Ben-ammi

Biblical Account

Ben-ammi's name appears only once, in Genesis 19:38. After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot left Zoar with his two daughters and lived in a cave in the mountains (Genesis 19:30). Believing that "there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us," the two daughters made their father drunk with wine and conceived children by him (Genesis 19:31–36). The son born to the elder daughter was Moab, and the son born to the younger daughter was Ben-ammi. The text identifies him as "the father of the children of Ammon unto this day" (Genesis 19:38). Nothing else is recorded about his life or deeds.

The name is usually interpreted from the Hebrew as "son of my people" or "son of my kin." It is commonly understood to reflect the circumstances of his birth, since the child was born within the family.

Significance in the Bible

The Ammonite people descended from Ben-ammi appear in Scripture far more often than Ben-ammi himself. In Deuteronomy 2:19, God commands Israel not to encroach on the land of Ammon, saying, "I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession." Deuteronomy 23:3–4 stipulates that the descendants of Ammon and Moab shall not "enter into the congregation of the LORD," citing among other reasons that "they met you not with bread and with water" when Israel passed through the wilderness. Ammon later clashed frequently with Israel, in the time of Jephthah (Judges 11) and during the reigns of Saul and David. Rehoboam's mother, Naamah, was also an Ammonite (1 Kings 14:21), as the text notes of Rehoboam.

The New Testament does not mention Ben-ammi directly.

Interpretive Issues

• Nature of the birth narrative: Many commentators regard this account as a story explaining the origins of Moab and Ammon, two peoples who were close kin to Israel yet often hostile to it. Interpretations of this point do not differ greatly across denominations.
• Evaluation of the daughters' actions: The text neither directly praises nor condemns the daughters' actions. Christian commentators have often read the episode as a tragic consequence of Lot's household having lived in Sodom. Some interpretations in the Jewish tradition emphasize that the daughters acted to preserve the family line, believing that the whole world had been destroyed.
• Material beyond the text: Scripture contains no account of Ben-ammi's personal character or later life; details added in sermons or study materials are not based on the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Sermons devoted solely to Ben-ammi are rare. He is usually mentioned alongside Moab in sermons and Bible studies on the life of Lot or on Sodom and Gomorrah, where he often serves as an example of how wrong choices affect the next generation. He is also introduced as the ancestor of the Ammonites when explaining the origins of that Old Testament people. His account is sometimes set alongside the story of the Moabite woman Ruth, who became an ancestor of David, to illustrate that God remembers the Gentile nations as well.