Genesis 38:27

Gen 38:27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins [were] in her womb.

Ver. 27. Behold, twins were in her womb.] Betokening two peoples pertaining to Christ. The Jews first put forth their hand, as it were, willing to be justified by their works, and to regenerate themselves. For this, they were bound with a scarlet thread - condemned by the law: wherefore, pulling back their hand, they fell from God. Then came forth Pharez, the breach-maker, that is, the violent and valiant Gentiles; who took the first birthright and kingdom by force: who when they are fully born, then shall the Jews come forth again. {Rom 11:11; Rom 11:25-26} And that this is not far off, hear what a worthy divine, {a} yet living, saith: In Dan 12:11 we have a prophecy of the final restoration of the Jews, and the time is expressed, which is 1290 years after the ceasing of the daily sacrifice, and the setting up of the abomination of desolation, which is conceived to be in Julian’s time; who did essay to rebuild the Temple of the Jews, which was an abomination to God; who therefore destroyed it by fire out of the earth, tearing up the very foundation thereof, to the nethermost stone. This was Anno Dom. 360, to which if you add 1290 years, it will pitch this calculation upon the year 1650. Before this, Babylon must down, &c.

{a} Mr Case’s God’s Wait. to be Grac., p. 58.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

38:27-30 Judah’s line continued because of Tamar. The twins replaced Judah’s two slain sons (38:7, 10); their birth was similar to the birth of Jacob and Esau (25:21-26) in that the “red” one was born first, but the other son pushed past him in later life. Jacob’s gaining the right to rule over his older brother (27:29) seemed to be relived in Judah’s line. The line was carried on through Perez and not through the elder son Shelah, whom he had gone to such lengths to protect (38:11; see 1 Chr 4:21), nor through the elder twin Zerah (see Ruth 4:13-22; Matt 1:3).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

27. Behold twins were in her womb. Although both Judah obtained pardon for his error, and Tamar for her wicked contrivance; yet the Lord, in order to humble them, caused a prodigy to take place in the birth. Something similar had before happened in the case of Jacob and Esau, but for a different reason: as we know that prodigies sometimes portend good, sometimes evil. Here, however, there is no doubt that the twins, in their very birth, bring with them marks of their parents’ infamy. For it was both profitable to themselves that the memory of their shame should be renewed, and it served as a public example, that such a crime should be branded with eternal disgrace. There is an ambiguity in the meaning of the midwife’s words. Some suppose the “breaking forth” to apply to the membrane of the womb, which is broken when the foetus comes forth. Others more correctly suppose, that the midwife wondered how Pharez, having broken through the barrier interposed, should have come out first; for his brother, who had preceded him, was, as an intervening wall, opposed to him. To some the expression appears to be an imprecation; as if it had been said, “Let the blame of the rupture be upon thee.” But Moses, so far as I can judge, intends to point out nothing more, than that a prodigy took place at the birth.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

And it came to pass when she travailed,.... Her birth throes came strong and quick upon her:

that the one put out his hand; which showed that she was like to have a difficult and dangerous time of it; that the birth was not like to be according to the usual and natural order, which may be considered as a correction for her sin:

and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying,

this came out first; she tied this to his wrist, that she might know whose hand it was, and so which was the firstborn; which, to know was a matter of consequence, since to the firstborn there were some special and peculiar privileges.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. Cf. the case of Rebekah. (Gen_25:24)

Vers. 27-30.

Tamar"s twins.

I POINTS OF RESEMBLANCE.

(1) The offspring of the same parents;

(2) the fruit of the same sin;

(3) the gift of the same God.

II POINTS OF DISTINCTION.

(1) The order of their birth;

(2) the import of their names;

(3) the purpose of their lives the first being an ancestor of the promised seed.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It came about at the time

This phrase is used here to mark the beginning of a new part of the story. (See: Introduction of a New Event)

behold

The word "behold" alerts us to the surprise that Tamar was carrying twins, which was previously unknown.

It came about as she was giving birth

This phrase "It came about" marks an important event in the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.

one put out a hand

"one of the babies put out his hand"

midwife

This is a person who helps a woman when she is giving birth to a child. See how you translated this in Genesis 35:17.

scarlet thread

"bright red thread"

on his hand

"around his wrist"

translationWords

womb

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

בעת לדתה AT THE TIME OF HER BEARING — But in the case of Rebecca Scripture says (25:24) “And when her days to give birth were fulfilled” — in the latter case the months of pregnancy were complete, here, however, they were short of the full term (Genesis Rabbah 85:13).

והנה תאומים AND BEHOLD TWINS — Here the word is written plene (with א and י whilst there (in the case of Rebecca) it is written defective (תומם without these letters) because one (viz., Esau) was wicked, but here both were righteous (Genesis Rabbah 85:13).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ויהי בעת לדתה, it is clear from this wording that, in contrast to Rivkah, Tamar had not had any warning signs that she was carrying twins in her womb. There is an aggadic commentary according to which Rivkah’s problematic pregnancy was due to her carrying the seeds of two monarchs within her, whereas seeing that from Tamar only one potential king would emerge, the one being born first had “burst the boundaries,” excluding the other fetus from competition. (similar to Bereshit Rabbah 85,15.) Micah 2,13 alludes to this.

תאומים. This is the only instance when this word is spelled with both the letter א and the letter ו, i.e. pointing to the fact that these two were properly matched twins, i.e. both boys would grow up righteous.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.