And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
Parallel translations
- WEB The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.
- BSB The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.
- NKJV The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
- NASB The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
- NLT When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The firstborn bears Moab, ancestor of the Moabites. This explains the origin of a nation that would often trouble Israel.
Overview
Moab's name (sounding like 'from father') memorializes his shameful conception. The Moabites became frequent adversaries of Israel, yet from Moab came Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David, woven into the line of the Messiah. Thus God's grace would redeem even what began in sin, drawing a Gentile into the lineage of the Savior.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Deut 2:9And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
- Num 22:1–41And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.
- Num 21:29Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites.
- Judg 3:1–31Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
- 2 Sam 8:1–18And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
- Deut 23:3An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever:
- Ruth 4:10Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
- 2 Kgs 3:1–27Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
- Deut 2:19And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
- Num 24:1–25And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 19:37 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.