Genesis 19:31
in Genesis 19One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us, as is the custom over all the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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:
KJV
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:
⋯
This verse in Genesis 19
Commentary
5 notes on this verseOur father is old - And consequently not likely to re-marry; and there is not a man in the earth - none left, according to their opinion in all the land of Canaan, of their own family and kindred; and they might think it unlawful to match with others, such as the inhabitants of Zoar, who they knew had been devoted to destruction as well as those of Sodom and Gomorrah, and were only saved at the earnest request of their father; and probably while they lived among them they found them ripe enough for punishment, and therefore would have thought it both dangerous and criminal to have formed any matrimonial connections with them.
This site's exposition
Our father is old
on Genesis 19:31-33
The older daughter says no man is left in the land for them. They get him drunk with wine, and the firstborn goes in that night. Noah's story after the flood runs the same way, wine, a father shamed by his children, and nations born out of it. Genesis sets the account down and passes no sentence on it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The great sin that Lot and his daughters were guilty of, when they were in this desolate place. His daughters laid a very wicked plot to bring him to sin; and theirs was, doubtless, the greater guilt.
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.
And the firstborn said unto the younger,....
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֧אמֶר | vatomer | and <she> said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַבְּכִירָ֛ה | habekhirah | the firstborn | H1067 → | 6 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַצְּעִירָ֖ה | hatzeirah | the young | H6810 → | 23 times |
| אָבִ֣ינוּ | ʾavinu | father our | H1 → | 1212 times |
| זָקֵ֑ן | zaken | he is old | H2204 → | 27 times |
| וְאִ֨ישׁ | veish | and [is] a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֵ֤ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| בָּאָ֙רֶץ֙ | baaretz | in the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לָב֣וֹא | lavo' | to go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עָלֵ֔ינוּ | ʾaleinu | on us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כְּדֶ֖רֶךְ | kederekh | according to [the] way of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
וַתֹּ֧אמֶרand <she> said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
הַבְּכִירָ֛הthe firstborn
habekhirahH1067 →6 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַצְּעִירָ֖הthe young
hatzeirahH6810 →23 times
אָבִ֣ינוּfather our
ʾavinuH1 →1212 times
זָקֵ֑ןhe is old
zakenH2204 →27 times
וְאִ֨ישׁand [is] a man
veishH376 →1663 times
אֵ֤יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
בָּאָ֙רֶץ֙in the land
baaretzH776 →2504 times
לָב֣וֹאto go
lavo'H935 →2568 times
עָלֵ֔ינוּon us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
כְּדֶ֖רֶךְaccording to [the] way of
kederekhH1870 →707 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 6:4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of…
it leads to
- Numbers 13:33
We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak that come from the Nephilim! We seemed like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we must have seemed the same to them!”
- 1 Samuel 17:4
Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
- Deuteronomy 3:11
(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
- 2 Samuel 21:15–22
Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines; but David became exhausted.
- Deuteronomy 2:20–21
(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
- Numbers 13:33
Through
Isaiah 4:1In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own bread and provide our own clothes. Just let us be called by your name. Take away…
it leads to
- Genesis 30:23
and she conceived and gave birth to a son. “God has taken away my shame,” she said.
- Isaiah 2:17
So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
- Genesis 30:23
Through
Deuteronomy 25:5When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty…
it leads to
- Matthew 22:24
“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.
- Matthew 22:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
