John Calvin Commentary Genesis 38:27

"And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb." — Genesis 38:27 (ASV)

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 an unusual sign to take place in the birth. Something similar had happened before in the case of Jacob and Esau, but for a different reason: as we know that such signs 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 beneficial for them 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” refers to the membrane of the womb, which is broken when the fetus comes out. Others more correctly suppose that the midwife wondered how Pharez, having broken through the interposed barrier, could have come out first, for his brother, who had preceded him, was, like an intervening wall, opposed to him. To some, the expression appears to be a curse, as if it had been said, “Let the blame of the rupture be upon you.” But Moses, so far as I can judge, intends to point out nothing more than that an unusual sign took place at the birth.

CHAPTER 39.