Bible Strands
Genesis 19:38
The younger daughter also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites of today.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator concludes the cave incident by recording the younger daughter’s childbirth, directly following the parallel account of her older sister in the preceding verse.
The words — The Hebrew יָ֣לְדָה (yal.dah) means "she bore," and the name בֶּן־עַמִּי (ben-'ammi) literally translates to "son of my people."
The thread — This birth establishes the lineage of the Ammonites, who are later barred from the assembly of the LORD even to the tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23:3), while their Moabite relatives receive parallel legal restrictions and territorial protections (Deuteronomy 2:9, 2:19).
Why it lands — The text states a factual genealogy without moral evaluation, requiring the reader to observe how a line born from deception becomes the documented progenitor of a nation later addressed in Israel's covenant law.
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 younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben–ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
Cross-references
- 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 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.”
- 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 10:6 And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. They served the Baals, the Ashtoreths, the gods of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.
- 1 Samuel 11:1 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”
- 2 Samuel 10:1 Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by his son Hanun.
- Nehemiah 13:1 At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,
- Nehemiah 13:23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.
- Psalms 83:4 saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
- Isaiah 11:14 They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines to the west; together they will plunder the sons of the east. They will lay their hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them.