Commenting on
GE 19:6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man.
Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them.
But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the =
protection
of my roof."
Burgy writes:
2. In Genesis 19:6 Lot, who was a "good man," offers up his two =
virgin
daughters to the rabble outside his door to protect his guests. Now I =
admit
that this was a terrible situation, one which all of us sincerely hope =
we
will never approach. My guess is that Lot, in terror, made the offer =
because
he hoped to be able to continue the arguments through closed doors and =
that
he had no intention of a follow through. But whatever Lot's intentions, =
I
think none of us would ever consider such an action to be moral or =
ethical.
Bob's comments:
Let me offer another explanation, based on my interpetation of Genesis =
19. I think that the popular notion that the story of Sodom constitutes =
a condemnation of homosexuality is mistaken; rather, the story is a =
condemnation of the violation of the sacred law of hospitality. It is =
interesting that none of the 18 references to Sodom in the OT outside =
this story refer or allude to sexual sins; and of the 9 in the NT, the =
defining reference for me is Jesus' in Luke 10:10-12 (Matt. 10:14-15): =
Jesus tells his disciples that if they go to a town to preach the good =
news and are not welcomed and received, they are to shake the dust from =
off their feet, and that it will be better for Sodom in the day of =
judgment than for that town. The connection that Jesus is making with =
Sodom is clearly the rejection of God's messengers.
Rather than making the offer in terror, with no intention to =
following through, I think that Lot is going to extremes to protect his =
guests, to whom he has shown hospitality, from the violation the men of =
Sodom seek to visit upon these strangers: a most heinous =
violation--sexual abuse. He does so by offering his daughters in place =
of the strangers (a curious offer if the men were homosexuals). While =
Lot lived (and the ancient Hebrews as well) in a society where daughters =
are perceived to have a different role in the family from ours, such an =
offer must strike any of us as indeed shocking. That none of the early =
Jewish or Christian commentators found it worthy of comment may be =
equally shocking--it is to me. But the point I believe the writer of =
this story is making about Lot's offer is that he is so aghast at this =
violation of hospitality (the "wicked thing" he is referring to) that he =
is willing to abandon his own daughters in order to preserve it, =
because, as we know both from the Law of Moses and the customary law of =
other ancient cultures (and some modern Muslim cultures, e.g., =
Afghanistan, today), hospitality was one of the most sacred of customs =
and to be violated at the risk of divine displeasure. If Lot had agreed =
to turn over the visitors to the men of Sodom he would have become =
complicit in their crime and subject to divine punishment. The men of =
Sodom should have been aware of this sacred obligation, which makes =
their behavior rather astonishing.
I say all this not to defend what Lot was willing to do, because I'm =
not certain it was defensible even on ancient custom and law, and is =
certainly not defensible by any standard of Christian rightness, but =
rather to try to explain and make sense of Lot's decision. It is a fact =
of the story, and it ought to trouble any reader on this list. What are =
we to say of Lot's behavior? There is a lot about sexuality in the =
story of Sodom, and all of it is disturbing to us, or ought to be. I =
wonder what the Hebrews who heard this story in its early tellings =
thought of it all?
=20
Finally, I'm not sure I would agree that Lot is a good man. He =
really doesn't come off well in the Genesis stories.
Bob Schneider
=20
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