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In Genesis 38, Judah gives Tamar a pledge to guarantee payment. In Genesis 44, he uses the same language of promise, pledging himself to his father as the guarantee for Benjamin’s safe return.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 38:17
Hebrew Bible
16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come, please, I want to sleep with you.” (He did not realize it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me so that you may sleep with me?” 17 He replied, “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give me a pledge until you send it?” 18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her, then slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
Genesis 44:32
Hebrew Bible
31 When he sees the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave. 32 Indeed, your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’ 33 “So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers.
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Notes and References
... The penalty for this alleged wrongdoing required Benjamin become Joseph's slave (verses 1-13). The brothers returned to Joseph's house, where Judah (whose preeminent role is anticipated by the statement Judah and his brothers, verse 14) stepped forward to intercede for the life of his brother (verse 18). After summarizing the entire situation (from 42:13), Judah drew his plea to a conclusion in 44:32 by telling Joseph that he had become surety for Benjamin—again employing (as in 43:9) the verbal form (i.e., 'arab) of the same root used in a noun in 38:17-18 to denote Judah's “surety” or “pledge” (’erabon). In chapter 38 the “surety” consisted of certain possessions (Judah's seal, cord, and staff), but in chapter 44 it consisted of the person of Judah himself. ...
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