A PROSTITUTE — the plain, ordinary word (from zanah, to be unfaithful, to whore), used both literally and, all through the prophets, as the standing metaphor for Israel's unfaithfulness. It is what the narrator says Judah took Tamar to be (38:15) — and pointedly NOT the word his friend Hirah uses in public two verses later; see qedeshah. KJV 'harlot' for both, which loses the difference entirely. → first discussed at Gen 38:15