Genesis 38:27
in Genesis 38When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.
KJV
And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.
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This verse in Genesis 38
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
there were twins in her womb
on Genesis 38:27-28
Twins are in the womb, and Wesley hears the struggle of Jacob and Esau at Genesis 25:22 breaking out again in the family that came from it. One hand comes out first, the midwife ties a scarlet thread around the wrist, and Clarke reads the thread as the care taken over the right of the firstborn. The hand goes back in.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Observe in this, I ask you, a mystery and a prediction of what is to come. You see, after the midwife bound the scarlet thread around his hand to make Zerah recognizable, then "he drew his hand back, and his brother came out." He yielded precedence to his brother, it is saying, and the one thought last came out first, and the one thought first emerged after him. "The midwife said, 'What a breach you have made for yourself!' He was called Perez." The name, in fact, means "breach" or "division," as you might say. "After him came his brother with the mark on his right hand; he was given the name Zerah," which means "sunrise."It was not idly or to no purpose that these things happened; rather, it was a type of things to come, revealing the events themselves. You see, what happened was not according to natural processes. I mean, how would it have been possible, after his hand was bound with crimson, for him to draw back again and give way to the one after him, unless there were some divine power arranging this in advance? It was also prefiguring, as if in a kind of shadow, the fact that right from the outset Zerah, which means sunrise (he is, after all, a type of the church), began to peer ahead; as he moved gradually forward and then retired, the legal observance denoted by Perez made its entrance. After that had held precedence for a long time, the former one—I mean Zerah, who had retired—came forward, and the whole Judaic way of life in turn yielded place to the church.
What is one to say of Tamar, who brought to birth the twins Zerah and Perez? Their separation at the moment of birth was like a wall that divides the two peoples, and the hand tied with the scarlet ribbon already then speckled the conscience of the Jews with the passion of Christ.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. 7 And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the L ORD ; and the L ORD slew him.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:93%@v5-7
And it came to pass in the time of her travail,.... When her time to bring forth was come, and her pains were on her, and her midwife with her: that, behold, twins were in her womb; which the midwife could discover before the birth of either.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֖י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְּעֵ֣ת | beet | at [the] time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| לִדְתָּ֑הּ | lidtah | gave birth she | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֥ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| תְאוֹמִ֖ים | teomim | twins | H8380 → | |
| בְּבִטְנָֽהּ׃ | bevitnah | [were] in womb her | H990 → | 72 times |
וַיְהִ֖יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בְּעֵ֣תat [the] time
beetH6256 →296 times
לִדְתָּ֑הּgave birth she
lidtahH3205 →496 times
וְהִנֵּ֥הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
תְאוֹמִ֖יםtwins
teomimH8380 →
בְּבִטְנָֽהּ׃[were] in womb her
bevitnahH990 →72 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
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About Genesis

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, LETTER 123.12; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 62.8-9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
