“Judah saw her and thought her to be a harlot, because she covered her face” (Genesis 38:15). “Judah saw her” – Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Zavda said: A person must be very careful regarding his wife’s sister and his female relatives, that he not stumble with one of them. From whom do you derive it? From Judah – “Judah saw her…” Why?
It is “because she covered her face” while she was still in her father-in-law’s house.41Yehuda did not recognize Tamar because she had always kept her face covered in his house. This was a sign of modesty, which should be emulated (Yefe To’ar). Alternatively, the midrash is saying one should take care to recognize his female relatives. Yehuda did not recognize Tamar because she had always kept her face covered in his house, and that is why he mistook her for a harlot (Etz Yosef).
“He turned to her by the road, and he said: Please, let me consort with you, for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said: What will you give me that you would consort with me” (Genesis 38:16)? Another matter: “Judah saw her” – he did not pay attention to her. When she covered her face, he said: Were she a harlot, would she have covered her face?42Originally, when Judah saw her from a distance, he took her to be a harlot, and therefore was going to distance himself from her.
But then she covered her face, leading Judah to believe she was not a harlot, and he did not distance himself from her. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: He sought to pass, but the Holy One blessed be He dispatched to him the angel that is responsible for desire. He said to him: ‘Judah, where are you going? From where will kings be produced, from where will the prominent ones be produced?’ “He turned to her by the road” – despite himself, against his will.