Genesis 19:37 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.

NIV: The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today.

NASB: The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

CSB: The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.

NLT: 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.

KJV: And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

NKJV: The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

Lot and his two grown, virgin daughters were rescued from the annihilation of Sodom and Gomorrah by two angels (Genesis 19:15–16). During this escape, the entire culture of Sodom was wiped out, along with the girls' mother and their prospective husbands (Genesis 19:24–26). While sheltering in a cave, the women despair of ever finding husbands or having children. This lack of faith is unsurprising, given that their father chose to anchor his family in such a depraved culture. Unfortunately, that same depravity is reflected in the plan Lot's daughters concoct in order to bear children: to get their father so drunk that they can have sex with him.

On consecutive nights, Lot's own daughters carry out this very plan. They make him so inebriated that he doesn't even realize what is happening (Genesis 19:33, 36). His own children sexually abuse him in order to become pregnant.

The son of the firstborn daughter was called Moab. This word sounds similar to the Hebrew term meaning "from father." He became the father of the Moabite people, who would later become enemies of Israel. Likewise, the younger daughter bears a son named Ben-ammi, whose Ammonite descendants are also antagonistic towards God's people.

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.