Breach, the elder of the twin sons of Judah (Gen. 38:29). From him the royal line of David sprang (Ruth 4:18-22). “The chief of all the captains of the host” was of the children of Perez (1 Chr. 27:3; Matt. 1:3).
Pharez
Pharez got his name from a surprise at his birth. In Genesis 38:29 one twin draws back his hand, the other comes out first, and the words follow: “How hast thou broken forth?” His name means that breach. The list of Judah’s sons repeats him in Genesis 46 and Numbers 26, where his family becomes the Pharzites. Matthew 1:3 and Luke 3:33 spell it Phares and set him in the line that leads to Jesus. A name begun in an odd moment ends up carried down the generations. Genesis 38:27-30 holds the birth story, and Matthew 1:1-6 shows where it leads.
7 verses
Genesis
Genesis 38:29
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.
Genesis 46:12
And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zerah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
Numbers
Numbers 26:20
And the sons of Judah after their families were; of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites: of Pharez, the family of the Pharzites: of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites.
Numbers 26:21
And the sons of Pharez were; of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.
1 Chronicles
1 Chronicles 2:5
The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul.
Matthew
Matthew 1:3
And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
Luke
Luke 3:33
Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,
From Easton's Bible Dictionary
Matthew George Easton, 1897
From Smith's Bible Dictionary
William Smith, 1884
(Perez, (1 Chronicles 27:3) Phares, (Matthew 1:3; Luke 3:33) 1 Esd. 5:6), twin son, with Zarah or Zerah, of Judah and Tamer his daughter-in-law. (B.C. 1730.) The circumstances of his birth are detailed in Gen. 38. Pharez occupied the rank of Judah’s second son, and from two of his sons sprang two new chief houses, those of the Hezronites and Hamulites. From Hezron’s second son Ram, or Aram, sprang David and the kings of Judah, and eventually Jesus Christ. In the reign of David the house of Pharez seems to have been eminently distinguished.