supremacy of the former; and (possibly) the superiority of these two (as
sons of Judah) to the more ancient Shelah (his grandson). See Steuernagel,
Einw. 79 f.; where, however, the ethnological explanation is
carried further than is reasonable.—It is obvious that the legend belongs
to a cycle of tradition quite independent of the story of Joseph. The
latter knows of no separation of Judah from his brethren, and this record
leaves no room for a reunion. Although P, who had both before him,
represents Judah and his sons as afterwards accompanying Jacob to
Egypt (4612), there can be no doubt that the intention of this passage is
to relate the permanent settlement of Judah in Palestine. Where
precisely the break with the prevalent tradition occurs, we cannot
certainly determine. It is possible that the figure of Judah here is
simply a personification of the tribe, which has never been brought into
connexion with the family history of Jacob: in this case the events
reflected may be assigned to the period subsequent to the Exodus. It
seems a more natural supposition, however, that the legend ignores the
Exodus altogether, and belongs to a stratum of tradition in which the
occupation of Canaan is traced back to Jacob and his immediate descendants
(see pp. 418, 507).—On some touches of mythological colouring in
the story of Tamar, see below, pp. 452, 454.
Source.—The chapter is a pure specimen of Yahwistic narration, free
from redactional manipulation. The following characteristics of J may
be noted: (
Hebrew characters), 7. 10; (Hebrew characters), 7. 10; (Hebrew characters), 16; (Hebrew characters), 25 (3732); (Hebrew characters), 26;
(Hebrew characters); 26; further, the naming of the children by the mother, 3-5; and the
resemblance of 27f. to 2524f.. Since the sequence of 391 on 3736 would be
harsh, it is probable that ch. 38 was inserted here by RJE (Ho.).
1-5. Judah founds a separate family at Adullam.—1. went down from his brethren] Since the chapter has no connexion with the history of Joseph, we cannot tell when or where the separation is conceived to have taken place. From the situation of 'Adullām, it is clear that some place in the central highlands is indicated. Adullam is possibly 'Īd el-Mīye (or 'Aid el-Mā), on the border of the Shephelah, 12 m. SW of Bethlehem and 7 NE of Eleutheropolis (Buhl, GP, 193; Smith, HG, 229). It is marked on the Pal. Surv. map as 1150 ft. above sea-level.
The isolation of the tribe of Judah was a fact of capital importance
in the early history of Israel. The separation is described in Ju. 13ff;
in the song of Deborah (Ju. 5) Judah is not mentioned either for praise
or blame; and his reunion with Israel is prayed for in Dt. 337. The
rupture of the Davidic kingdom, and the permanent cleavage between
south and north, are perhaps in part a consequence of the stronger
1. (Hebrew characters)]
G (Greek characters) the precise force here of (Hebrew characters), 'turn aside,' is doubtful.
The change of [(Hebrew characters) to (Hebrew characters) (Ba.) is unnecessary (cf. 1 Sa. 99).
