Judah judges that a woman who engages in harlotry must be burned.
Tamar is pregnant. She is unmarried. Therefore, she must be a harlot, and is condemned to die.
By producing Judah’s staff, signet and sash, Tamar shows Judah that he had been in the wrong – after all, he had hired her services. Judah publicly admits to his failing, much to his credit.
But why does this get Tamar off the hook? Was she still not guilty of being a harlot, even if Judah himself had been the customer?
Why was she not burned anyway?
I’d like to suggest two possible answers:
1: The Torah does not tell us that Tamar dressed as a harlot; she covered her face, and Judah assumed that she was one. But there is ambiguity there; after all, she may have just wanted to talk to him about marrying Shelah – the idea of selling sex was proposed by Judah.
2: A harlot is not a loose woman, but a woman who sells her services. While Tamar agreed to a deal, and took assurances to guarantee payment, she never received payment – Judah’s friend never found her to deliver the agreed goat. So, on a “cash accounting” basis, Tamar was never paid, and therefore she was not a harlot!
Is there a better answer?