Bible Strands
Genesis 19:31
One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us, as is the custom over all the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The older daughter speaks to her younger sister inside the mountain cave where they have taken refuge after fleeing Zoar. She addresses her sister during a moment of perceived isolation following the destruction of the surrounding cities.
The words — The Hebrew זָקֵ֑ן (za.Ken) literally means "he is old," marking the father's physical decline. The particle אֵ֤ין ('ein) asserts absolute absence, stating "there is not" a man remaining in the region.
The thread — The appeal to marital custom anticipates the levirate provision later detailed in Deuteronomy 25:5. The daughters' focus on lineage continuation mirrors the generational patterns recorded in Genesis 4:1 and Genesis 6:4.
Why it lands — The text states that the daughters view incest as a necessary duty to preserve their family line. It asks the reader to examine how human reasoning can reframe moral failure as cultural obligation when divine intervention is absent.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 25:5 When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
- Genesis 4:1 And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.
- Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown.
- Genesis 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
- Genesis 16:4 And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
- Isaiah 4:1 In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own bread and provide our own clothes. Just let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!”
- Genesis 19:28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.
- Genesis 38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
- Genesis 38:14 she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
- Mark 9:6 For they were all so terrified that Peter did not know what else to say.