Genesis 19:30-38

Lot and His Daughters

30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.

31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth.

32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.”

35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab^[a] ; he is the father of the Moabites of today.

38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi^[b] ; he is the father of the Ammonites^[c] of today.

Genesis 19:30-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 19

The contents of this chapter are Lot's entertainment of two angels that came to Sodom, Ge 19:1-3; the rude behaviour of the men of Sodom towards them, who for it were smote with blindness, Ge 19:4-11; the deliverance of Lot, his wife and two daughters, by means of the angels he entertained, Ge 19:12-17; the sparing of the city of Zoar at the entreaty of Lot, to which he was allowed to flee, Ge 19:18-22; the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, Ge 19:23-25; Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, Ge 19:26; Abraham's view of the conflagration of the cities, Ge 19:28,29; Lot's betaking himself to a mountain, and dwelling in a cave with his two daughters, by whom he had two sons, the one called Moab, and the other Benammi, Ge 19:30-38.

Cross References

• 1. ver 22; S Genesis 13:10
• 2. S ver 19; S Genesis 14:10
• 3. S Genesis 16:2
• 4. ver 34,36; Genesis 38:18
• 5. ver 35
• 6. S ver 32
• 7. Genesis 9:21
• 8. ver 33
• 9. S ver 32
• 10. Genesis 36:35; Exodus 15:15; Numbers 25:1; Isaiah 15:1; Isaiah 25:10; Jeremiah 25:21; Jeremiah 48:1; Ezekiel 25:8; Zephaniah 2:9
• 11. Numbers 22:4; Numbers 24:17; Deuteronomy 2:9; Judges 3:28; Ruth 1:4,22; 1 Samuel 14:47; 1 Samuel 22:3-4; 2 Samuel 8:2; 2 Kings 1:1; 2 Kings 3:4; Ezra 9:1; Psalms 108:9; Jeremiah 48:1
• 12. Numbers 21:24; Deuteronomy 2:19; Deuteronomy 23:3; Joshua 12:2; Judges 3:13; Judges 10:6,7; 1 Samuel 11:1-11; 1 Samuel 14:47; 1 Chronicles 19:1; 2 Chronicles 20:23; 2 Chronicles 26:8; 2 Chronicles 27:5; Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:3; Ezekiel 25:21">Jer Ezekiel 25:21; Jeremiah 40:14; Jeremiah 49:1; Ezekiel 21:28; Ezekiel 25:2; Amos 1:13

Footnotes

• [a]. "Moab" sounds like the Hebrew for "from father."
• [b]. "Ben-Ammi" means "son of my father’s people."
• [c]. Hebrew "Bene-Ammon"