“Let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah” (Ruth 4:12). 509 - 5 - 2

There was quite a scandal concerning the birth of Pharez to Judah by his daughter-in-law Tamar. Judah had refused to allow his son Shelah to marry Tamar in keeping with Levirate marriage. Tamar tricked her father-in-law thinking she was a prostitute and a pregnancy resulted. 1 Chronicles 2:4, “And Tamar his daughter in law bore him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.”

There would be a cloud on the conception of Pharez and Zerah just as there would later be concerning Jesus. Psalm 69:12, “They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.” John 8:41, “Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.”    

 Deuteronomy 23:2, “A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.”

Ruth 4:12, “And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman.” Perhaps a foretelling of the 10th generation to come.

And these are the lineal descendants of Pharez. Pharez begat Hezron, and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

David, son of Jesse, was the 10th generation after Pharez so he could “enter into the congregation of the LORD” and be crowned King.

Another interpretation of Ruth 4:12 could be that there would be many descendants of Perez. Nehemiah 11:6, “All the sons of Perez that dwelt at Jerusalem were four hundred threescore and eight valiant men.”

Digging a little deeper, Boaz and Ruth, a Moabitess, were in the line of Jesus. Boaz was the son of Salmon and Rahab who was said to be a prostitute. Boaz and Ruth had a son they named Obed who had a son named Jesse and in turn Jesse had a son named David, later known as King David. A pagan prostitute and a Gentile were in the line of Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.