Genesis 38:27

 Genesis 38:27

And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

a. NASB 1995: It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were twins in her womb.  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb.  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: Now when the time came for her to be delivered, behold, there were twins in her womb.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: And it came to pass at the time she gave birth that behold! There were twins in her womb.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb.  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.”

a. [And] it came to pass [Strong: 1961 hâyâh, haw-yaw; a primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):—beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.]

b. [ at the] time [Strong: 6256 ʻêth, ayth; from H5703; time, especially (adverb with preposition) now, when, etc.:— after, (al-) ways, × certain, continually, evening, long, (due) season, so (long) as, (even-, evening-, noon-) tide, (meal-), what) time, when.]

c. [of her] travail [Strong: 3205 yâlad, yaw-lad'; a primitive root; to bear young; causatively, to beget; medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show lineage:—bear, beget, birth(-day), born, (make to) bring forth (children, young), bring up, calve, child, come, be delivered (of a child), time of delivery, gender, hatch, labour, (do the office of a) midwife, declare pedigrees, be the son of, (woman in, woman that) travail(-eth, -ing woman).]

d. [that] behold [Strong: 2009 hinnêh, hin-nay'; prolongation for H2005; lo!:—behold, lo, see.]

e. twins [Strong: 8380 tâʼôwm, taw-ome'; or תָּאֹם tâʼôm; from H8382; a twin (in plural only), literally or figuratively:—twins.]

f. [were in her] womb [Strong: 1990 beṭen, beh'-ten; from an unused root probably meaning to be hollow; the belly, especially the womb; also the bosom or body of anything:—belly, body, as they be born, within, womb.]

2). Don Costello: There are vairious forms of incest in the Bible. Two instances of incest that are forbidden in the Bible is between father and daughter and father and daughter in law. The first is found in Genesis 19:30-38. The Biblical record not only shows both of Lot’s daughters were pregnant by Lot, but it shows the elder daughter bore a son named Moab, while the younger daughter bore a son named Ammon. Both of these sons became nations and both became bitter enemies of Israel, and both were subject to judgments by God because of their behavior toward Israel. In Deuteronomy 23:3 God declares a Moabite or Ammonite unto the tenth generation could not enter into the congregation. Zephaniah 3:8-10 declares they would be annihilated as nations because of their reproach and pride toward Israel. Yet Ruth in the Book of Ruth is a Moabitess and because of her faithfulness to the one true God, ends up marrying Boaz. A son came out of that union whose name is Obed, grandfather to David, and part of the Messianic line, Ruth 4:13-17. The second form of incest that is forbidden under the Mosaic law, is found in Genesis 38, between Tamar and Judah. Judah’s oldest son Er marries Tamar; because of his evilness the LORD kills Er. As a result of his death, the second son is to marry Tamar and provide a son for his oldest brother. Onan, though, just has sex with Tamar and causes his seed to be spilt on the ground.  As a result of that act, Onan is also killed by the LORD. Judah then promises Tamar that when the youngest is grown he would give him to Tamar to raise up children. When that doesn’t happen Tamar dresses as a prostitute and tricks Judah into getting her pregnant. When Tamar is found to be pregnant, Judah commands her to be put to death. Tamar then reveals Judah to be the father and Judah reverses the order. Tamar ends up having twins, Pharez and Zarah. The fascinating thing about this is that Pharez in Ruth 4:18-22 is listed as the great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather to David and is included in the Messianic line to Jesus. The important lesson in both of these incidents is that God can turn any tragic human condition into a blessed condition that gives Him glory. He doesn’t sanction the behavior that causes the tragedy but he can turn it around into a blessing.

3). This kind of incest is forbidden in Scripture.

a).  Leviticus 18:15Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

4). Don Costello:From the time of Adam up to the time of Moses, approximately 2500 years, mankind practiced incest in one form or another. In fact it was necessary after the Creation and the flood in Noah’s day to insure the propagation of humanity. Biblical examples that would have been forbidden after this new legislation are Abraham marrying his half sister Sarah (Genesis 11:29; 20:12), and Moses' father marrying his aunt Exodus 6:20). This new divine legislation (Leviticus 18) was implemented because as the generations continued to be born and die, the effects of sin multiplied the generational defects within men and women. Just as the spiritual effects of sin produced more wickedness in the next generations, the physical defects from sin also multiplied to the point that intermarriage between close relatives made birth defects inevitable, and to prevent that, God in his wisdom gave the commandments forbidding these marriages.

In our day incest is being renamed “Genetic Sexual Attraction” which will probably pave the way for normalization, just like homosexuality.