(כד) וַיְהִ֣י ׀ כְּמִשְׁלֹ֣שׁ חֳדָשִׁ֗ים וַיֻּגַּ֨ד לִֽיהוּדָ֤ה לֵֽאמֹר֙ זָֽנְתָה֙ תָּמָ֣ר כַּלָּתֶ֔ךָ וְגַ֛ם הִנֵּ֥ה הָרָ֖ה לִזְנוּנִ֑ים וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוּדָ֔ה הוֹצִיא֖וּהָ וְתִשָּׂרֵֽף׃
(כה) הִ֣וא מוּצֵ֗את וְהִ֨יא שָׁלְחָ֤ה אֶל־חָמִ֙יהָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לְאִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁר־אֵ֣לֶּה לּ֔וֹ אָנֹכִ֖י הָרָ֑ה וַתֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַכֶּר־נָ֔א לְמִ֞י הַחֹתֶ֧מֶת וְהַפְּתִילִ֛ים וְהַמַּטֶּ֖ה הָאֵֽלֶּה׃
(כו) וַיַּכֵּ֣ר יְהוּדָ֗ה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ צָֽדְקָ֣ה מִמֶּ֔נִּי כִּֽי־עַל־כֵּ֥ן לֹא־נְתַתִּ֖יהָ לְשֵׁלָ֣ה בְנִ֑י וְלֹֽא־יָסַ֥ף ע֖וֹד לְדַעְתָּֽהּ׃
(24) About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot; in fact, she is with child by harlotry.” “Bring her out,” said Judah, “and let her be burned.” (25) As she was being brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law, “I am with child by the man to whom these belong.” And she added, “Examine these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?” (26) Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more in the right than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he was not intimate with her again.
(א) היא מוצאת והיא שלחה שלא נפל לבה מהשתדל לזכות את עצמה אע''פ שהיו מוציאים אותה להשרף כי היה לבה כלב הארי:
(ב) לאיש אשר אלה לו אע''פ שהיתה באותה סכנה לא רצתה להלבין פניו כאמרם ז''ל נוח לו לאדם שיפיל עצמו לתוך כבשן האש ואל ילבין פני חבירו ברבים מנלן מתמר:
(א) צדקה ממני אע''פ שהיא באה אלי במרמה ואני לא ראיתיה כלל כי שלחתי הגדי מכל מקום היא צדקה במרמתה שהיתה לתכלית טוב ורצוי לאל ית' שהיא קיום הזרע לא להנאת עצמה
שהרי חזרה לאלמנותה תיכף יותר ממה שצדקתי אני בקיום אמונתי שהיתה הכונה בו לכבודי ולהשיג ערבוני שהוא תכלית נפסד וגרוע כאמרם ז''ל גדולה עבירה לשמה ממצוה שלא לשמה:
(1) היא מוצאת והיא שלחה, even at this late stage in the trial when she was already on the way to the site of her execution, Tamar did not despair, as she had a heart as stout as that of a lion.
(2) לאיש אשר אלה לו, even though she was in extreme danger she did not want to publicly embarrass Yehudah. She is the person who inspired our sages to declare that one ought to prefer to be burned in public to publicly embarrassing a fellow human being (Sotah 10)
(1) צדקה ממני, even though she approached me under false pretences, misrepresenting herself, she still acted more righteously than I did. I did not see her at all when I sent her the goat. [I was too embarrassed to be seen, Ed.] Her deceit was practiced for a noble cause. and appears to have been approved by G’d, seeing she meant to maintain the seed of her deceased husband, whereas I was merely wanting to gratify my libido.
Immediately she had done what she meant to do she resumed living as a widow as I had told her to do. My seeking her out to let her have the goat I had promised her was meant only to ensure that my good image would be preserved. This in itself is not a worthy cause. Our sages have used this occurrence as the basis for their saying that “a sin committed for noble cause is better than a good deed when same is not performed as such but as something self-serving.” (Nazir 23).
Incidentally, the first letters in the words of the verse ו-יאמר י-הודה ה-וציאוה - ו-תשרף when read backwards yield the acrostic י-ה-ו-ה, the Ineffable Name of G’d. This suggests that at the time Tamar was concerned with saving Yehudah’s “face,” G’d was busy saving her life by invoking the attribute of Mercy.
(2) שלחה אל חמיה לאמור, “she sent to her father-in-law to convey, etc.” She meant for her messengers to tell Yehudah in her name: “for the man to whom these items belong I am pregnant, etc.,” the messengers themselves did not know what she had in her hand. She did this in order to protect Yehudah’s reputation in the event he chose to ignore her. When she realised that this indirect message was ineffective, she thought that possibly Yehudah had forgotten the encounter with her. At that point she confronted Yehudah face to face (in private) adding the words הכר נא, “please identify.” This is why the Torah mentions the items in question individually at this point. She was still determined not to reveal him as the father of her unborn child if he chose to deny his involvement in her pregnancy.
(3) The Jerusalem Targum on the words היא מוצאת, claims that Samael had hidden the three items which she could have used to clear her name. The author mentions a prayer of Tamar in which she expressed the hope that in return for having preferred a fiery death in order to protect Yehudah’s public image, G’d would arrange for these items to be found so that three persons’ lives would be saved thereby, (hers and that of her two unborn sons). G’d gave the angel Gavriel a hint and he returned these items to Tamar and she threw them at the feet of the judges. This is the meaning of the words הכר נא למי החותמת וגו', “please identify the owner of the signet ring, etc.”
(1) צדקה ממני, “she is more righteous than I.” When the messengers presented Yehudah with the signet ring, etc., he immediately owned up and said: צדקה, “she is righteous in what she says;” ממני, “she is pregnant from me.” This is also the way Onkelos translates these words. (2) Nachmanides understands the word ממנו as a comparative, meaning “she is more righteous than I.” He meant “whereas when I had sexual intercourse with her I had unworthy motives, she had had worthy motives wanting me to perform the rite of the levirate marriage with her.” This is what he had in mind when he added “because I did not give her to my son Shelah.” Shelah, after all, was the person who was next in line to perform that rite. Yehudah was the next closest relative to perform this rite of the levirate marriage and to keep alive the names of his late departed sons Er and Onan, in the event Shelah would refuse to marry Tamar.
(3) According to a Midrashic approach found in Makkot 23 after Yehudah had said צדקה, “she is righteous,” a heavenly voice was heard adding the word ממני, “from Me;” i.e. G’d informed the judges and Tamar that He had guided matters in such a way that Tamar would become pregnant by Yehudah.
In that connection the Talmud goes on to say that we know of only three instances where the Holy spirit took an active part in judicial proceedings of a terrestrial court to assure a certain outcome. One was the court founded by Shem; the second was the court presided over by the prophet Samuel; the third was the court presided over by King Solomon. In the case of the court founded by Shem and known as “his court” hundreds of years later, the Holy Spirit intervened clearing Tamar of all guilt.
(4) ולא יסף עוד לדעתה, “and he did not have further sexual intercourse with her.” Having fulfilled the commandment of ensuring that the souls of Er and Onan would be reincarnated in Tamar’s children, Yehudah refrained from treating her as his wife, even though technically, i.e. from a halachic point of view he could have had marital relations with her. The reasoning of the commentator (Samuel the elder in Sotah 10) who understood the words ולא יסף to mean “he did not stop,” is that seeing Yehudah’s union with Tamar had been approved by heaven there was no point in discontinuing his marital relations with her.
(כה) וַיֵּ֨רֶד יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ בֶּעָנָן֮ וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר אֵלָיו֒ וַיָּ֗אצֶל מִן־הָר֙וּחַ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָלָ֔יו וַיִּתֵּ֕ן עַל־שִׁבְעִ֥ים אִ֖ישׁ הַזְּקֵנִ֑ים וַיְהִ֗י כְּנ֤וֹחַ עֲלֵיהֶם֙ הָר֔וּחַ וַיִּֽתְנַבְּא֖וּ וְלֹ֥א יָסָֽפוּ׃
(יט) אֶֽת־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֡לֶּה דִּבֶּר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֶל־כׇּל־קְהַלְכֶ֜ם בָּהָ֗ר מִתּ֤וֹךְ הָאֵשׁ֙ הֶֽעָנָ֣ן וְהָֽעֲרָפֶ֔ל ק֥וֹל גָּד֖וֹל וְלֹ֣א יָסָ֑ף וַֽיִּכְתְּבֵ֗ם עַל־שְׁנֵי֙ לֻחֹ֣ת אֲבָנִ֔ים וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֖ם אֵלָֽי׃
(א) ולא יסף. מְתַרְגְּמִינָן "וְלָא פָּסִיק" (וּלְפִי שֶׁמִּדַּת בָּשָׂר וָדָם אֵינָן יָכוֹלִין לְדַבֵּר כָּל דְּבְרֵיהֶם בִּנְשִׁימָה אַחַת וּמִדַּת הַקָּבָּ"ה אֵינוֹ כֵן — לֹא הָיָה פוֹסֵק, וּמִשֶּׁלֹּא הָיָה פוֹסֵק לֹא הָיָה מוֹסִיף) כִּי קוֹלוֹ חָזָק וְקַיָּם לְעוֹלָם (סנהדרין י"ז);
(1) ולא יסף — We render this in the Targum by ולא פסק “and He did not cease”, — [Because it is characteristic of human beings that they are unable to utter all their words in one breath (but must make pauses) and it is characteristic of the Holy One, blessed be He, that this is not so, therefore He did not pause, and since He did not pause, He did not have to resume], — for His voice is strong and goes on continuously (Sanhedrin 17a).
(א) שקולו חזק וקיים לעולם. ואם תאמר, אם פירושו שקול של הקב"ה שהיה בהר סיני - אותו קול חזק וקיים לעולם, למה צריך לקול זה.
ואם בא להגיד שקולו חזק כשירצה לדבר, לא שייך בזה "ולא יסף", דמשמע אותו הקול לא יסף.
יש לומר, דקולו של הקב"ה לא בא בשביל תנועת הפה - דנאמר בזה שהיה באותה שעה ולא אחר כך, אלא קולו של הקב"ה הוא השפעת התורה מאתו, והוא יתברך נקרא "מקור חיים" (תהלים לו, י) המשפיע תמיד, רק באותה שעה אזנים כרה לישראל כדי לקבל השפע של הדבור עד שהיו כולם במדריגות הנביאים, אבל קולו של הקב"ה משפיע מאתו החכמה תמיד, זה "ולא יסף", כי אצלו אין שינוי, רק השינוי מצד המקבלים, והוא יתברך משפיע תמיד, ולפיכך 'קולו חזק לעולם':
...That His voice increased and stood forever. If we explain that this is Hashem's voice that was on Har Sinai, that voice strengthened and lasted forever, so why do we need this voice?
And if we explain that His voice strengthened when he wanted to speak, it doesn't make sense to say it didn't increase, that it implies that this voice did not increase.
We can answer that the voice of Hashem does not come from the movement of His mouth, that we would say it was this time and not afterwards, rather the voice of Hashem is the flow of Torah from Him, and this is why Hashem is called the Source of Life, a constant influencer, at that time the ears of the Jewish people were primed to receive the outflow of the voice until they were all on the level of prophecy, but the voice of Hashem emanates from His wisdom constantly, and this is what it means that it did not increase, because by Him there is no change, only a change in regards to the receiver, and this His Blessed constant influence, therefore His voice strengthened always.