Yehuda vs. Tamar as Background to Yehuda vs. Yosef

The story of Yehuda and Tamar can be presented as a literary backdrop to the encounter between Yehuda and Yosef, not only because of chiastic similarity, but also because of the perfect analogy between the two images. On the one hand, it highlights Yehuda's identification with Yaakov, the identification of fathers who have lost children and who fear for the fate of their remaining son. On the other hand, it also highlights Yehuda's special quality of putting himself on the line for others: correcting the wrong that he did to Tamar, and illuminating the darkness of Egypt with his great selflessness on behalf of his younger brother.