Genesis 19:37

37 And the first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites to this day.

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 And they gave their father wine to drink that night also. And the younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know of her lying down, nor of her rising.

36 And both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

37 And the first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites to this day.

38 And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; the same is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

Footnotes

• [a]. From the father.