Chapter Overview
Some traveling angels show up to Sodom, and Lot annoys them into staying the night at his house. While there, an angry mob forms outside shouting for Lot to get the angels outside to do presumably wicked deeds with them. Lot refuses and, in a categorically insane move, offers his 2 virgin daughters instead. The mob refuses.
The angels make people blind and stay the night. In the morning, they tell Lot to get out of the city with his relatives. His relatives don’t want to skedaddle, so Lot drags his feet a bit, at which point the angels yoink him, his wife, and his daughters out of the city to safety. Lot negotiates for the safety of a small town, and goes to it. Based on the narrative flow, it sounds like Lot’s wife looks at Sodom at some point while they’re in this town and is turned to salt. Lot then goes to live in the mountains with his daughters, who promptly get annoyed at the lack of men and bang their dad instead.
Additional Thoughts
This chapter is often cited as punishing homosexuality. A careful reading of Ezekiel 16:49-50 shows the issue is more about the city not wanting to take care of the poor and needy with all their amazing wealth that they have. Ezekiel 16:50 merely mentions abominations of an unspecified variety, which makes me wonder when god ever told anyone what these were supposed to have been.
It’s very strange that Lot is shown to be someone worth saving. Presumably, his actions in offering his two, married-yet-still-virginal daughters to a mob would have been enough to prevent god from destroying the city had they accepted the offer. The way the chapter is written, it seems like this was an offer that could have been expected. Strangely, neither the angels, god, or Lot’s daughters bring up any complaint about Lot because of this.
This chapter also sets up 2 nations that are problematic later on, the Moabites and the Ammonites. Given the context of the chapter, this reads more like some propaganda to make them both be seen as tainted due to incest. Read this way, the story was likely written as an attempt to explain where the Moabites and Ammonites came from in a way that makes the “real” believer superior to both.
Chapter 19: Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
AKA: I’m Bored, Let’s Do Dad
AKA: I’m Bored, I’ll Pretend To Be Drunk And Do My Daughters
- And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
- And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
- And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
- But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
- And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
- And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
- And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
- Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
- And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
- But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
- And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
- And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
- For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.
- And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
- And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
- And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
- And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
- And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
- Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
- Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
- And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
- Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
- The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
- Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;
- And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
- But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
- And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord:
- And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
- And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
- And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
- 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.
- And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
- And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
- And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
- Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
- And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
- And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
- Why are there some angels here? Given the context of the last chapter, god was going to be checking out Sodom to see if there were at least 10 people who were righteous.
- Apparently Lot realized these were angels and is doing everything in his power to curry favor with the god of genocide. I can’t imagine why anyone would do that.
- He annoys them so much that they finally cave and go to his house for the night. What a swell guy.
- That’s gotta be a lot of people.
- How many people saw these guys show up? Just how fast does word spread about new arrivals in town. Do all arrivals get this treatment?
- Facing them on his own apparently.
- Good advice, don’t do anything wicked to these guys.
- Instead, do whatever you would want to my daughters instead? What sort of idiot is this guy? This would be incredibly cruel to, and not to mention incredibly painful for, his daughters to have a mob do whatever they want to them. Why save him?
- This verse uses a somewhat hard to follow turn of phrase that shows up a lot in the bible. The “upon the man, even Lot” means that the man in question here is Lot.
- Presumably the Angels, not the men.
- You think the people outside would realize something strange was going on.
- How many are there? Are there at least 10? Counting Lot and his two daughters, that’s at least 3. We only need 7 more.
- Sounds like god had made up his mind and was just humoring AbramHam in chapter 18.
- Wait… he has sons in law, who married his daughters? The same daughters he was offering to the crowds? Shouldn’t they be angry about that happening?
- These angels determined, in a single night where they slept at Lot’s house, that he, his wife, and his daughters were the only ones who were righteous in the city?
- This continually changes back and forth between “men” and “angels” which makes this somewhat hard to follow. Presumably, the “men” here are the angels that stayed over at Lot’s place for a single evening to judge the city.
- Run away!
- Lot doesn’t seem willing to run though.
- Didn’t he spend most of his youth travelling through mountains and such? Why is he so worried about that now? Is it because, like AbramHam, he’s old?
- It’s such a small city, surely nothing bad can happen in a small city! We all know big cities are bad, but small cities are always upstanding!
- AKA: Plot demands that Lot live in a city, so the angels agree.
- Did they just name the city Zoar now? This implies that it might have had another name and they decided to call it Zoar.
- Journey to the <Cardinal direction here>
- I’m still not entirely sure why though. Our only claims to these guys being wicked was a single interaction.
- AKA: God murders things, part 2: Fire and brimstone boogaloo.
- I thought they were already in Zoar?
- Why though?
- Presumably he lives somewhat close to there. Why didn’t he get turned into a block of salt?
- This could have been the entire chapter up to this point. Why was everything else included?
- I thought he wanted to live in a city though and was afraid of the mountains?
- Why not? Presumably they’re younger and pretty, I’m sure they can seduce someone. This sounds like Lot made excuses after the fact to do his daughters.
- Just remember, keeping it in the family is a valuable tradition that we find in the bible.
- They must have got him REALLY drunk then. Presumably, she saw her father naked here… why is this ok when Noah’s nakedness was not?
- It worked so well the first time, so lemme get some of the action!
- This is almost an exact copy of verse 33.
- Did Lot never notice this later on in life? No suspicions about them getting pregnant when they live in the mountains now with no others around?
- Apparently plot demands we explain how some random tribe came to be so we can hate them and be better than them.
- And apparently plot demands we explain how this other tribe came to be as well.