Genesis 19:36-38
Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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This verse, while stark, points to a crucial aspect of human nature: even the righteous can fall into grievous sin when weakened by circumstance and temptation. It highlights how severe circumstances, like the aftermath of trauma and isolation, can warp judgment and lead to actions that shock us, serving as a somber reminder of our shared vulnerability to moral failure.
Lot was known as a righteous man, a pillar of hospitality in a wicked city. Yet, in his most vulnerable moments, he committed acts that shock us. How could this happen?
A Fall from Grace
Lot, a man commended for his righteousness, demonstrates that even the best of us are susceptible to profound failure when left to our own devices.
The Seeds of Sin
Lessons for Today
This serves as a crucial caution: 'Let him who thinks he stands high, and stands firm, take heed lest he fall' (Henry).
The daughters' actions led to the birth of the Moabites and Ammonites. Was this a divine plan, or a grim consequence of sin?
God's Sovereignty Amidst Sin
The birth of Moab and Ben-ammi, from whom the Moabites and Ammonites descended, is a complex theological point. While the act was deeply sinful, Scripture often works through sinful human actions to achieve God's purposes.
Understand the original words
haroth · Hebrew Adjective/Participle
In a biblical context, this refers to the act of conceiving a child, often used to signify the beginning of lineage or the fulfillment of the divine command to be fruitful, though here it occurs under illicit circumstances. It underscores the physical reality of the ancestral origin of these nations.
bekirah · Hebrew Adjective
A title indicating the eldest daughter in a family. In biblical culture, the firstborn held a position of priority, privilege, and responsibility, making the actions described here particularly significant within the family structure.
Moab · Hebrew Proper Noun
Meaning 'from (my) father,' this name serves as an etiological marker identifying the origin of the Moabite people. In Scripture, names often convey the essence or the history of an individual or people group.
This event occurs in the immediate aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, highlighting the desperate measures taken by Lot's daughters in a state of profound isolation and fear for the future of their family line.
c. 2000 BC
Abraham settles in Canaan
Abraham, Lot's uncle, is called by God to settle in Canaan, establishing a covenant relationship. Lot accompanies him.
c. 1800 BC
Lot separates from Abraham
Due to conflict between their herdsmen and for the prosperity of both, Lot and Abraham separate. Lot chooses the well-watered plain of the Jordan, near Sodom.
c. 1800 BC— this verse
Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
God destroys the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone due to their extreme sinfulness. Lot and his daughters escape.
c. 1800 BC
Lot's daughters conceive
Fearing they would never have children and living in isolation, Lot's two daughters take advantage of their drunken father to preserve their family line.
This passage describes God giving people over to their impure desires when they turn away from Him, paralleling the extreme perversion seen in the story of Lot's daughters.
Deuteronomy 27:20This verse explicitly curses 'anyone who lies with his father's sexual partner,' highlighting the severe sinfulness of the act described in Genesis 19, and showing that such actions were abhorrent even under the Mosaic Law.
1 Corinthians 10:12This verse warns against overconfidence in one's own strength to resist temptation, reflecting the downfall of Lot, a righteous man, who fell into sin when left to himself and his daughters.
Ezekiel 16:49-50This prophetic passage describes the sins of Sodom, including 'arrogance, overeating, and careless ease,' which led to their destruction, providing context for the moral decay that allowed such acts to occur.
gillGenesis 19:36: "Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father."
Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. We learn from hence what the best of men are when left to themselves; a good man, a righteous Lot, is guilty of crimes the most shocking; he exposed the chastity of his daughters to the men of Sodom, and now his daughters attacked him, and succeeded, being both with child by him; and this brought about by excessive drinking, a sin which often leads on…
pooleGenesis 19:36: "Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father."
Which they might possibly imagine to be an evidence of Divine approbation of their fact; whereas, indeed, it was a design of God to make a lasting monument of their sin and shame.
This verse, while stark, points to a crucial aspect of human nature: even the righteous can fall into grievous sin when weakened by circumstance and temptation. It highlights how severe circumstances, like the aftermath of trauma and isolation, can warp judgment and lead to actions that shock us, serving as a somber reminder of our shared vulnerability to moral failure.
This verse, while stark, points to a crucial aspect of human nature: even the righteous can fall into grievous sin when weakened by circumstance and temptation. It highlights how severe circumstances, like the aftermath of trauma and isolation, can warp judgment and lead to actions that shock us, serving as a somber reminder of our shared vulnerability to moral failure.
Genesis 19:36-38 touches on Compromised morality, Desperate survival, Divine judgment on sin. See the full context above.
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A Monument to Shame
The Deeper Meaning
Moabi · Hebrew Proper Noun/Adjective
An ethnic group descended from Moab; throughout the Old Testament, they are often characterized by their complex, frequently adversarial relationship with the nation of Israel, representing a people born out of a history of brokenness and exclusion from the covenant line.
Ben-ammi · Hebrew Proper Noun
A phrase meaning 'son of my people' or 'son of my kin.' It signifies a connection to one's own house or clan, marking the child as belonging to the lineage of the father in this specific genealogical account.
Ammoni · Hebrew Proper Noun
An ethnic group descended from Ben-ammi. Like the Moabites, the Ammonites are frequently mentioned in the historical narrative of the Bible as a nation neighboring Israel, often sharing a strained history with the descendants of Abraham.
c. 1800 BC
Birth of Moab and Ben-Ammi
Lot's elder daughter gives birth to a son named Moab, father of the Moabites. The younger daughter gives birth to Ben-Ammi, father of the Ammonites.
"Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He is the father of…" — This verse, while stark, points to a crucial aspect of human nature: even the righteous can fall into grievous sin when weakened by circumstance and temptation. It highlights how severe circumstances…
