PEREZ pĭr’ ĕz (פֶ֗רֶץ, bursting forth, breach, spreading; LXX and NT Φάρες). PHAREZ, fâr’ ĕz, KJV OT (except 1 Chron 27:3; Neh 11:4, 6); PHARES, fâr’ ěs, KJV NT, KJV, RSV in 1 Esdras 5:5. One of the twins (brother was Zerah) born to Judah by his daughter-in-law Tamar (Gen 38:29; 1 Chron 2:4). Popular etymology attributes his name to the manner of his birth, but it may also reflect the rivalry between the two lines—Perez and Zerah. In the genealogies Perez takes precedence over Zerah (Gen 46:12; Num 26:20; 1 Chron 2:4), and some leading families of Judah trace their lineage to him (1 Chron 27:3; Neh 11:4, 6). Perhaps his real prominence is from the fact that he was an ancestor of David (Ruth 4:18-22). He is included in the NT genealogy of Jesus (Matt 1:3; Luke 3:33). Perez was the father of Hezron and Hamul (Gen 46:12) and ancestral head of the family of the PERIZITES (pĭr’ ə zīts; KJV PHARZITES, fär’ zīts; Num 26:20). The remark concerning Perez in Ruth 4:12 refers to Genesis 38. Both stories concern the institution of levirate marriage and stress the progeny aspect of the twofold promise (great posterity and landed property) made by God to Abraham (Gen 13:14-17).