TT #43 · Parashas Vayeishev · Passuk 38:25
Parashas Vayeishev · Passuk 38:25
As she was being brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law: “It’s by the man to whom these belong that I’m pregnant.” And she added, “Examine these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?”
Torah Temimah points to Sotah 10b.
“And she said: Recognize, please” — R’ Chama son of R’ Chanina said: with “recognize” he had announced to his father “recognize, please, whether this is your son’s coat”; with “recognize” she announced to him “recognize, please, whose are the seal and the cords.”
R’ Yishmael-style midah — measure for measure (as in Sotah): the same verb of recognition is turned back on the speaker.
The language Yehudah used to deceive his father is the language by which Tamar forces him to face the truth.