִזְנוּנִ֑ים וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוּדָ֔ה הוֹצִיא֖וּהָ וְתִשָּׂרֵֽף׃
About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the whore; in fact, she is pregnant from whoredom.” “Bring her out,”fout For a hearing in court. said Judah. “She should be burned!”
Chabad / Judaica Press
Source Citation
Torah Temimah points to Avodah Zarah 36b .
Sefaria — Avodah Zarah 36b
הוֹצִיאוּהָ וְתִשָּׂרֵף — מִכָּאן דְּעַל זְנוּת עִם עוֹבֵד כּוֹכָבִים בְּבֵית דִּינוֹ שֶׁל שֵׁם גָּזְרוּ.
“Bring her out and let her be burned” — from here [we learn] that the court of Shem decreed burning for sexual relations with an idolater.
On the daf / in context: Yehudah’s decree assumes Tamar’s counterpart was a non-Jew; the punishment reflects the norm of Shem’s court.
Type of Learning
Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13 . A narrative penalty is taken as evidence of the era’s din.
What Is Learned
Under the court of Shem, z’nus with an idolater was punished by burning.
Source pointed to by Torah Temimah. Only Chazal’s words and what they derived are presented. Ashkenazi transliteration.