Genesis 19:30 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.

NIV: 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.

NASB: Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and stayed in the mountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.

CSB: Lot departed from Zoar and lived in the mountains along with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Instead, he and his two daughters lived in a cave.

NLT: Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters.

KJV: And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

NKJV: Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.

When the angels rescued Lot and his family from the destruction coming on Sodom and Gomorrah, they specifically told Lot to "escape to the hills, lest you be swept away" (Genesis 19:17). Lot said no. He begged, instead, for the angel to allow him to escape to the small city of Zoar. The angel agreed.

Now, however, Lot is afraid to live in Zoar. He has apparently lost everything in God's destruction of the region. All his flocks, herds, servants, slaves, and property are apparently gone. He may have felt exposed and unprotected in Zoar for some reason. He might have feared retaliation or abuse from those who lived in the city, now that he was a less-wealthy and less-powerful man. In any case, he takes his two daughters and runs to the hills, after all. They settle in a cave. It's unclear why Lot didn't run, instead, to the safety of his uncle Abraham's household.

Genesis 19:30–38 describes the humiliating, horrific fate of Lot and his daughters. Having lost everything and living in a cave in the hills with their aging father, the two daughters assume no man will ever marry them or give them children. Their plan to remedy the situation is shocking, but not impossible for children raised in a culture like that of Sodom. Lot's daughters get their father drunk on two consecutive nights, each having sex with him and becoming pregnant.

Two angels, disguised as men, visit Abraham's nephew, Lot, in the city of Sodom. After the men of Sodom attempt to rape the angels in Lot's home, the angels rescue Lot and his family, forcibly removing them from the city. Then God sends fire and sulfur from heaven. This destroys all of the land and people in and around the cities. As stated in earlier verses, this is the result of their great and ongoing wickedness. Lot's wife is turned to a pillar of salt when she disobeys the angels by looking back on the destruction. Lot and his daughters flee first to Zoar, then to a cave in the hills. There, Lot's confused and frightened daughters get him drunk, have sex with him, and each become pregnant.

In the previous chapter, Abraham had bargained with God on behalf of his nephew Lot and the people of Sodom. The Lord assured Abraham He would not destroy the cities if He found ten righteous people there. Chapter 19 immediately demonstrates no righteous people are to be found. Every man of Sodom attempts to attack two visitors, who are God's angels in human form. As the angels rescue Lot, God's judgment falls, utterly destroying everything in the area around Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot and his daughters end up in a cave in the hills, where the daughters scheme to conceive children by making their father drunk. This ends Lot's role in the story of Genesis, with future chapters focusing exclusively on the life and descendants of Abraham.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.