Birth and Name
Perez was the son of Tamar by her father-in-law Judah, the account of which is given in Genesis 38. His older half-brothers, Er, Onan, and Shelah, were born of Judah's marriage to the daughter of Shuah.
He was born as a twin with his brother Zerah. During the birth, Zerah's hand emerged first, and the midwife tied a crimson thread upon it to mark him as firstborn; but Zerah drew back his hand and Perez came forth first. The midwife exclaimed, 'What a breach you have made for yourself!' — and from the Hebrew word for breach (pereṣ) the child received the name Perez, meaning 'breach' or 'burst forth.'
Place in the Genealogy of Christ
Perez stands one generation after Judah in the direct line leading to King David. According to Ruth 4:18–22, the descent runs: Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, and David. The same lineage is recorded in 1 Chronicles 2:4.
The New Testament carries this line forward into the genealogy of Jesus, where Perez is named in both Matthew 1:3 and Luke 3:33. The Orthodox commemoration of the Holy Forefathers identifies Hezron as 'the son of Perez (Phares) and the father of Aram (or Ioram), and an ancestor of the Prophet-King David,' confirming Perez's place in the messianic lineage.
Liturgical Commemoration
On the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ, the Orthodox Church commemorates the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh — those who lived before the Law and under the Law. The commemoration names Pharez and Zerah, the twin sons of Judah, among the forefathers of Christ.
The full genealogical chain honored on this Sunday includes the twelve Patriarchs, the sons of Jacob, and then the line through David: Pharez and Zerah, Hezron, Aram, Aminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David, Solomon, and the kings after him down to Joseph. Also included are Melchizedek, Job, Moses, Aaron, Samuel, Nathan, Daniel, and the Three Youths. The feast honors all the ancestors of Christ, 'especially the Patriarch Abraham.'
Traditional Accounts
An Ethiopian tradition holds that Perez became a king of Persia. This account lies outside the canonical biblical record and is not part of the scriptural documentation of his life.
