Genesis 38:28-29

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 38:24-30

Here is, I. Judah's rigour against Tamar, when he heard she was an adulteress. She was, in the eye of the law, Shelah's wife, and therefore her being with child by another was looked upon as an injury and reproach to Judah's family: Bring her forth therefore, says Judah, the master of the family, and let her be burnt; not burnt to death, but burnt in the cheek or forehead, stigmatized for a harlot. This seems probable, Gen. 38:24. Note, it is a common thing for men to be severe against those... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 38:28

And it came to pass when she travailed ,.... Her birth throes came strong and quick upon her: that the one put out his hand ; which showed that she was like to have a difficult and dangerous time of it; that the birth was not like to be according to the usual and natural order, which may be considered as a correction for her sin: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying , this came out first ; she tied this to his wrist, that she might know whose... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 38:29

And it came to pass as he drew back his hand ,.... Into the "uterus" again: that, behold, his brother came out ; out of his mother's womb, and so was properly born first: and she said ; either Tamar, or rather, her midwife: how hast thou broken forth ? it was astonishing to her how it could be, having never met with the like in her practice before; she could not imagine how it was possible for him to come forth first, when his brother lay in the way of him, and nearest the birth,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 38:28

The midwife - bound upon his hand a scarlet thread - The binding of the scarlet thread about the wrist of the child whose arm appeared first in the birth, serves to show us how solicitously the privileges of the birthright were preserved. Had not this caution been taken by the midwife, Pharez would have had the right of primogeniture to the prejudice of his elder brother Zarah. And yet Pharez is usually reckoned in the genealogical tables before Zarah; and from him, not Zarah, does the line... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 38:29

How hast thou broken forth? - פרצת מה mah paratsta , this breach be upon thee, פרץ עליך aleycka parets ; thou shalt bear the name of the breach thou hast made, i. e., in coming first into the world. Therefore his name was called פרץ Parets , i. e., the person who made the breach. The breach here mentioned refers to a certain circumstance in parturition which it is unnecessary to explain. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:1-30

The house of Judah: a family record of sin and shame. I. THE WICKEDNESS OF ER AND ONAN . 1. Early . On any hypothesis Er and Onan can have been little more than boys when they were married, and yet they appear to have arrived at a remarkable precocity in sin. Nor was it simply that they had shed the innocence and purity of youth, but they had also acquired a shameful proficiency in vice. Young scholars are mostly apt learners, especially in the devil's school. 2.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:1-30

The goodness and severity of God. These occurrences in the family of Judah would seem Judah is a wanderer from his brethren; a sensual, self-willed, degenerate man; yet it is in the line of this same wanderer that the promised seed shall appear. The whole is a lesson on the evil of separation from the people of God . Luther asks why such things were placed in Scripture, and answers, read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:27-30

Tamar's twins. I. POINTS OF RESEMBLANCE . II. POINTS OF DISTINCTION . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:28

And it came to pass, when she travailed ,—literally, in her bringing forth (cf. Genesis 35:17 )— that the one put out his hand :—literally, and it (sc. the child) gave a hand, i.e. it was an abnormal and dangerous presentation— and the midwife ( vide Genesis 35:17 ) took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 38:29

And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she ( i.e. the midwife) said, How hast thou broken forth! this breach be upon thee:— literally, What a breach hast thou made! upon thee, a breach, or, Why hast thou broken forth for thyself a breach (Delitzsch)? or, How hast thou made for thee a breach? (Murphy)— therefore his name was called Pharez —or Breach (cf. Genesis 46:12 ; Numbers 26:20 ; 1 Chronicles 2:4 ; Matthew 1:3 ). read more

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