Genesis 19:37

37 When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites.

Genesis 19:37 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 19:37

And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab
As if it was "Meab", from the father, as Aben Ezra, and so Josephus, that is, which she had by her father; and she was so far from being ashamed that it might be known in time to come, she gave him this name. Hillerus ^F23 makes it to be a compound of (ba) and (abwm) , and to signify "going into", or "lying with a father", which still more notoriously points to her own action. Drusius has another derivation of the word, at least proposes it, and renders it "aqua patris"; "mo" in the Egyptian language signifying "water", which is sometimes used for seed, see ( Isaiah 48:1 ) : the same [is] the father of the Moabites unto this day;
a people that lived on the borders of the land of Canaan, often troublesome to the Israelites, and frequently spoken of in the Old Testament.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F23 Onomastic. Sacr. p. 414.

Genesis 19:37 In-Context

35 So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.

36 As a result, both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their own father.

37 When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites.

38 When the younger daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Ben-ammi. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Ammonites.

Footnotes

• [a]. Moab sounds like a Hebrew term that means “from father.”