Genesis 38:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The narrative of Joseph has provided us with ample lessons about the destructive nature of envy and how this insidious emotion primarily corrupts the soul from which it arises. We have witnessed how Joseph's brothers, ensnared by this very passion, forsook their familial bonds and subjected their innocent brother to the savagery of wild beasts. In exposing their own wickedness, they did not merely bring suffering upon Joseph, but also shame upon themselves. Although they sold him into slavery to foreigners, who then handed him over to Pharaoh's chief officer, Joseph found divine assistance in all his trials, rendering his circumstances bearable and manageable. I intended to extend this narrative today and draw from it further lessons for you.

Upon encountering Sheba, he chose her as his companion and she became the mother of three sons: Ira, Abnan, and Silom. Likewise, the eternal Word of God made His descent and appeared to the esteemed Moses, who was watching over his flock in the wilderness of Midian. This divine presence manifested as fire within a bush (Ex. 3:1ff.), and through Moses, in a certain manner, entered into a bond akin to that with the foreign Canaanite woman, representing the assembly of the children of Israel in Egypt, just as Judah did with Sheba, the shepherd's daughter, whose name signifies ‘exaltation’ and ‘uplifting.’ For the assembly of the Jews was called to a relationship with God, transforming from a place of humiliation and subjugation under slavery to a state of honor and glory. They were, in a sense, rescued from the iron furnace and ‘out of the house of bondage,’ as it is written (Exodus 13:3).

A Canaanite woman is mentioned. Some suggest that Moses is alluding to the tribe from which Judah chose his wife, as a way to criticize that union. Regardless of the shortcomings of this marriage, its adversities indicate that it lacked divine favor.