Genesis 37:32

Hebrew Bible

29 Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not in it! He tore his clothes, 30 returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy isn’t there! And I, where can I go?” 31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a young goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 32 Then they brought the special tunic to their father and said, “We found this. Recognize* now whether it is your son’s tunic or not.

Genesis 38:25

Hebrew Bible

24 After three months Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, and as a result she has become pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” 25 While they were bringing her out, she sent word to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” Then she said, “Recognize* the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong. 26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He was not physically intimate with her again.

 Notes and References

"... Genesis 37:32 ... In J, in order to get the blessing intended for Esau, Jacob deceives their father by using his brother's cloak and the meat and hide of a goat. Now, in the same source, the brothers deceive their father by using their brother’s coat dipped in the blood of a goat. This is one of a series of paybacks for deception that form a chain in the J narrative. Second, the brothers here say, “Recognize,” which is what Tamar says to Judah in the next chapter when she shows him the evidence that he is receiving a payback for having deceived her (Genesis 38:25) ..."

Friedman, Richard Elliott The Bible with Sources Revealed: A New View Into the Five Books of Moses (p. 94) Harper San Francisco, 2005

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