Genesis 38:28
in Genesis 38And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.
KJV
And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.
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This verse in Genesis 38
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe 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 of our Lord proceed.
This 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 and the midwife ties a scarlet thread around the wrist. Clarke reads the thread as the care taken over the right of the firstborn. The hand goes back in.
This site's exposition
the midwife took a scarlet thread
The word for scarlet, shani, is the color of the cord Rahab ties in her window at Joshua 2:18. Rahab and Tamar are both named in the line of Jesus at Matthew 1:3 to 5. The thread was the only record of which twin came first.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Again, they are compared two by two: in the Old Testament, there are the times before the Law and under the Law; in the New, the times of the calling of the Gentiles and of the calling of the Israelites that shall be at the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It should seem the birth was hard to the mother, by which she was corrected for her sin: the children also, like Jacob and Esau, struggled for the birth-right, and Pharez who got it, is ever named first, and from him Christ descended.
And it came to pass when she travailed,....
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֥י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְלִדְתָּ֖הּ | velidtah | when gave birth she | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וַיִּתֶּן־ | vaiyiten- | and he put out | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| יָ֑ד | yad | a hand | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וַתִּקַּ֣ח | vatikach | and she took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| הַמְיַלֶּ֗דֶת | hamyaledet | the midwife | H3205 → | 496 times |
| וַתִּקְשֹׁ֨ר | vatikshor | and she tied | H7194 → | 44 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יָד֤וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| שָׁנִי֙ | shani | a scarlet thread | H8144 → | |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| זֶ֖ה | zeh | this one | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| יָצָ֥א | yatza' | he came out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| רִאשֹׁנָֽה׃ | rishonah | first | H7223 → | 182 times |
וַיְהִ֥יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בְלִדְתָּ֖הּwhen gave birth she
velidtahH3205 →496 times
וַיִּתֶּן־and he put out
vaiyiten-H5414 →2011 times
יָ֑דa hand
yadH3027 →1618 times
וַתִּקַּ֣חand she took
vatikachH3947 →966 times
הַמְיַלֶּ֗דֶתthe midwife
hamyaledetH3205 →496 times
וַתִּקְשֹׁ֨רand she tied
vatikshorH7194 →44 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יָד֤וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
שָׁנִי֙a scarlet thread
shaniH8144 →
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
זֶ֖הthis one
zehH2088 →1180 times
יָצָ֥אhe came out
yatza'H3318 →1067 times
רִאשֹׁנָֽה׃first
rishonahH7223 →182 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.