And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.
How hast thou broken forth? (this) breach (be) upon thee. The demonstrative pronoun, which our translators have inserted before "breach," has no equivalent in the original: the word is without the definite article. There is an ambiguity in the exclamation of the midwife, whose words have been variously interpreted. Rosenmuller, Maurer, and others, render the second clause, 'on thee the blame of this breach lies.' Knobel considers it an imprecation-`a breach be upon thee.' But the historian does not hint at the existence of such a feeling, and simply relates the incident of the birth as a remarkable ocurrence. Delitzsch unites the two clauses by translating, 'How hast thou broken through a rent (forced a passage) for thyself?' and the Septuagint has: Ti diekopee dia se phragmos, 'How has the fence been broken through by you?' 'as if,' says Calvin ('Comment. in Genesin'), 'the body of the brother who had appeared first lay like an opposing wall in his way, which he burst through.'
Therefore his name was called Pharez, х Paarets (H6556)] - a breach, a rip [Septuagint, Fares].
Zarah, х Zaarach (H2226)] - a rising [Septuagint, Sara].
The right of primogeniture seems to have been conferred on Pharez, as his name always precedes that of his brother in the genealogical lists. This chapter contains details which probably would never have obtained a place in the inspired record had it not been to exhibit the full links of the chain that connects the genealogy of the Saviour with Abraham; and in the disreputable character of the ancestry who figure in this passage, we have a remarkable proof that 'He made Himself of no reputation.'