Perez (son of Judah)

Depiction of the birth of Perez (being washed in the bottom left of the picture).
See Pérez for the Spanish surname and Peretz for the Jewish name.

According to the Book of Genesis, Pharez/Perez (Hebrew: פֶּרֶץ / פָּרֶץ, Modern Péreẓ / Páreẓ Tiberian Péreṣ / Pāreṣ) was the son of Tamar and Judah, and the twin of Zerah.[1][2] The name is transliterated to English as both "Perez" (NIV, ESV, NKJV) and "Pharez" (KJV). Perez, in Hebrew means "breach or burst forth" and is named after the narrative of his birth as recorded in Genesis 38:29. The Book of Ruth lists Perez as being part of the ancestral genealogy of King David,[3] and both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke include him when specifying the genealogy of Jesus.[4][5]

According to biblical scholars, the birth narrative may be an etiological myth explaining the origin of parts of the tribe of Judah.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ Genesis 38:29
  2. ↑ 1 Chronicles 2:4
  3. ↑ Ruth 4:18-22
  4. ↑ Matthew 1:3
  5. ↑ Luke 3:33
  6. ↑ J. A. Emerton, Judah And Tamar
  7. ↑ Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica, Vol III