Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father.
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Genesis 19:30-36 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. The firstborn bore a son, and named him 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 children of Ammon to this day.
Parallel Translations
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Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.
The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth.
Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”
They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose.
It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”
They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up.
Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father.
-
And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
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:
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
Show all 3 translations
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And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
And the first-born 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.
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.'
And they made their father drink wine that night. And the first-born went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the first-born said unto the younger: 'Behold, I lay yesternight with my father. Let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.'
And they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (47)
- Leviticus 18:6-7 (vv32, 33, 36) “ ‘None of you shall approach any close relatives, to uncover their nakedness: I am Yahweh. “ ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your…
- Deuteronomy 25:5 (v31) If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger. Her…
- Genesis 4:1 (v31) The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with Yahweh’s help.”
- Genesis 6:4 (v31) The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them.…
- Genesis 11:3 (v32) They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
Show all 44 cross-references
- Genesis 16:2 (v31) Sarai said to Abram, “See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I will obtain children by…
- Genesis 16:4 (v31) He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
- Genesis 19:19 (v30) See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my…
- Isaiah 4:1 (v31) Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing. Just let us be called by…
- Habakkuk 2:15 (v36) “Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies!
- Habakkuk 2:15-16 (vv32–33) “Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies! You…
- Genesis 9:21 (v32) He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent.
- Genesis 13:10 (v30) Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and…
- Genesis 14:22 (v30) Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,
- Genesis 19:8 (v36) See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do…
- Genesis 19:17 (v30) It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the…
- Genesis 19:28 (v31) He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a…
- Genesis 38:8-9 (v31) Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up offspring for your…
- Genesis 38:14-30 (v31) She took off the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is…
- Genesis 49:4 (v30) Boiling over like water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.
- Deuteronomy 34:3 (v30) and the south, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar.
- Judges 1:7 (v36) Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done…
- 1 Samuel 15:33 (v36) Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before…
- Psalms 8:4 (v35) what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?
- Proverbs 20:1 (v33) Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Proverbs 23:29-35 (v33) Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who stay long at…
- Proverbs 23:31-33 (v32) Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. In the end, it bites like a snake, and…
- Proverbs 24:16 (v35) for a righteous man falls seven times and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26 (v35) I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her;…
- Isaiah 3:9 (v34) The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They don’t hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have…
- Isaiah 15:5 (v30) My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on…
- Jeremiah 2:36-37 (v30) Why do you go about so much to change your ways? You will be ashamed of Egypt also, as you were ashamed of Assyria. You will also leave…
- Jeremiah 3:3 (v34) Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; yet you have had a prostitute’s forehead and you refused to be…
- Jeremiah 5:3 (v34) O Yahweh, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused…
- Jeremiah 6:15 (v34) Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore they will fall…
- Jeremiah 8:12 (v34) Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed. They couldn’t blush. Therefore they will fall…
- Jeremiah 48:34 (v30) From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah;…
- Matthew 7:2 (v36) For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
- Mark 12:19 (v32) “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies, and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take…
- Luke 21:34 (v35) “So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you…
- 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 (v35) Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.…
- James 1:8 (v30) He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
- 1 Peter 4:7 (v35) But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer.
- Mark 9:6 (v31) For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.
44 distinct cross-references across this passage (47 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (20 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv30, 31, 33, 35 30. And Lot went up out of Zoar. This…
30. And Lot went up out of Zoar. This narration proves what I have before alluded to, that those things which men contrive for themselves, by rash counsels drawn from carnal reason, never prosper: especially when men, deluded by vain hope, or impelled by depraved wishes, depart from the word of God. For although temerity commonly seems to be successful at the beginning; and they who are carried away by their lusts, exult over the joyful issue of affairs; yet the Lord, at length, curses whatever is not undertaken with his approval; and the declaration of Isaiah is fulfilled,
‘Woe to them who begin a work and not by the Spirit of the Lord; who take counsel, but do not ask at his mouth,’ (Isaiah 30:1.)
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Lot, when commanded to retake himself to the mountain, chose rather to dwell in Zoar. After this habitation was granted to him, according to his own wish, he soon repents and is sorry for he trembles at the thought that destruction is every moment hastening on a place so near to Sodom, in which perhaps the same impiety and wickedness was reigning. But let the readers recall to memory what I have said, that it was only through the wonderful kindness of God, that he did not receive either immediate, or very severe punishment. For the Lord, by pardoning him at the time, caused him finally to become judge of his own sin. For he was neither expelled from Zoar by force nor by the hand of man; but a blind anxiety of mind drove him and hurried him into a cavern, because he had followed the lust of his flesh rather than the command of God. And thus in chastising the faithful, God mitigates their punishments so as to render it their best medicine. For if he were to deal strictly with their folly they would fall down in utter confusion. He therefore gives them space for repentance that they may willingly acknowledge their fault.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv30, 31, 32, 34, 36 Having before felt God’s mercy, he durst not provoke…
Having before felt God’s mercy, he durst not provoke him again by continuing among the wicked.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv30–36 Gen 19:30 And Lot went up out of Zoar,…
Gen 19:30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
Ver. 30. Lot went up out of Zoar, &c.] So he should have done at first; and so he had obeyed God, saved his wife, and prevented that sin of incest with his daughters.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv30, 31, 32, 33, 36 He feared to dwell in Zoar, lest he should…
He feared to dwell in Zoar, lest he should either suffer from them or with them; perceiving now that though it was a little city, yet there was more wickedness in it than he imagined.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v30 Here is, I. The great trouble and distress that…
Here is, I. The great trouble and distress that Lot was brought into after his deliverance, Gen 19:30. 1. He was frightened out of Zoar, durst not dwell there; probably because he was conscious to himself that it was a refuge of his own choosing and that herein he had foolishly prescribed to God, and therefore he could not but distrust his safety in it; or because he found it as wicked as Sodom, and therefore concluded it could not long survive it; or perhaps he observed the rise and increase of those waters which after the conflagration, perhaps from Jordan, began to overflow the plain, and which, mixing with the ruins, by degrees made the Dead Sea; in those waters he concluded Zoar must needs perish (though it had escaped the fire) because it stood upon the same flat. Note, Settlements and shelters of our own choosing, and in which we do not follow God, commonly prove uneasy to us. 2. He was forced to betake himself to the mountain, and to take up with a cave for his habitation there. Methinks it was strange that he did not return to Abraham, and put himself under his protection, to whom he had once and again owed his safety: but the truth is there are some good men that are not wise enough to know what is best for themselves. Observe, (1.) He was now glad to go to the mountain, the place which God had appointed for his shelter. Note, It is well if disappointment in our way drive us at last to God's way. (2.) He that, awhile ago, could not find room enough for himself and his stock in the whole land, but must jostle with Abraham, and get as far from him as he could, is now confined to a hole in a hill, where he has scarcely room to turn himself, and there he is solitary and trembling. Note, It is just with God to reduce those to poverty and restraint who have abused their liberty and plenty. See also in Lot what those bring themselves to, at last, that forsake the communion of saints for secular advantages; they will be beaten with their own rod.
II. The great sin that Lot and his daughters were guilty of, when they were in this desolate place. It is a sad story.
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1. His daughters laid a very wicked plot to bring him to sin; and theirs was, doubtless, the greater guilt. They contrived, under pretence of cheering up the spirits of their father in his present condition, to make him drunk, and then to lie with him, Gen 19:31, Gen 19:32. (1.) Some think that their pretence was plausible. Their father had no sons, they had no husbands, nor knew they were to have any of the holy seed, or, if they had children by others, their father's name would not be preserved in them. Some think that they had the Messiah in their eye, who, they hoped, might descend form their father; for he came from Terah's elder son, who separated from the rest of Shem's posterity as well as Abraham, and was now signally delivered out of Sodom. Their mother, and the rest of the family, were gone; they might not marry with the cursed Canaanites; and therefore they supposed that the end they aimed at and the extremity they were brought to, would excuse the irregularity. Thus the learned Monsieur Allix. Note, Good intentions are often abused to patronize bad actions. But, (2.) Whatever their pretence was, it is certain that their project was very wicked and vile, and an impudent affront to the very light and law of nature. Note, [1.] The sight of God's most tremendous judgments upon sinners will not of itself, without the grace of God, restrain evil hearts from evil practices: one would wonder how the fire of lust could possibly kindle upon those, who had so lately been the eye-witnesses of Sodom's flames. [2.] Solitude has its temptations as well as company, and particularly to uncleanness. When Joseph was alone with his mistress he was in danger, Gen 39:11. Relations that dwell together, especially if solitary, have need carefully to watch even against the least evil thought of this kind, lest Satan get an advantage.
2. Lot himself, by his own folly and unwariness, was wretchedly overcome, and suffered himself so far to be imposed upon by his own children as, two nights together, to be drunk, and to commit incest, Gen 19:33, etc. Lord, what is man! What are the best of men, when God leaves them to themselves! See here, (1.) The peril of security. Lot, who not only kept himself sober and chaste in Sodom, but was a constant mourner for the wickedness of the place and a witness against it, was yet, in the mountain, where he was alone, and as he thought quite out of the way of temptation, shamefully overtaken. Let him therefore that thinks he stands, stands high and stands firm, take heed lest he fall. No mountain, on this side the holy hill above, can set us out of the reach of Satan's fiery darts. (2.) The peril of drunkenness. It is not only a great sin itself, but it is the inlet of many sins; it may prove the inlet of the worst and mast unnatural sins, which may b a perpetual wound and dishonour. Excellently does Mr. Herbert describe it,
He that is drunken may his mother kill
Big with his sister -
A man may do that without reluctance, when he is drunk, which, when he is sober, he could not think of without horror. (3.) The peril of temptation from our dearest relations and friends, whom we love, and esteem, and expect kindness from. Lot, whose temperance and chastity were impregnable against the batteries of foreign force, was surprised into sin and shame by the base treachery of his own daughters: we must dread a snare wherever we are, and be always upon our guard.
3. In the close we have an account of the birth of the two sons, or grandsons (call them which you will), of Lot, Moab and Ammon, the fathers of two nations, neighbours to Israel, and which we often read of in the Old Testament; both together are called the children of Lot, Psa 83:8. Note, Though prosperous births may attend incestuous conceptions, yet they are so far from justifying them that they rather perpetuate the reproach of them and entail infamy upon posterity; yet the tribe of Judah, of which our Lord sprang, descended from such a birth, and Ruth, a Moabitess, has a name in his genealogy, Mat 1:3, Mat 1:5.
Lastly, Observe that, after this, we never read any more of Lot, nor what became of him: no doubt he repented of his sin, and was pardoned; but from the silence of the scripture concerning him henceforward we may learn that drunkenness, as it makes men forgetful, so it makes them forgotten; and many a name, which otherwise might have been remembered with respect, is buried by it in contempt and oblivion.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv30–36 And the firstborn said unto the younger,.... That is,…
And the firstborn said unto the younger,.... That is, the firstborn of those two, or the elder of them; for, if Lot had other daughters that were married in Sodom, it is probable they were elder than either of these: Aben Ezra intimates, that Lot had another wife, who died first, and these were by his second; the following motion is made by the eldest of them to the youngest, as being bolder, having more authority, and a greater influence to persuade:
our father is old; if he was fifty years of age when he was taken captive by the kings, as says the Jewish chronologer (q) he must now be sixty five, since the destruction of Sodom, according to Bishop Usher (r), was fifteen years after that:
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and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth; to marry them, cohabit with them, and procreate children of them, which was the common way of the propagation of mankind in the earth; they thought the whole world was destroyed by fire, as it had been by a flood; they understood it would be no more consumed by water, but they had been told it would be by fire, and they imagined the time was now come, and this was the case; that not only Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire, and that by this time the fire had reached to Zoar, and had consumed that, but that the whole earth was destroyed, and not a man left but their father, and therefore thought it could be excusable in them, and lawful for them to take the following method to repopulate the world; or else they supposed there were none in the land, the land of Canaan, not of any of their kindred and relations, for they might be ignorant of Abraham and his family, or however of any good man that they knew of, that they could be joined to in marriage; for as for the inhabitants of Zoar, they had just left, they were as wicked as any, and therefore could not think of living with them in such a near relation: but all this is not a sufficient excuse for contriving and executing what is after related; for they should have inquired of their father, who could have informed them better.
(q) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 77. 1. (r) Annales Vet. Test. p. 8, 9.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v30 He feared to dwell in Zoar - Here is…
He feared to dwell in Zoar - Here is the great trouble and distress that Lot was brought into after his deliverance, ver. 29. He was frightened out of Zoar, durst not dwell there, either because he was conscious to himself that it was a refuge of his own chusing, and that therein he had foolishly prescribed to God, and therefore could not but distrust his safety in it. Probably he found it as wicked as Sodom; and therefore concluded it could not long survive it; or perhaps he observed the rise and increase of those waters, which, after the conflagration, began to overflow the plain, and which, mixing with the ruins, by degrees made the dead sea; in those waters he concluded Zoar must needs perish, (though it had escaped the fire) because it stood upon the same flat. He was now glad to go to the mountain, the place which God had appointed for his shelter. See in Lot what those bring themselves to at last, that forsake the communion of saints for secular advantages.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv30–33 Verse 30. Lot went up out of Zoar] From…
Verse 30. Lot went up out of Zoar] From seeing the universal desolation that had fallen upon the land, and that the fire was still continuing its depredations, he feared to dwell in Zoar, lest that also should be consumed, and then went to those very mountains to which God had ordered him at first to make his escape. Foolish man is ever preferring his own wisdom to that of his Maker. It was wrong at first not to betake himself to the mountain; it was wrong in the next place to go to it when God had given him the assurance that Zoar should be spared for his sake. Both these cases argue a strange want of faith, not only in the truth, but also in the providence, of God. Had he still dwelt at Zoar, the shameful transaction afterwards recorded had in all probability not taken place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv30, 32 Gen 19:30. He feared to dwell in Zoar —…
Gen 19:30. He feared to dwell in Zoar — Probably he found it as wicked as Sodom; and therefore concluded it could not long survive it; or perhaps he observed the rise and increase of those waters, which, after the conflagration, began to overflow the plain, and which, mixing with the ruins, by degrees, made the Dead sea. In those waters he concluded Zoar must needs perish, (though it had escaped the fire,) because it stood upon the same flat. He was now glad to go to the mountain, the place which God had appointed for his shelter. See in Lot what those bring themselves to at last that forsake the communion of saints for secular advantages! He has lost all his substance, and the greater part of his family. His wife is made a monument of the divine wrath against those that prefer the world to God, and the principles of his remaining daughters are so corrupted, and their moral feelings so stupified, through their intercourse with the depraved inhabitants of Sodom, that they are prepared for the greatest crimes; they even lay snares to entangle their own father in the dreadful one of committing incest with themselves. He dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters — It seems strange when he was thus reduced, that he did not think of returning to Abraham, from whom he was at no great distance, and who, no doubt, would have kindly received him. But probably he was ashamed to return, being conscious that he had not treated that venerable servant of God with due respect; or, being now stripped of all, and a wretched outcast, he could not brook appearing so degraded among those that had known him in his more prosperous days.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv31, 35 No man. If this had been true, Lot might…
No man. If this had been true, Lot might have had children by them, without any fault. But they ought to have consulted him. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv30, 31, 33 30. In the mountain — One of the mountains…
30. In the mountain — One of the mountains on the east of the Dead Sea, afterwards known as the mountains of Moab. He who covetously chose the inviting plain (Gen_13:11) now gladly seeks the mountain.
He feared to dwell in Zoar — The terror of Sodom’s fall entered into his soul, and he feared to dwell so near the scene of ruin as was Zoar. He knew, also, that even that little city was at first among those doomed to destruction.
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Dwelt in a cave — The rocks and mountains on the east of the Dead Sea abound in caves, many of them, perhaps, the original homes of the Horites. See on Gen_14:6.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v30 30–38 (J). The Origin of the Moabites and Ammonites
30–38 (J). The Origin of the Moabites and Ammonites
30. And Lot went up] He left the Plain, and withdrew “to the mountain,” viz. “the mountains of Moab”; see Gen_19:17.
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he feared] Why did he fear to dwell in Zoar? Not, as has been suggested, lest the people of Zoar should put him to death, as one who either had escaped just punishment, or, like Jonah, had been the cause of catastrophe; but lest Zoar, one of the cities of the Plain, should still be overtaken by catastrophe.
in a cave] The definite article in the Hebrew has been thought to mean either a well-known cavern, or a locality in which caves were numerous. But compare the idiomatic use of the def. art. in Gen_8:7.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv30–32 (30) He feared to dwell in Zoar.—Though this little…
(30) He feared to dwell in Zoar.—Though this little place had been granted him for an asylum, yet, terrified at the sight of the smoking valley, and remembering that he had been originally commanded to go to the mountains, he summons up his courage and proceeds thither. The limestone regions of Palestine are full of caverns; and the patriarch, whose wealth had been so great that he and Abraham could not dwell together, is now content to seek in one of these caverns a miserable home.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv30–36 And Lot went up out of Zoar (probably soon…
And Lot went up out of Zoar (probably soon after), and dwelt in the mountain (i.e. of Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea), and his two daughters step-daughters, it has been suggested, if Lot married a widow who was the mother of the two girls (Starke)with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar from which the panic-stricken inhabitants may have fled towards the mountains (Murphy), either because at that time it was shaken by an earthquake (Jerome, Rosenm or because he dreaded the conflagration which devoured the other cities might spread thither (Peele, Kalisch, Wordsworth), or the rising waters of the Dead Sea which engulfed them might reach to it (Bush) apprehensions which were groundless and unbelieving, since God had granted Zoar for an asylum (Lange); or because he saw the wickedness of the inhabitants, who had not been improved by Sodom"s doom (Vatablus, Inglis); or simply because he was driven by "a blind anxiety of mind" (Calvin). And he dwelt in a cave,i.e. in one of those cavernous recesses with which the Moabitish mountains abound, and which already had been converted into dwelling-places by the primitive inhabitants of the region (cf. Gen_14:6) he and his two daughters
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv30–31 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt…
Gen_19:30
And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain
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The folly of seeking our own choice
Lot was bidden to go to the mountain, but requested that he might be allowed to seek refuge in Zoar.
We only land ourselves in greater difficulties when we act according to the suggestions of our own human wisdom in opposition to the Divine will. Of such conduct we observe:--
I. THE ROOT OF ITS UNBELIEF. Lot could not trust God fully, and therefore the infinite charity of God stooped to his infirmity. We must trust in God, with our whole heart, and lean not to our own understanding. Our faith falls short in so far as we seek to modify the commands of duty by our own wilfulness. Imperfect obedience has its bitter root in unbelief. In the instance of Lot, we see the sad consequences of this timid and imperfect faith. Here we trace the source of the inconsistency and vacillation of his character. Our walk in the path of life and obedience is only steady and sure in proportion as our faith is clear and strong.
II. WE ARE MADE BITTERLY TO REPENT OF IT. He feared to dwell in Zoar. He was afraid that the destruction would overtake him even there. That spirit of unbelief which renders our obedience imperfect brings dread. We take alarm, for conscience tells us we have left some ground for fear. To commence following Gods command, and then to impair our obedience by our own foolish will, leads in the end to doubt and uncertainty-to that sense of insecurity in which we feel that nothing is sure and safe.
III. WE MAY BE COMPELLED TO ACCEPT GODS WAY AT LAST. Lot finds refuge, at length, in the mountain, where he had been ordered to go at first. A merciful Providence brought him up to the full measures of his duty. He finds, in the end, that it is best to fall in with Gods plan. By a painful discipline we are often brought round to Gods way, and made to feel that what He chooses is best. (T. H. Leale.)
Another wrong choice
On leaving Sodom he was very earnest to have Zoar granted him for a refuge, and to be excused from going to dwell in the mountain; yet now all on a sudden he went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and that for the very reason he had given for a contrary choice. Then he feared some evil would take him, if he went to the mountain; now he fears to dwell in Zoar. It is well to know that the way of man is not in himself, and that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Our wisdom is to refer all to God, and to follow wherever his word and providence lead the way. But why did not Lot return to Abraham? There was no occasion now for strife about their herds; for he had lost all, and but just escaped with his life. Whatever was the reason, he does not appear to have made a good choice. Had he gone to the mountain when directed, he might have hoped for preserving mercy; but going of his own accord, and from a motive of sinful distrust, evil in reality overtakes him. His daughters, who seem to have contracted such habits in Sodom as would prepare them for anything, however unnatural, drew him into intemperance and incest, and thus cover his old age with infamy. The offspring of this illicit intercourse were the fathers of two great, but heathen nations; viz., Moabites, and the children of Ammon. (A. Fuller.)
Lessons
1. Mans choice of rest and safety crossing Gods command will not content him long.
2. Man, upon the failing of expected comfort in his own way, may be then moved to try Gods
3. Weakness in the best of man may be such as disobediently to do that which sometimes God justly commands; so Lot goeth when God bids not to the place formerly commanded.
4. Naturally mans own will maketh him move faster than the will of God.
5. Solitary and sad may be the peregrinations and habitations of the best families here below. Lot and his daughters in a cave, not a city.
6. Fear of sin and vengeance and evil to come will make a soul fly from its desired refuge in the world
7. A cave or den in a mountain with God is a better habitation then a palace in a city of sin. Lot chooseth so. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v31 Gen_19:37. Called his name Moab.] “From the father,” or…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_19:37. Called his name Moab.] “From the father,” or “seed of the father.”
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Gen_19:38. Ben-Ammi. “Son of my people.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_19:31-38
THE LESSONS OF LOT’S DISHONOUR
This chapter closes with the sad picture of a good man betrayed into sin, and thus covering his name with dishonour. It is a painful history, but there are some lessons of instruction to be learned.
I. That saints who have been, the subjects of extraordinary mercy may yet fall into sin. The temporal deliverance of Lot was a special act of Divine mercy. His conviction of it depended upon no mere emotion. There was the outward fact in which he could distinctly trace the hand of God. Yet, after so distinct a favour of Providence, he falls by an easy temptation into the foulest sin. Thus God’s mercy is no guarantee for human gratitude. Those who have been saved, yet so as by fire, are often the very first to forget God their Saviour. The picture which the Bible gives of man is faithful to the facts of human nature. God merciful, but man ungrateful. God just, but man unrighteous. God true, but every man a liar.
II. That it is difficult, even for the best, to escape the effect of evil associations. The conduct of Lot’s daughters shows how much they were imbued with the spirit of evil around them, notwithstanding their pious parentage. It is difficult for goodness to stand upright in the land of wickedness. Lot’s spiritual character suffered less injury than that of his family from their sojourn in Sodom; yet his moral sense was blunted, his moral fibre relaxed. As there is said to be virtue and healing in the shadow of goodness falling upon us, so the shadow of evil spreads nought but what is baneful.
III. The folly of a worldly choice. Lot had chosen this place with a view of promoting his temporal prosperity, but at what a cost! He had nearly perished in the terrible judgments which fell upon its population. He is scarcely saved. Mercy had to snatch him out of the fire. By choosing this world, against his best spiritual interests, he had exposed himself to bodily danger; and, what is worse than this, to great impairment of his spiritual health and vigour. We run the greatest risk to our souls when worldly considerations are uppermost in our minds in choosing our path in life.
IV. The wisdom of avoiding the occasions of sin. Lot gave way to strong drink, and then committed the sin of incest. There is a special danger in all sins of the flesh, for, when once indulged in, they render easier sins of deeper dye. They dull the intellect and the conscience until all moral perceptions are weakened and confused. If we allow the animal man the mastery, the spiritual man is threatened. How much of the sin, degradation, and misery of mankind is to be traced to strong drink! “Intoxication deceived Lot, who was not deceived in Sodom; the flames of lust burn him whom flames of sulphur did not burn.” (Gregory 1.) “Lot, who in Sodom, the very school of unchastity, had lived chastely, in the cave was guilty of incest, suffering shipwreck in the harbour.” (Lange.) The occasions of sin—especially those of a fleshly nature—should be avoided, or else we venture upon a current which will, in the end, become too strong for us.
V. The awful depths of human depravity. All sin is evil, but there are sins which defile the whole body and reveal depths of human depravity, from the very thought of which pure minds shrink with pain. There are fleshly sins of so deep a stain that the common fault and corruption of human nature is almost pure by comparison with them. This view of specially degrading sins is confirmed by the usages of language, by which the term “sinner” is applied to a special class. Such sins tend to hurry a man along that path which leads to infamy and shame.
VI. Fleshly sins cover even a fair name with dishonour. Lot is never mentioned in the history after this circumstance. He disappears under a cloud. A blot lies on his memory for all generations. He is now both outwardly and inwardly separated from Abraham, and is of no further importance in the history of salvation. His sin may have been forgiven, and his person accepted, but the deeds themselves are recorded in the iron page, where they remain. They are things done, and cannot be altered. They are happier and more blest who have not greatly fallen, even though the mercy of God is not overtasked by the worst sins of mankind.
VII. The danger of excitement. Lot had witnessed alarming scenes. It was a time of wild excitement when he knew not where to look for rest, and fears were in the way—destruction all around him, his wife stricken down at his side by an awful judgment, he himself a wanderer, having no certain dwelling-place, and not strong in the inspiration of hope. It is a time of great spiritual danger when a man is recovering from the extreme tension of his mind, produced by the excitement of violent and conflicting feelings.
VIII. The faithfulness of the Scripture record. Sacred history records the faults of its good men with a wonderful faithfulness. Here are no impossible characters, no ideal personages created by human imagination, but never seen in actual flesh and blood. The facts of human nature are accepted, though the contemplation of them may be painful and sad. We have men as they are, and not written up to by the devices of literary art. No human story-teller would have forged such a narrative as this. It has all the marks of a truthful record. The gravest sins and faults of the righteous are not concealed.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_19:32-36. The manners of Sodom here obtrude themselves upon our view. Lot’s daughters might seem to have been led to this unnatural project, first, because they thought the human race extinct with the exception of themselves, in which case their conduct may have seemed a work of justifiable necessity; and next, because the degrees of kindred within which it was unlawful to marry had not been determined by an express law. But they must have seen some of the inhabitants of Zoar after the destruction of the cities; and carnal intercourse between parent and offspring must have always been repugnant to nature.—(Murphy).
Kalisch well remarks, “No word is employed, no allusion made, in the whole of this tale to express disgust, aversion, or hatred: the laws concerning the allowed and forbidden degrees were not yet fixed: Abraham himself lived in a matrimony cursed as an abomination in the Mosaic code (Lev_18:9): the event is related with all the calmness of historical composition.” And it must also not be forgotten that in Deu_2:9-19, the possessions of the “children of Lot” in Ar and in the land of Ammon are recognised by God, and the Israelites are forbidden to distress or meddle with them. But at the same time the necessity which there was for bereaving Lot of his self-command, shows us beneath the surface that his “righteous soul,” even though it could brook much which nature now abhors (Gen_19:8), could not have been brought to consent to that into which he was unconsciously betrayed.—(Alford.)
It is a moral duty to take care of our physical nature and to preserve it in its integrity. Whatever confuses the understanding, or weakens the will, exposes to moral danger. Hence drunkenness leads men into crimes from which, in their sober senses, they would shrink in abhorrence. All that which rouses the beast within us tends to destroy our better nature.
Those carnal devices by which morality is strained to meet circumstances show a practical distrust in Providence.
Gen_19:37-38. Both these names justify the view that it was merely to preserve the family that the daughters of Lot had recourse to the expedient. Hence, as we do not find that they ever repeated the stratagem, so neither do they now appear to have been at all ashamed of it, both which would have been natural had their motives been more unworthy than they were. The offspring, however, of this incestuous connection, whatever may be said in behalf of the connection itself, was certainly a bad one. These Moabites soon fell from the faith of God, and became idolators, the worshippers of Chemosh and Baal-peor, and were enemies to the children of Abraham. The same is also true of the Ammonites. As both these make afterwards a considerable figure in the sacred history, the inspired writer takes care to introduce at this early period an account of their origin.—(Bush.)
In the worst races there is an element of hope. Ruth was a Moabitess, and was a member of that family through whom the Messiah came. The prophetic Scriptures give us a picture of the conversion of the Moabites to Christ. (Isa_11:14; Jer_48:47; Dan_11:41.) The golden age for mankind lies in the future, not in the past.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv32, 36 Lot "pitched toward Sodom" Gen 13:12 for worldly advantage;…
Come
Lot "pitched toward Sodom" Gen 13:12 for worldly advantage; then became a great man in Sodom Gen 19:1 at the cost of his daughter’s accepting the morals of Sodom.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v30 The sin of Lot and His Daughters
The sin of Lot and His Daughters
v. 30. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. The terrible catastrophe had completely unnerved Lot, causing him to doubt even the plain promise of the Lord to preserve the city of Zoar for his sake. As soon as possible he left the city and made his home in a cave of the mountains, very likely in what was afterward known as the country of Moab.
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v. 31. And the first-born 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;
v. 32. come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. Even if it was not lewd voluptuousness which caused the two daughters of Lot deliberately to plan this sin of incest, it shows that they had imbibed freely of the poison of Sodom and were acquainted with the most unnatural vices. The desire for children and for the propagation of their family cannot excuse their revolting act, even if their supposition of the general destruction of men had been true.
v. 33. And they made their father drink wine that night; and the first-born went in and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose. Lot was in such a drunken stupor that he was not fully conscious of his actions.
v. 34. And it came to pass on the morrow that the first-born said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father; let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
v. 35. And they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down nor when she arose.
v. 36. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. Lot was guilty as well as his daughters, first, because he gave way to dull despair instead of trusting in the Lord, and then also, because he did not watch and pray, but permitted his daughters to make him drunk.
v. 37. And the first-born bare a son, and called his name Moab (from father); the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
v. 38. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi (son of my generation, begotten of my father); the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. Thus Moses recorded the origin of the Moabites and Ammonites, which had become mighty nations in his day. Both nations subsequently played an important role in the history of Israel, Deu 2:9-19; Deu 23:4-5. We hear no more of Lot, since he was no longer of any influence in the history of the chosen people. And still he is mentioned in the New Testament as a type of a just man, 2Pe 2:7-8, whom Christians, in his righteous acts, may well imitate.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv30, 31, 34, 36 Lot went up from Zoar to live in the…
Lot went up from Zoar to live in the mountains
The phrase "went up from" is used because Lot went to a higher elevation in the mountains.
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translationWords
Lot
Zoar
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv30, 36 19:30-38 The poverty of the cave contrasts with the…
19:30-38 The poverty of the cave contrasts with the wealth Lot shared with Abram and the good life he lived in Sodom. Abraham would father a righteous nation (17:1), but Lot and his daughters gave birth to a new Sodom.
19:30-35 The character of Lot’s daughters was formed by Sodom’s culture more than by their father’s heritage, so they had no qualms about having children by their drunk father (cp. 9:21-22). They saw no other way to carry on their line.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.