Sodom Destroyed
The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today. Genesis 19:37 · Berean Standard Bible
The older daughter gives birth to a son and names him Moab, establishing the ancestor of the Moabite nation that exists in biblical times.
Moab becomes a real nation with its own identity and history. When later biblical readers encounter Moabites, they're remembering this origin story. The name itself might mean 'from father,' a naming that seems to acknowledge the truth of the child's conception, though it's understated.
The narrator (Moses)
Moab enters the biblical narrative as a nation descended from Lot. Throughout the Old Testament, Moab appears—sometimes as an ally, sometimes as an opponent. The point is that Lot's line continues, but it continues through an act of moral failure. Even so, God's story moves forward, showing His sovereignty even over human sin and poor choices.
The older daughter gives birth to a son named Moab, whose name suggests his incestuous origin ('from father') and who becomes the progenitor of the Moabite people.
The name Moab (מוֹאָב, moab) encodes the incestuous origin linguistically—though scholars debate whether the etymology is 'from father' or 'seed of father' or other variants, the narrative makes clear the name references paternal derivation. The etiological formula 'He is the father of the Moabites of today' indicates that this genealogy explains the origin of a contemporary (to the narrator's audience) people group, connecting primordial narrative to historical ethnic reality. This suggests the account was written to explain Moabite origins to an Israelite audience.
The narrator reporting the older daughter's childbirth and naming
Moab becomes a figure of ambiguous status in biblical historiography—descended from incest yet constituted as a people in their own right, with whom Israel will negotiate, fight, and intermarry. Ruth, one of Scripture's most honored figures, is Moabite, suggesting redemptive potential despite origins in transgression. The genealogy establishes that even human moral catastrophe cannot ultimately frustrate God's purposes of populating the earth, though it does so through compromised means.
35So again that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.
36Thus both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.
37The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.
38The younger daughter also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites of today.
Read all of Genesis 19 — Fire falls from the sky. A city is erased. And Lot's wife looks back — a small act of longing with permanent consequences.
This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.
NIV, NLT, NKJV, KJV and the Berean — plus the Catholic NLT-CE and Douay-Rheims, with the full deuterocanon in the reading order.
Tap any of the 31,102 for what it means, and any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, without leaving the chapter.
Start recording at church and put your phone away. You get the transcript, the key moments, and every verse referenced.
Say what's sitting on your heart and hear it back as a real prayer, in a warm voice. Keep the ones that land.
The whole Bible in a year — five chapters a day, five days a week, weekends off. Built to be finished.
A verse each morning with its meaning, how it lands today, something to sit with, and a prayer to close it.
Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhone & iPad