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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, of the offspring which Yahweh will give you by this young woman.”
- BSB And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.”
- NKJV May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.”
- NASB Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the descendants whom the Lord will give you by this young woman.”
- NLT And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The people pray that Boaz's household would flourish like that of Perez, son of Judah and Tamar. This links the marriage to Judah's royal line.
Overview
The reference to Perez, born to Tamar through an irregular yet redemptive episode (Gen. 38), connects Boaz and Ruth to the tribe of Judah and its promised scepter (Gen. 49:10). Like Tamar, Ruth is an outsider whom God graciously incorporates into His redemptive purposes. The blessing foreshadows the genealogy of Christ, in which both Tamar and Ruth are named (Matt. 1:3, 5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gen 38:29And 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.
- 1 Sam 2:20And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home.
- 1 Chr 2:4And Tamar his daughter in law bore him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.
- Gen 46:12And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
- Matt 1:3And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
- Num 26:20–22And 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.
- Ruth 4:18Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
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Christ at the center
Boaz the kinsman-redeemer who buys back the destitute and takes a bride foreshadows Christ, our Redeemer who pays the price to make a people his own; and from Ruth's line comes David, and David's greater Son.
How Ruth 4:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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