Genesis 38:27

38:27 When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.

Genesis 38:29-30

38:29 But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. ¹  She said, “How you have broken out of the womb!” ²  So he was named Perez. ³  38:30 Afterward his brother came out – the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand – and he was named Zerah. ⁴ 

Genesis 46:12

46:12 The sons of Judah:

Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah

(but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan).

The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

Numbers 26:20-21

26:20 And the Judahites by their families were: from Shelah, the family of the Shelahites; from Perez, the family of the Perezites; and from Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. 26:21 And the Perezites were: from Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; from Hamul, ⁵  the family of the Hamulites.

Numbers 26:1

A Second Census Required

26:1 ⁶ After the plague the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, ⁷ 

Numbers 2:3-4

The Tribes on the East

2:3 “Now those who will be camping ⁸  on the east, toward the sunrise, ⁹  are the divisions ¹⁰  of the camp of Judah under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is ¹¹  Nahshon son of Amminadab. 2:4 Those numbered in his division ¹²  are 74,600.

[38:29]  ¹ tn Heb “Look, his brother came out.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through the midwife’s eyes. The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[38:29]  ² tn Heb “How you have made a breach for yourself!” The Hebrew verb translated “make a breach” frequently occurs, as here, with a cognate accusative. The event provided the meaningful name Perez, “he who breaks through.”

[38:29]  ³ sn The name Perez means “he who breaks through,” referring to Perez reaching out his hand at birth before his brother was born. The naming signified the completion of Tamar’s struggle and also depicted the destiny of the tribe of Perez who later became dominant (Gen 46:12 and Num 26:20). Judah and his brothers had sold Joseph into slavery, thinking they could thwart God’s plan that the elder brothers should serve the younger. God demonstrated that principle through these births in Judah’s own family, affirming that the elder will serve the younger, and that Joseph’s leadership could not so easily be set aside. See J. Goldin, “The Youngest Son; or, Where Does Genesis 38 Belong?” JBL 96 (1977): 27-44.

[38:30]  ⁴ sn Perhaps the child was named Zerah because of the scarlet thread. Though the Hebrew word used for “scarlet thread” in v. 28 is not related to the name Zerah, there is a related root in Babylonian and western Aramaic that means “scarlet” or “scarlet thread.” In Hebrew the name appears to be derived from a root meaning “to shine.” The name could have originally meant something like “shining one” or “God has shined.” Zerah became the head of a tribe (Num 26:20) from whom Achan descended (Josh 7:1).

[26:21]  ⁵ tc Smr and the Greek version have “Hamuel.”

[26:1]  ⁶ sn The breakdown of ch. 26 for outlining purposes will be essentially according to the tribes of Israel. The format and structure is similar to the first census, and so less comment is necessary here.

[26:1]  ⁷ tc The MT has also “saying.”

[2:3]  ⁸ tn The sentence begins with a vav (ו) on a word that is not a finite verb, indicating a new section begins here. The verbal form is a participle with the article used substantivally, with the meaning “and/now those camping.” Many English versions employ a finite verb; cf. KJV “on the east side…shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch.”

[2:3]  ⁹ tc The two synonyms might seem to be tautological, but this is fairly common and therefore acceptable in Hebrew prose (cf. Exod 26:18; 38:13; etc.).

[2:3]  ¹⁰ tn The sentence actually has “[those camping…are] the standard of the camp of Judah according to their divisions.”

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “will be.”

[2:4]  ¹² tc The expression “and his divisions and those numbered of them” is somewhat tautological. The words are synonyms used for statistical purposes, and so neither should be simply deleted.