Genesis 19:36 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.

NIV: So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

NASB: And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father.

CSB: So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

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

KJV: Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

NKJV: Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

Lot's two daughters had sex with their father on consecutive nights. Acting desperately, but very deliberately, they got him so drunk with wine that he didn't even realize what was happening (Genesis 19:33; 35). Both of Lot's daughters became pregnant through this sexual abuse of their own father.

Why would they do such a thing? Their stated reason was they assumed no man was left who would marry them and give them children. The men they were engaged to had been destroyed in God's judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24–25). Their mother was dead (Genesis 19:26). Lot, apparently, had lost all of his wealth, and they were now living in a cave. In their view, there was nothing left for them.

Lot, apparently, had not taught his daughters to seek help from the Lord or to wait for Him to provide. That goes a long way to explaining their despair and scheming. At the same time, even the godless world outside of Sodom and Gomorrah would have regarded this kind of incest as wrong. The action of the daughters reflected the "anything goes" morality of the culture in which they were raised in. Sodom had been wiped from the face of the earth, but it had not been removed from the hearts of Lot's family. Lot had allowed his family to be deeply influenced by this cultural sin, and it certainly shaped his daughters' sense of morality.

Despite their humiliating origins, the sons conceived in this event become the fathers of significant people groups: the Moabites and Ammonites. As seems to be common in the Bible, their names serve as a reminder of the circumstances of their birth.

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.