Judah and Tamar

 "The Chosen People" podcast pointed out the very first apology in the Bible. 

Judah was confronted with the proof that it was he who impregnated his daughter-in-law who had tricked him by dressing as a temple prostitute, and he...apologized.

This was an all important step for one who was to be the father of the tribe that would steward the lineage of the Messiah.

It is still amazing that it was not the tribe of Joseph.

Instead, it was the tribe of a man who thought he was going into a prostitute of a temple of a false god, while away on a business trip.  It was the tribe of a man who sold his brother to slave traders because he was jealous and annoyed with him.  It was the tribe of a man who lied to his father and caused him great grief.

Judah could have stayed on this bad path even longer, he was the patriarch of the family.  He could have denied the staff and ring were his, or made up some deceptive story on the spot to put the focus back on Tamar.