Bible Strands
Genesis 19:37
The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The third-person narrator records the immediate aftermath of Lot’s flight from Sodom, documenting the actions of his two daughters after they have settled in a cave.
The words — מוֹאָ֑ב (mo.'Av) means Moab, and אֲבִֽי\־ ('a.vi-) translates literally as ancestor of, establishing the etiological link between the child and a future nation.
The thread — This origin account connects to later biblical geography and history, including Israel’s encampment in the plains of Moab near Jericho (Numbers 22:1), warnings against provoking Moab (Deuteronomy 2:9), and prophecies against Moab’s destruction (Numbers 21:29).
Why it lands — The text neutrally records a morally compromised act to explain the historical origins of Israel’s neighbor, requiring the reader to accept that biblical history documents human failure without endorsing it.
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 bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 2:9 Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
- Numbers 21:29 Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
- Numbers 22:1 Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
- Deuteronomy 2:19 But when you get close to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the Ammonites. I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
- Deuteronomy 23:3 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.
- Judges 3:1 These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,
- Ruth 4:10 Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.”
- 2 Samuel 8:1 Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah from the hand of the Philistines.
- 2 Kings 3:1 In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Jehoram son of Ahab became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twelve years.
- Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness.