^19:31Later the older daughter said⁸⁵ to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby⁸⁶ to have sexual relations with us,⁸⁷ according to the way of all the world. ^19:32Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine⁸⁸ so we can have sexual relations⁸⁹ with him and preserve⁹⁰ our family line through our father.”⁹¹

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Footnotes

85 Heb “and the firstborn said.”
86 Or perhaps “on earth,” in which case the statement would be hyperbolic; presumably there had been some men living in the town of Zoar to which Lot and his daughters had initially fled.
87 Heb “to enter upon us.” This is a euphemism for sexual relations.
88 Heb “drink wine.”
89 Heb “and we will lie down.” The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive is subordinated to the preceding cohortative and indicates purpose/result.
90 Or “that we may preserve.” Here the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates their ultimate goal.
91 Heb “and we will keep alive from our father descendants.” For a discussion of the cultural background of the daughters’ desire to preserve our family line see F. C. Fensham, “The Obliteration of the Family as Motif in the Near Eastern Literature,” 10 (1969): 191–99.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land. Come, let’s get our father to drink wine so that we can sleep with him and preserve our father’s line.”

NLTNew Living Translation

One day the older daughter said to her sister, “There are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so we can’t get married like everyone else. And our father will soon be too old to have children. 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.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And the firstborn daughter said to the younger one, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to come in to us according to the manner of all the land. Come, let us give our father wine to drink and let us lie with him that we may secure descendants through our father.”

KJV 1900King James Version

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

Public Domain