GEN1466 J contains some rather elaborate deceptions which are not fully paralleled in [either] E and there is little or no mention of these events in P. In particular, the deception of Jacob by his sons concerning Joseph’s appearance contains the following language in Genesis 37:31 – 32: “And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a he goat and dipped the coat in blood; and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father; and they said: ‘This we have found. Discern please whether it is your son’s coat or not?’” There is no mention of this deception in E. Chapter 38 demonstrates the characteristic J style of countering deception with deception. Here again, one finds J showing that one deception is punishable by another deception using similar language. In this case, Judith fears that Tamar will cause the death of his only remaining son Shelah and tries to deceive Tamar by telling her (38:11): “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up,” But then the text tells us it is a deception “… for he feared that he would die, like his brothers.” Tamar then deceives Judah into fathering a child for her and before she gets punished she turns to Judah and states (38:25): “Discern please who is these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” The text then adds (38:26): “She is more righteous than I come inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” Clearly demonstrating again, that deceptions involving sexual promiscuity are not seen as inherently without merit and that deception is usually punishable by another deception.