"Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house"; and (3) in , which reports, "Then Judah came near" to Joseph to argue for Benjamin. A Midrash taught that because Judah acted worthily and saved Joseph from death (in ) and saved Tamar and her two children from death (in , for as reports, Tamar was then three months pregnant), God delivered four of Judah's descendants, Daniel from the lion's den as a reward for Joseph, and three from the fire—Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—as a reward for Perez, Zerah, and Tamar, as reports that Tamar and thus also her two unborn children Perez and Zerah had been sentenced to be burned. In contrast, another Midrash faulted Judah for not calling on the brothers to return Joseph to Jacob. Reading , "For this commandment that I command you this day . . . is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart," a Midrash interpreted "heart" and "mouth" to symbolize the beginning and end of fulfilling a precept and thus read as an exhortation to complete a good deed once started. Thus Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba taught that if one begins a precept and does not complete it, the result will be that he will bury his wife and children. The Midrash cited as support for this proposition the experience of Judah, who began a precept and did not complete it. When Joseph came to his brothers and they sought to kill him, as Joseph's brothers said in , "Come now therefore, and let us slay him," Judah did not let them, saying in , "What profit is it if we slay our brother?" and they listened to him, for he was their leader. And had Judah called for Joseph's brothers to restore Joseph to their father, they would have listened to him then, as well. Thus, because Judah began a precept (the good deed toward Joseph) and did not complete it, he buried his wife and two sons, as reports, "Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died," and further reports, "Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan." In another Midrash reading "heart" and "mouth" in to symbolize the beginning and the end of fulfilling a precept, Rabbi Levi said in the name of Hama bar Hanina that if one begins a precept and does not complete it, and another comes and completes it, it is attributed