The Younger Twin Brother of Perez Zerah is the younger twin brother of Perez. They are sons of Judah and Tamar (1). When Tamar is in labor, the hand of one of her babies emerges. The midwife ties a scarlet thread around his wrist. Then the hand withdraws. The baby who is born first, however, […]
After Tamar (1) tricks Judah into impregnating her, she gives birth to twins. They are Perez and Zerah. The name Perez means “breaking out,” because he broke out of the womb first before his twin brother. Though we know nothing more about Perez and what he did, future generations esteem him. Several generations later, one […]
God has killed Shelah’s older brothers, Er and Onan, for their extreme wickedness. The custom of the people is that Er’s widow, Tamar (1), should be passed to the third brother so he can produce offspring through her for his dead brother. But Shelah isn’t old enough. So Judah sends Tamar home to live with […]
After God kills Er for his extreme wickedness, Er’s father, Judah, passes the dead man’s widow, Tamar (1), to his second child, Onan. The intent is that Onan will produce children for his deceased brother to carry on his family line through Tamar. Judah tells Onan it’s his responsibility as Tamar’s brother-in-law to do this. […]
Jacob’s son Judah leaves his family and travels to Adullam. There he marries a Canaanite woman, a descendant of Canaan, which as a group Noah cursed. They have three sons. The oldest is Er, followed by Onan, and then Shelah. Judah finds a wife for his firstborn son, Er. Her name is Tamar (1). All […]
Rebekah agrees to leave her family to travel to a distant land to marry her cousin Isaac. Her family sends her off, along with her nurse. This suggests Rebekah may be quite young at the time and still in need of adult care. It’s interesting to note that although Rebekah decides to leave her family […]
The Two Wives of Esau Judith and Basemath only show up in one passage in the Bible. They are co-wives of Esau. First Esau marries Judith. She’s the daughter of a Hittite man named Beeri. Then Esau marries Basemath. She’s the daughter of another Hittite man, Elon. These marriages are a source of grief to […]
By name, this Eliezer only appears once in the Bible. He is from Damascus and a servant of Abram. We can assume that Eliezer is Abram’s lead servant and most esteemed, because Abram is childless at the time and identifies Eliezer as the heir of his estate. If Abram dies childless, Eliezer will inherit much. […]
The mysterious character of Melchizedek shows up only once in the book of Genesis. There he meets and blesses Abraham after the patriarch defeats Lot’s captors and liberates his nephew, the rest of the town, and their possessions. Abraham gives Melchizedek a tenth of the plunder. Yet this seemingly straightforward story also intrigues. First, Melchizedek […]
There are two men in the Bible named Nahor, and they are related. Of Terah’s three sons, Haran dies early in life, Abram goes to Canaan, and Nahor stays home. We’ll circle back to him in a bit. Terah sets out for Canaan with his nephew Lot (Haran’s son), Abram, and Abram’s wife Sarai. Yet […]