JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<table id="tab">
    <thead>
        <tr id="tabhead">
            <th>Amount</th>
            <th>Update</th>
            <th>Delete</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr id="tabbody">
            <td>150.0</td>
            <td align="center">
                <a href='#' class='updatelink'>u</a>
            </td>
            <td><a href='#'>x</a></td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table> 
<ul id="result"></ul>

JavaScript

var source = $("a.updatelink"),
    parents = source.parents(),
    filtered = {
        // ???
        byPosRel: parents.filter("table:first tr:first"),

        // the closest ancestor tr,
        // but only if it is a descendant of the closest ancestor table
        "right-preferred": parents.filter("tr:first").filter(function() {
            return parents.filter("table:first").has( this );
        }),
        
        // the first tr descendant of the closest ancestor table,
        // but only if it contains the target
        "left-preferred": parents.filter("table:first").find("tr:first").has( source )
    };

jQuery.each( filtered, function( label, collection ) {
    $("#result").append( "<li>" + label + "=" + ( collection.attr("id") || "nothing" ) + "</li>" );
});