Genesis 19:37

37 The older daughter had a son, whom she named Moab. He was the ancestor of the present-day Moabites.

Genesis 19:37 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 19:37

And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab
As if it was "Meab", from the father, as Aben Ezra, and so Josephus, that is, which she had by her father; and she was so far from being ashamed that it might be known in time to come, she gave him this name. Hillerus ^F23 makes it to be a compound of (ba) and (abwm) , and to signify "going into", or "lying with a father", which still more notoriously points to her own action. Drusius has another derivation of the word, at least proposes it, and renders it "aqua patris"; "mo" in the Egyptian language signifying "water", which is sometimes used for seed, see ( Isaiah 48:1 ) : the same [is] the father of the Moabites unto this day;
a people that lived on the borders of the land of Canaan, often troublesome to the Israelites, and frequently spoken of in the Old Testament.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Onomastic. Sacr. p. 414.

Genesis 19:37 In-Context

35 So that night they got him drunk, and the younger daughter had intercourse with him. Again he was so drunk that he didn't know it.

36 In this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their own father.

37 The older daughter had a son, whom she named Moab. He was the ancestor of the present-day Moabites.

38 The younger daughter also had a son, whom she named Benammi. He was the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.

Footnotes

• [a]. moab: [This name sounds like the Hebrew for "from my father."]