Genesis 19:34 Study Bible: It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, "Look, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father's family."

◄ Genesis 19:34 ►

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Look, I slept with my father last night. Let us get him drunk with wine again tonight so you can go in and sleep with him and we can preserve our father's line."

Study Bible

The next day the older daughter said to the younger
This phrase indicates a continuation of the narrative from the previous verses, where Lot's daughters are isolated in a cave after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The older daughter takes the initiative, highlighting her leadership role in the plan. This reflects the cultural importance of preserving family lineage, a significant concern in ancient Near Eastern societies.

“Look, I slept with my father last night.
The act of sleeping with one's father is a grave sin according to Levitical law (Leviticus 18:6-7). However, the daughters' actions are driven by desperation and a misunderstanding of their circumstances, believing they are the last humans on earth. This reflects the moral decline and confusion resulting from their upbringing in Sodom, a city known for its wickedness.

Let us get him drunk with wine again tonight
The use of wine to intoxicate Lot suggests a premeditated plan to ensure he is unaware of their actions. Wine in biblical times was a common beverage, but its misuse is often associated with moral failure (Proverbs 20:1). This highlights the daughters' manipulation and the moral ambiguity of their actions.

so you can go in and sleep with him
The younger daughter is now being persuaded to participate in the act. This reflects the cultural and familial pressure to ensure the continuation of their father's lineage. The act itself is incestuous, which is condemned in later biblical texts, but here it is portrayed as a misguided attempt to fulfill what they perceive as a duty.

and we can preserve our father’s line.”
Preserving the family line was a critical concern in ancient times, as it was tied to inheritance, land rights, and the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham's descendants. The daughters' actions, though morally questionable, are driven by a desire to maintain their family heritage. This incident ultimately leads to the birth of Moab and Ammon, ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites, who play significant roles in Israel's later history.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Lot
Nephew of Abraham, who settled in Sodom. After the city's destruction, he fled to the mountains with his daughters.

2. Lot's Daughters
The two daughters of Lot who, fearing the end of their family line, devised a plan to preserve it through their father.

3. Sodom
The city destroyed by God due to its wickedness, from which Lot and his daughters escaped.

4. Zoar
The small town Lot initially fled to before moving to the mountains.

5. The Cave
The place where Lot and his daughters took refuge after leaving Zoar, setting the stage for the events described.

Teaching Points

The Consequences of Sinful Environments
Lot's choice to live near Sodom exposed his family to corrupt influences, leading to moral compromise.

Desperation and Lack of Faith
The daughters' actions reflect a lack of faith in God's provision and a reliance on human schemes.

The Dangers of Alcohol
The account illustrates how alcohol can impair judgment and lead to sinful actions.

God's Grace Amidst Human Failure
Despite the sinful actions, God’s overarching plan continues, as seen in the lineage leading to the Moabites and Ammonites.

The Importance of Godly Leadership
Lot's failure to lead his family spiritually resulted in tragic decisions, emphasizing the need for strong, godly leadership in families.

Bible Study Questions

1. How did Lot's decision to live near Sodom impact his family, and what can we learn about the influence of our environment on our spiritual lives?

2. In what ways did Lot's daughters demonstrate a lack of faith, and how can we ensure our decisions are rooted in trust in God rather than fear?

3. What role did alcohol play in this account, and how can we apply biblical wisdom regarding the use of alcohol in our lives today?

4. How does this account illustrate the concept of God working through human failure, and what does that teach us about His sovereignty and grace?

5. Reflect on the importance of spiritual leadership within the family. How can we cultivate a home environment that encourages faithfulness to God’s commands?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Genesis 9:20-27
The account of Noah's drunkenness and the resulting actions of his sons, which parallels the theme of alcohol leading to familial shame and sin.

Leviticus 18:6-18
The laws concerning sexual relations, which highlight the gravity of the daughters' actions in seeking to preserve their family line through incest.

Proverbs 20:1
A warning about the dangers of wine, which is relevant to the daughters' use of alcohol to manipulate their father.

Romans 1:24-27
Discusses God giving people over to their sinful desires, which can be seen in the moral decline of Lot's family.

2 Peter 2:7-8
Describes Lot as a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless, providing a contrast to his later actions.

Sermons

Lot's Dishonour	A. Fuller.	Genesis 19:31-38
The Lessons of Lot's Dishonour	T. H. Leale.	Genesis 19:31-38

People

Abraham, Ammonites, Ben, Benammi, Lot, Moabites, Zoar

Places

Gomorrah, Sodom, Sodom and Gomorrah, Zoar

Topics

Alive, Behold, Born, Cause, Daughter, Drink, Family, Father's, Firstborn, First-born, Lain, Lay, Let's, Lie, Line, Morrow, Offspring, Older, Pass, Preserve, Seed, Tonight, To-night, Wine, Yesterday-night, Yesternight, Younger

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Genesis 19:30-35

4436 drinking, abstention

6189 immorality, examples

Library

The Swift Destroyer
'And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest them be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that He said, Escape for thy life; look not …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Ship on Fire --A Voice of Warning
"Thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life."--Genesis 19:19. HERE IS THE ALARM of mercy declaring the sinner's duty--"Escape for thy life." Here is the work of grace, and the gratitude of the sinner after he is saved. "Thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life." The other day, there sailed down the Thames as stout a vessel as had ever ploughed the deep. The good ship "Amazon," had sailed the broad Pacific many a time, and …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

Little Sins
It shall be my business this morning to answer this temptation, and try to put a sword in your hands wherewith to resist the enemy when he shall come upon you with this cry;-- "Is it not a little one?" and tempt you into sin because he leads you to imagine that there is but very little harm in it. "Is it not a little one?" With regard then to this temptation of Satan concerning the littleness of sin, I would make this first answer, the best of men have always been afraid of little sins. The holy …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Some Man Will Say, "So Then any Thief Whatever is to be Accounted Equal...
19. Some man will say, "So then any thief whatever is to be accounted equal with that thief who steals with will of mercy?" Who would say this? But of these two it does not follow that any is good, because one is worse. He is worse who steals through coveting, than he who steals through pity: but if all theft be sin, from all theft we must abstain. For who can say that people may sin, even though one sin be damnable, another venial? but now we are asking, if a man shall do this or that, who will …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

As Concerning Purity of Body; Here Indeed a Very Honorable Regard Seems to Come...
10. As concerning purity of body; here indeed a very honorable regard seems to come in the way, and to demand a lie in its behalf; to wit, that if the assault of the ravisher may be escaped by means of a lie, it is indubitably right to tell it: but to this it may easily be answered, that there is no purity of body except as it depends on integrity of mind; this being broken, the other must needs fall, even though it seem intact; and for this reason it is not to be reckoned among temporal things, …
St. Augustine—On Lying

The Heavenly Footman; Or, a Description of the Man that Gets to Heaven:
TOGETHER WITH THE WAY HE RUNS IN, THE MARKS HE GOES BY; ALSO, SOME DIRECTIONS HOW TO RUN SO AS TO OBTAIN. 'And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.'--Genesis 19:17. London: Printed for John Marshall, at the Bible in Gracechurch Street, 1698. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. About forty years ago a gentleman, in whose company I had commenced my …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

But Some Man Will Say, Would Then those Midwives and Rahab have done Better...
34. But some man will say, Would then those midwives and Rahab have done better if they had shown no mercy, by refusing to lie? Nay verily, those Hebrew women, if they were such as that sort of persons of whom we ask whether they ought ever to tell a lie, would both eschew to say aught false, and would most frankly refuse that foul service of killing the babes. But, thou wilt say, themselves would die. Yea, but see what follows. They would die with an heavenly habitation for their incomparably more …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

The Debt of Irenæus to Justin Martyr
If we are to proceed with safety in forming a judgment as to the relation between Justin and Irenæus in respect of the matter which they have in common, it will be necessary not merely to consider a number of selected parallels, but also to examine the treatment of a particular theme in the two writers. Let us set side by side, for example, c. 32 of Justin's First Apology with c. 57 of the Demonstration. Justin has been explaining to his Roman readers who the Jewish prophets were, and then …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

The Sea of Sodom
The bounds of Judea, on both sides, are the sea; the western bound is the Mediterranean,--the eastern, the Dead sea, or the sea of Sodom. This the Jewish writers every where call, which you may not so properly interpret here, "the salt sea," as "the bituminous sea." In which sense word for word, "Sodom's salt," but properly "Sodom's bitumen," doth very frequently occur among them. The use of it was in the holy incense. They mingled 'bitumen,' 'the amber of Jordan,' and [an herb known to few], with …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

How the Married and the Single are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 28.) Differently to be admonished are those who are bound in wedlock and those who are free from the ties of wedlock. For those who are bound in wedlock are to be admonished that, while they take thought for each other's good, they study, both of them, so to please their consorts as not to displease their Maker; that they so conduct the things that are of this world as still not to omit desiring the things that are of God; that they so rejoice in present good as still, with earnest …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Disciple, -- Master, what is the Real Meaning of Service? is it that We...
The Disciple,--Master, what is the real meaning of service? Is it that we serve the Creator and then His creatures for His sake? Is the help of man, who is after all but a mere worm, of any value to God in caring for His great family, or does God stand in need of the help of man in protecting or preserving any of His creatures? The Master,--1. Service means the activity of the spiritual life and is the natural offering prompted by love. God, who is Love, is ever active in the care of His creation, …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

Jesus, My Rock.
When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will …
John Ross Macduff—The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus

The Apostles Chosen
As soon as he returned victorious from the temptation in the wilderness, Jesus entered on the work of his public ministry. We find him, at once, preaching to the people, healing the sick, and doing many wonderful works. The commencement of his ministry is thus described by St. Matt. iv: 23-25. "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout …
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young

And for Your Fearlessness against them Hold this Sure Sign -- Whenever There Is...
43. And for your fearlessness against them hold this sure sign--whenever there is any apparition, be not prostrate with fear, but whatsoever it be, first boldly ask, Who art thou? And from whence comest thou? And if it should be a vision of holy ones they will assure you, and change your fear into joy. But if the vision should be from the devil, immediately it becomes feeble, beholding your firm purpose of mind. For merely to ask, Who art thou [1083] ? and whence comest thou? is a proof of coolness. …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Epistle iv. To Cyriacus, Bishop.
To Cyriacus, Bishop. Gregory to Cyriacus, Bishop of Constantinople. We have received with becoming charity our common sons, George the presbyter and Theodore your deacon; and we rejoice that you have passed from the care of ecclesiastical business to the government of souls, since, according to the voice of the Truth, He that is faithful in a little will be faithful also in much (Luke xvi. 10). And to the servant who administers well it is said, Because thou hast been faithful over a few things, …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Triumph Over Death and the Grave
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. T he Christian soldier may with the greatest propriety, be said to war a good warfare (I Timothy 1:18) . He is engaged in a good cause. He fights under the eye of the Captain of his salvation. Though he be weak in himself, and though his enemies are many and mighty, he may do that which in other soldiers …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Journey to Jerusalem. Ten Lepers. Concerning the Kingdom.
(Borders of Samaria and Galilee.) ^C Luke XVII. 11-37. ^c 11 And it came to pass, as they were on their way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee. [If our chronology is correct, Jesus passed northward from Ephraim about forty miles, crossing Samaria (here mentioned first), and coming to the border of Galilee. He then turned eastward along that border down the wady Bethshean which separates the two provinces, and crossed the Jordan into Peræa, where we soon …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Hindrances to Mourning
What shall we do to get our heart into this mourning frame? Do two things. Take heed of those things which will stop these channels of mourning; put yourselves upon the use of all means that will help forward holy mourning. Take heed of those things which will stop the current of tears. There are nine hindrances of mourning. 1 The love of sin. The love of sin is like a stone in the pipe which hinders the current of water. The love of sin makes sin taste sweet and this sweetness in sin bewitches the …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Genesis
The Old Testament opens very impressively. In measured and dignified language it introduces the story of Israel's origin and settlement upon the land of Canaan (Gen.--Josh.) by the story of creation, i.-ii. 4a, and thus suggests, at the very beginning, the far-reaching purpose and the world-wide significance of the people and religion of Israel. The narrative has not travelled far till it becomes apparent that its dominant interests are to be religious and moral; for, after a pictorial sketch of …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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