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Recall that the two angels, in the form of men, left the Lord and Abraham and went ahead to Sodom to check the moral temperature of the city. We have also mentioned that, in the biblical universe, it is never a good thing to be living in the city, and Lot is learning this the hard way. Lot, like Abraham, recognizes the men and pays what hospitality he can, but things take a nasty turn:
As for the striking offer of his virgin daughters, I suppose I was content to take that as a pious sacrifice for the Lord, rather similar to the way that Abraham would willingly slay his own son on the Lord’s command. Biblical logic can be rough like that.
However, Robert Alter gives us a better interpretation, one that explains the closing segment of the chapter, in which Lot and his daughters are hiding out in a cave and his daughters get him drunk to have sex with him, so that they can carry on the family line, as they are isolated in the mountains now and cannot meet other men, which is one of the top biblical stories that can squick you out. Alter argues that this concluding segment “suggests measure-for-measure justice meted out for [Lot’s] rash offer.” The offspring of this incest will be enemy peoples of Israel. Lot may have been spared from the annihilation of Sodom and Gomorrah, but he is hardly the righteous man of god that his uncle Abraham is.
After the meal, as they were preparing to retire for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out so we can have sex with them.”This doesn’t work. The men of Sodom are only all the more disdainful that Lot, a newcomer to the city, should be trying to dictate terms to them. The angels take matters into their own hands, and have decided that it is indeed time to put an end to this sink of iniquity, after they get Lot and his family out.
Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. “Please, my brothers,” he begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing. Look - I have two virgin daughters. Do with them as you wish, but leave these men alone, for they are under my protection.”
As for the striking offer of his virgin daughters, I suppose I was content to take that as a pious sacrifice for the Lord, rather similar to the way that Abraham would willingly slay his own son on the Lord’s command. Biblical logic can be rough like that.
However, Robert Alter gives us a better interpretation, one that explains the closing segment of the chapter, in which Lot and his daughters are hiding out in a cave and his daughters get him drunk to have sex with him, so that they can carry on the family line, as they are isolated in the mountains now and cannot meet other men, which is one of the top biblical stories that can squick you out. Alter argues that this concluding segment “suggests measure-for-measure justice meted out for [Lot’s] rash offer.” The offspring of this incest will be enemy peoples of Israel. Lot may have been spared from the annihilation of Sodom and Gomorrah, but he is hardly the righteous man of god that his uncle Abraham is.
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Lot
Date: 2011-08-20 06:09 pm (UTC)From:I prefer the stories of the New Testament to the Old!
Re: Lot
Date: 2011-08-20 08:47 pm (UTC)From:And it's funny you should say that about the New Testament, because I have looked into a new book I recently got about the Gospel of Mark, and I like it so much that I am leaning heavily to the idea of breaking off from Genesis to book-blog Mark, which I was intending to do after Genesis, going from Old to New and back again, but I cannot wait that long to get into the Gospels.
I don't know how much fun it's really going to be for you guys, but so runs my fascination these days. :p