ABSTRACT

Both Bacher and Guedemann are puzzled by the ancient tradition preserved in B. Sota 7b, Jer. Sota I . , 16d, and Sifra Numb, v., 19, § 12 (to which compare Makkoth 11b, and Sifra Deut. xxxi i i . 6), according to which the high court of justice addresses the woman suspected of adultery, reciting to h e r — ם י נ ו ש א ר ה ם י ב ו ת כ ב ו ע ר י א ש ם י ש ע מ ה ד ג ה י ר ב ד םימכח רשא רמתב הדוהי השעמו ההלבב ןבואר השעמ ןוגכ הדוהיו ןבואר ולא ודיגי, “words of the Haggada, historical facts which occur in the early writings, as the story of Reuben regarding Bilhah, and of Jehuda regarding Tamar, as i t says in Job xv. 18: ‘The wise ones confess, and conceal i t not; these are Reuben and Jehuda.’” Now Guedemann, in the Zunz Jubelschrift, 116, understands the early writings to refer to Genesis, and finds in the words of the Haggada as contrasted with the ב ת כ references to some other tale than the Biblical one. Bacher, on the other hand, explains the earlier writings to refer to Job on account of the verse quoted therefrom. The fact is that the parenthetical words

ו ש א ר ה ם י ב ו ת כ ב ו ע ר י א ש ם י ש ע מ , disclose to us the source whence the ה ד ג ה י ר ב ד are taken, viz., the confessions made by both Reuben and Judah, which should form a lesson and an example to the woman accused of adultery, i n case she is guilty. The early writings are none other than the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.