[Avodah] Why did Tamar not disclose as soon as she realised she was pregnant

[Ilana Elzufon]

On Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 9:22AM Rabbi Meir G. Rabi wrote:
> Had Tamar advised Yehudah as soon as she realised she was pregnant
> [and submitted the ID that she anyway submitted after she had been
> condemned to death
> i.e. abandoned any evidence that may have been used to point to Yehudah
> being the father]
> that would have given Yehudah additional options
...
> If it is preferable to have oneself incinerated rather than
> embarrass someone
> is it not preferable to provide these honourable options?
>
> Why did Tamar not make this disclosure as soon as she realised she was
> pregnant?

Without addressing all the questions here, it's important to remember that
there was no such thing as a pregnancy test in biblical times. When Tamar
missed her period (assuming she had a regular cycle to start out with) she
may well have *suspected* she was pregnant. But she probably didn't know
for certain until close to the point when Yehuda also found out.