Commentary for Genesis 38:29

פרצת THOU HAST BURST FORTH — What a strong effort hast thou made!

HOW HAST THOU BURST FORTH? THIS BURSTING UPON THYSELF (‘PARATZTA ALECHA’). “What a strong effort you have made!” thus the language of Rashi.
But the word paretz, wherever used, signifies the breaching of a fence and passing through, just as: I will break down (‘p’rotz’) the fence thereof;¹⁹⁷Isaiah 5:5. Why hast Thou broken down (‘paratzta’) her fences?¹⁹⁸Psalms 80:13. And in the language of the Rabbis: “Pirtzah (a breach in a wall) calleth forth to the thief.”¹⁹⁹Sotah 26a. Indeed, the Sacred Language²⁰⁰Hebrew. See Ramban on Exodus 30:13, as to why Hebrew is called “a sacred” language. uses the term p’rotz when referring to anything that oversteps its boundary: And thou shalt break forth (‘upharatzta’) to the west, and to the east;²⁰¹Above, 28:14. Here referring to the conquest of land. And the man broke forth (‘vayiphrotz’) exceedingly.²⁰²Ibid., 30:43. Here referring to an unusual increase in wealth. It is thus clear that the word p’rotz is used to refer to anything which breaks forth from its normal boundary. It is for this reason that the verse here is saying, at the time that the first child drew back his hand, and this one hurriedly came out, “What great breach hast thou made in the fence in order to hurry out before him?” The verse says, alecha (upon thee), to indicate that ‘the fence’ was upon him, and he was imprisoned in it. The sense of the verse is thus: “What great breach did you take upon yourself to make in the fence, with the result that you came out of it?”
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said in explanation of the verse: “Mah paratzta? What have you broken, in the manner of a man who makes a breach in a fence and exits through it, and now the responsibility for this breach is upon you.”²⁰³That is, “if in the process of your hurried exit you would have caused harm or death to your brother, you would have been held responsible.”
There is no point to this interpretation. In the Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakaneh²⁰⁴Sefer Habahir, 196. See Note 42, Seder Bereshith. there is mentioned a mystic principle in connection with the name of these children, Peretz and Zerach. Thus they said: “He was called Zerach (shining) on account of the sun which always shines, and Peretz (breaking) on account of the moon which is sometimes dismantled²⁰⁵Referring to the days when the moonlight decreases, and to the end of the month when its light completely disapppears. and sometimes whole. Now was not Peretz the firstborn, and yet the sun is greater than the moon?²⁰⁶In which case Zerach, whose name is symbolic of the sun, should have been the first born. This presents no difficulty, for it does indeed say, And he [Zerach] put out his hand,²⁰⁷Verse 28 here. Thus Zerach was indeed the firstborn. and it is further written, And afterwards came out his brother.”²⁰⁸Verse 30 here, referring to Zerach. And the verse concludes; that had the shining red thread upon his hand, thus indicating the importance of his having put out his hand first. Now according to their opinion, the moon is associated with the name Peretz on account of the kingdom of the House of David.²⁰⁹Having gone through various periods of ascendancy and decline in its history, the kingdom of the House of David resembles the light of the moon which is constantly changing. Peretz and Zerach were born twins since the moon functions by means of the sun. Thus Peretz is the twin of Zerach who gives forth the hand, while he²¹⁰That is, Peretz. In other words, by putting forth his hand, Zerach indicated that the birthright was to have been his, but Peretz, by coming out first, indicated the consent of the Supreme One to his being appointed the firstborn. is the firstborn by virtue of the power of the Supreme One, as is said, I also appoint him first-born.²¹¹Psalms 89:28. This is the purport of the saying of the Sages with respect to the Sanctification of the Moon: “David King of Israel lives and exists.”²¹²Rosh Hashanah 25a. Ramban’s meaning is that since the kingdom of David evolved from Peretz, and Peretz is symbolized by the moon, the Sages of the Talmud, when wishing to inform the Jews in other countries that the New Moon had appeared and been sanctified by the Great Court, would use this message: “David, king….” This they did in order to circumvent a prohibition by the Romans against transmitting news regarding the times set for the festivals. See Ramban above, 32:26. The man learned [in the mystic teachings of the Cabala] will understand.

ויהי כמשיב ידו, the prefix כ meaning “as if,” describes that he did not really retract his hand. He was forced to, being pushed by his brother.

מה פרצת עליך פרץ, "how did you burst your way out?" Inasmuch as the hand of the first one indicated that he was about to emerge from the womb before his brother why did you push your way out past him thus blocking his becoming the first-born? The word מה, which normally means "what," must be understood here similarly to Psalms 104,24: מה רבו מעשיך, "how great are Your works, etc.?" When the Torah continues עליך פרץ, this explains the nature of this bursting forth. Normally, when twins are born, the one which emerges first is from the sperm that entered the womb last, the earlier sperm being blocked by the sperm injected later. In this instance the baby born first was formed from the sperm that had entered Tamar's womb first. This is why the kingdom rightfully belonged to Peretz, seeing he had been both conceived first and born first.

ויהי כמשיב ידו, at the time when he withdrew his hand his brother pushed ahead and emerged first. We have a similar construction to this in 40,10 והיא כפורחת, which also describes a process which was deceptive. [that which blossoms first does not always ripen first. Ed.]

ויהי כמשיב ידו, “it happened as he retracted his hand, etc.” This refers to the distance a person can withdraw his hand. If the subject of this phrase would be the infant to whom this hand belonged, the Torah should have written: ויהי כאשר השיב ידו.

והנה יצא אחיו, “and here suddenly his brother emerged.” Seeing that future kings would claim Tamar as their original matriarch, it was important to know which was the older. (Compare B’reshit Rabbah 85,13)

ותאמר, these words were addressed by the midwife to the newly born infant who had pushed to displace his brother.
פרצת, why have you burst forth from the confines of the womb displacing your brother who had been in the process of emerging?

מה פרצת עליך פרץ? “how did you burst your way out?” Rashi understands the expression פרץ as denoting doing something violently. Alternately, it may mean that “you have broken out of the boundary that was meant to contain you.” Nachmanides writes that anyone who crosses a boundary is described by Biblical Hebrew as being פורץ as G’d promised Yaakov in Genesis 28,14 ופרצת ימה וקדמה וגו', “and you will burst forth to the West, to the East, etc.” concerning his descendants. This is why the midwife, when seeing the firstborn extending his hand beyond the birth canal, exclaimed that by coming forth hand first, that “he had burst forth.” The meaning of the word עליך in our context refers to the natural boundaries that had been set for each of these infants and the order in which they were meant to be born. Some commentators explain the words: מה פרצת as similar to פרצה גדולה עשית, “you have made a great break-through,” i.e. “may it be G’d’s will that this breakthrough you have made into the world will be a good omen for your continuous further development. According to this inter-pretation, the word פרצת here is not similar in meaning to the word in Genesis

פרץ, this name was given to the twin whose head came out first.

עליך פרץ, you have acted precipitously, inappropriately, in claiming something which was not meant to be yours, the birthright.

ויקרא, Yehudah called his name Peretz in agreement with the comments of the midwife.