And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She
hath been more righteous (צדק; δικαιοω) than I; because that I
gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. (Gen 38:26)
Commenting
on this passage and how its usage of “righteous” (צדק; δικαιοω), even when used in such non-soteriological texts does
not support some formulation of legal fiction, James Prothro wrote:
This opposition of Tamar and Judah, built
into the statement’s structure, locates Tamar’s right-ness in their dealings
with one another: this is not to be conceived as a “verdict” spoken by an
external, dissociated judge declaring Tamar as “guilty” or “innocent.” By
summoning Judah (and those present) to know the child’ origin by the evidence,
Tamar challenges him, which he interpreters as a counter-accusation for his
negligence in wedding her to Shelah. Judah’s response is similar to Job 35.2
LXX (cf. 4.17 MT) and 1 Samuel 24.18, both of which are admissions of guilt in
bilateral contentions (Job vs. God; David vs. Saul). Here—as in 1 Samuel 24.18
(cf. Jer. 12.1)—the accuser openly admits the accused’s counter-claims, thus submitting
and ending the contention (hence early interpretations that Judah hereby
confesses his sin, b. Soṭah 7b, 10b). Judah is admitting guilt and submitting to
Tamar: “she is in the right rather than I”
or “over against me” in this matter.
The perfect passive δεδικαιωται should be read as stative, indicating that “she is in the right.”
We are to think of her as being “in the right” over against Judah with respect
to his reneging on paternal duty and, given that the accuser and paterfamilias
has dropped his charges, as consequently freed from punishment. (James B.
Prothro, Both Judge and Justifier:
Biblical Legal Language and the Act of Justifying in Paul [Wissenschaftliche
Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament 461; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018], 52)