Genesis 19:32 kjv

Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

Genesis 19:32 nkjv

Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father."

Genesis 19:32 niv

Let's get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father."

Genesis 19:32 esv

Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father."

Genesis 19:32 nlt

Come, let's get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father."

Genesis 19 verses

Genesis 19 32 Meaning

Genesis 19:32 captures a pivotal and deeply troubling decision by Lot's elder daughter. Driven by fear, desperation, and the perceived absence of eligible men after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and their mother's death, she proposes a plan to her younger sister. The aim is to intoxicate their father, Lot, and engage in sexual intercourse with him. Their stated motivation is explicit: to "preserve offspring from our father," ensuring the continuation of their family line, as they believed all other potential partners and their prospects for a future lineage had perished. This verse highlights their profound sense of isolation and a desperate, sinful attempt to overcome what they saw as an existential crisis for their family.

Genesis 19 32 Context

Genesis chapter 19 describes the final moments of Sodom and Gomorrah and the deliverance of Lot and his family. Two angels visit Lot, who offers them hospitality, unaware of the impending judgment. The men of Sodom brutally attempt to sexually assault the angels, revealing the city's utter depravity. In a horrifying display of compromised morals, Lot offers his virgin daughters to the mob to protect his guests. The angels blind the men and urge Lot and his family to flee the city before its destruction.

The immediate preceding verses describe their escape: Lot, his wife, and two daughters. Lot's wife disobeys the command not to look back and is turned into a pillar of salt (v. 26). Lot, now alone with his two daughters, initially flees to the small town of Zoar but then, out of fear, retreats to a cave in the mountains (v. 30). This extreme isolation, coupled with the traumatic loss of their home, mother, and the entire populace they knew, created a situation of profound desperation for the daughters. They perceive themselves to be the last remnants of humanity or, at least, their lineage, in that region, thus setting the stage for the desperate and immoral plan proposed in verse 32 to preserve their family line.

Genesis 19 32 Word analysis

• "Come" (לכי - lekhi / הָבָה - havah): In some ancient texts, a feminine singular "go" or "come," urging. Here, more accurately, the intent is "Come, let us" (havah). This word often marks an initiating thought or proposal, sometimes with urgency or desperation (e.g., "Come, let us build a city" in Gen 11:3-4). It suggests a decisive, albeit deeply flawed, action plan is being laid.
• "let us make our father drink wine":
  • "make ... drink" (נשקה - nashqe): To give drink. This implies a deliberate act of inducing intoxication. The specific intent is to incapacitate Lot, stripping him of his will and awareness.
  • "our father" (אבינו - ’āvīnū): Emphasizes the familial relationship that is being exploited and defiled. The term "father" highlights the transgression against paternal respect and natural order.
  • "wine" (יין - yayin): A key element for incapacitation. Wine often symbolizes celebration, but in biblical narratives, its misuse frequently leads to sin, shame, and judgment (e.g., Noah in Gen 9:20-24, where intoxication also leads to sexual transgression/exposure). Its use here highlights the deceptive and manipulative nature of the daughters' plan.
• "and we will lie with him" (ונשכבה עמו - w'nishkavah ‘immō):
  • "lie" (שכב - shakhav): Euphemistic for sexual intercourse, especially in the context of forbidden sexual relations (e.g., Gen 34:2). Its use here explicitly states the intention to engage in sexual relations, the method being deliberate exploitation and violation.
  • "with him" (‘immō): Underscores the incestuous nature of the act, defining the illicit relationship they intend to establish.
• "that we may preserve offspring" (ונחיה מזרע - w'neḥayyeh mīzera‘):
  • "preserve" (ונחיה - w'neḥayyeh / "cause to live" or "keep alive"): The root hayah means "to live." In the Hiphil form (causative), it means "to cause to live," "to preserve life," or "to keep alive." This reveals their central motive: to ensure the continuity of their family, which they feared was otherwise extinct. It's an attempt to ensure survival through procreation, twisted into a grave sin.
  • "offspring" (זרע - zera‘): "Seed," meaning descendants, children, posterity. This term underscores the vital importance of lineage in ancient Near Eastern culture. The lack of zera‘ was seen as a personal catastrophe and the end of a family name. Their desire to avoid this outcome led to their extreme measures.
• "from our father" (מאבינו - mē’ābīnū): This phrase explicitly identifies the source of the desired zera‘, confirming the incestuous and shocking nature of the plan. It directly points to the violation of kinship boundaries.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "Come, let us make our father drink wine,": This phrase encapsulates the initial strategic element of the plan. It signifies a calculated, manipulative effort to incapacitate Lot. It highlights the proactive role of the daughters in conceiving and executing a scheme involving deception and exploitation. This part sets up the enablement for the forbidden act.
• "and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring": This forms the core action and the underlying desperate motive. "Lie with him" plainly states the intended sexual violation. The immediate follow-up "that we may preserve offspring" provides the specific cultural and existential rationale for this abhorrent act. It highlights that the driving force was not sexual desire but a profound, albeit misguided, anxiety over the end of their family line, reflective of the critical importance of lineage in their cultural context.
• "from our father": This short, explicit phrase unambiguously identifies the shocking nature of their chosen solution. It is the defining phrase that reveals the incestuous foundation of their plan, directly implicating their father as the source of this desired, yet illicit, continuation.

Genesis 19 32 Bonus section

The story of Lot and his daughters, while shocking, illustrates a pervasive theme in Scripture: the radical consequences of choices, both individual and collective. Lot's consistent compromising behavior throughout his life, starting from his choice to settle near Sodom (Gen 13), culminated in this profound familial tragedy. Furthermore, this narrative offers a profound insight into how the absence of faith in God's providence, especially in extreme circumstances, can lead individuals to resort to humanly devised and sinful "solutions" to preserve themselves or their lineage. Despite God's direct miraculous intervention in saving Lot, the daughters still saw no path forward except through their own, deeply flawed, and condemned actions, believing themselves cut off from all normal means of continuing their family. This episode stands as a stark reminder of human brokenness and the lengths to which desperation can drive individuals when they lose sight of God's sovereign power to provide in legitimate ways.

Genesis 19 32 Commentary

Genesis 19:32 presents a dark snapshot of desperation following unimaginable trauma and isolation. The destruction of Sodom, the loss of their mother, and the perceived absence of all other eligible males drove Lot’s daughters to a horrifying solution for a fundamental ancient Near Eastern concern: the continuation of family lineage. Their actions, though heinous, stem from a warped cultural understanding and deep fear rather than base lust. They genuinely believed themselves to be the sole remaining means of perpetuating their "seed."

The verse tragically demonstrates the far-reaching consequences of sin and spiritual decline. Lot, a "righteous man" (2 Pet 2:7), nevertheless appears passive and compromised throughout the narrative. His failure to effectively lead or provide for his family's spiritual and physical security, especially after fleeing, contributes to his daughters' extreme mindset. Their solution involves drunkenness and incest, sins strongly condemned elsewhere in scripture, showing how human despair, divorced from faith in divine provision, can lead to unspeakable acts. The biblical narrative unflinchingly records this episode, not as an endorsement, but as a realistic depiction of human depravity and desperation. It also serves as an etiological account, explaining the origins of Moab and Ammon, later antagonists of Israel, whose very names (Moab - "from father," Ben-Ammi - "son of my people/kin") are polemical references to their incestuous beginnings. This foundational narrative subtly undermines the legitimacy of these nations from an Israelite perspective.