ZVBM
Member
Hi!
One of the strangest, most bizarre episodes in the Tanakh (what we call what Christians call the "Old Testament"), sez me, is Genesis 19 in which Lot commits incest with his daughters after having first offered to hand them over to be gang-raped in order to protect two male strangers from the same fate. Look at the text. Not only is it the older sister who initiates the incest & pushes her younger sister into it, but she (older sister) gives her son the very unsubtle name of "Moab", literally "from father", while younger sister gives her son the far more ambiguous name of "Ben Ami", or "son of my people". Why, why and why?
I wondered how Lot's daughters might have seen the whole account.
I wrote this in August 2011. At no point do I describe, or try to depict, the contact between Lot & his daughters (beyond what Genesis 19 itself says).
All thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated.
ZVBM
__________
No Fury
by ZVBM
Copyright August 2011
#
"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a daughter scorned."
(Adapted from "The Mourning Bride", Act III, Scene VIII, by William Congreve)
#
Pheine and Thamma, Lot's two youngest daughters whispered in the loft that doubled as their bedroom.
"I'm going to the new moon festival with Dili," Pheine triumphantly told her younger sister.
"The rich merchant's son?"
Pheine nodded.
"And Daddy agreed?"
"Mommy did."
"Meaning you didn't ask him."
"He would just say 'no'."
"But..."
"Thamma, most girls from Sodom our age have already had their first child and Daddy barely lets us out of the house."
"Look at who our older sisters married."
"We have to pay for their mistakes?"
"Pheine! Thamma!," Lot called up from the main room, "Come down here, please!"
"We'll talk more later," Pheine said. She and Thamma climbed downstairs
"Here," Lot said, handing them kneading boards, a jar of flour and a skin of water.
"What's this for?" Pheine inquired
"Your father is feeling charitable again," their mother muttered, not looking up from her loom.
"More guests?" Thamma asked.
"More bums," their mother mumbled.
Lot shot her a look. "Unleavened bread for our visitors," he told Pheine and Thamma, "Quickly now!"
Pheine looked around. "Where are they?"
"At the well out back," Lot answered, "Washing their feet."
"Did Uncle Abraham send them?" Thamma inquired as she and Pheine began mixing dough.
"No," Lot replied, setting out olives, dates, dried figs and cured meat on wooden platters while his daughters rolled out sheets of dough and placed them on a clay tabun oven. He poured date wine into two tankards.
"Oh, tell me you're not gonna waste our good date wine," his wife groaned.
Lot ignored her, handed the platters to Pheine and Thamma and took the tankards. The sisters followed him out back and helped serve the visitors. "Here, my lords," he told them, "You honor us and our home."
The guests nodded. "Thank you."
"Yes, thank you."
Pheine and Thamma followed their father back inside. Lot pulled the thin sheets of hot bread off the tabun and placed them on another platter, which he handed to Thamma, who disappeared out back.
Pheine drew up a stool and sat down next to their mother.
"You've got to stop doing this," Lot's wife told him, "You're not living with your uncle anymore."
Lot glared at her.
"You know, you're more like him than you think. What if you're found out? This is Sodom!"
"Idit," Lot said, addressing his wife by name, "In case you've forgotten, King Bera owes my uncle a whopping favor."
"And you expect him to be grateful?"
There was loud banging on the front door.
"Oh no," Lot's wife moaned.
"Hey Lot!" a voice called, "Send out your visitors! We wanna get to know them!"
"Yeah," another voice said, "We'll open a barrel, or at least bend them over one!"
There was boisterous laughter.
"I'll deal with this," Lot muttered, heading back into the main room.
Pheine followed him. "Daddy, what..."
"Bar the door behind me; then go back and wait with your mother."
Lot opened the door, slipped out and pulled it shut behind him.
Pheine lowered the crossbar into place and put her ear to a crack around the doorframe.
"Hey," Lot pleaded, "Don't do this. These men are my guests; they've come under my roof..."
"And we're gonna **** them senseless," a voice declared.
"I have two daughters, virgins. I'll bring them out and you can do whatever you want to them, only please, don't hurt my guests."
Pheine recoiled in horror.
"You come to our city," another voice said, "play the judge and now tell us what to do? Know what? We're gonna **** you worse than senseless. Truss him up boys!
Pheine barely felt the hand that pulled her away from the door. I have two daughters... She slumped against a wall and sank to the floor before noticing the strange light that filled the anteroom. She looked up and saw the two visitors but not as they had been. Clad all in white, they glowed and had wings. They raised their hands to the door, which vanished, and flashed blinding rays of bright light into street. Screams and curses rent the air as the visitors yanked her father back inside and shut the door, which reappeared.
(...).
One of the strangest, most bizarre episodes in the Tanakh (what we call what Christians call the "Old Testament"), sez me, is Genesis 19 in which Lot commits incest with his daughters after having first offered to hand them over to be gang-raped in order to protect two male strangers from the same fate. Look at the text. Not only is it the older sister who initiates the incest & pushes her younger sister into it, but she (older sister) gives her son the very unsubtle name of "Moab", literally "from father", while younger sister gives her son the far more ambiguous name of "Ben Ami", or "son of my people". Why, why and why?
I wondered how Lot's daughters might have seen the whole account.
I wrote this in August 2011. At no point do I describe, or try to depict, the contact between Lot & his daughters (beyond what Genesis 19 itself says).
All thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated.
ZVBM
__________
No Fury
by ZVBM
Copyright August 2011
#
"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a daughter scorned."
(Adapted from "The Mourning Bride", Act III, Scene VIII, by William Congreve)
#
Pheine and Thamma, Lot's two youngest daughters whispered in the loft that doubled as their bedroom.
"I'm going to the new moon festival with Dili," Pheine triumphantly told her younger sister.
"The rich merchant's son?"
Pheine nodded.
"And Daddy agreed?"
"Mommy did."
"Meaning you didn't ask him."
"He would just say 'no'."
"But..."
"Thamma, most girls from Sodom our age have already had their first child and Daddy barely lets us out of the house."
"Look at who our older sisters married."
"We have to pay for their mistakes?"
"Pheine! Thamma!," Lot called up from the main room, "Come down here, please!"
"We'll talk more later," Pheine said. She and Thamma climbed downstairs
"Here," Lot said, handing them kneading boards, a jar of flour and a skin of water.
"What's this for?" Pheine inquired
"Your father is feeling charitable again," their mother muttered, not looking up from her loom.
"More guests?" Thamma asked.
"More bums," their mother mumbled.
Lot shot her a look. "Unleavened bread for our visitors," he told Pheine and Thamma, "Quickly now!"
Pheine looked around. "Where are they?"
"At the well out back," Lot answered, "Washing their feet."
"Did Uncle Abraham send them?" Thamma inquired as she and Pheine began mixing dough.
"No," Lot replied, setting out olives, dates, dried figs and cured meat on wooden platters while his daughters rolled out sheets of dough and placed them on a clay tabun oven. He poured date wine into two tankards.
"Oh, tell me you're not gonna waste our good date wine," his wife groaned.
Lot ignored her, handed the platters to Pheine and Thamma and took the tankards. The sisters followed him out back and helped serve the visitors. "Here, my lords," he told them, "You honor us and our home."
The guests nodded. "Thank you."
"Yes, thank you."
Pheine and Thamma followed their father back inside. Lot pulled the thin sheets of hot bread off the tabun and placed them on another platter, which he handed to Thamma, who disappeared out back.
Pheine drew up a stool and sat down next to their mother.
"You've got to stop doing this," Lot's wife told him, "You're not living with your uncle anymore."
Lot glared at her.
"You know, you're more like him than you think. What if you're found out? This is Sodom!"
"Idit," Lot said, addressing his wife by name, "In case you've forgotten, King Bera owes my uncle a whopping favor."
"And you expect him to be grateful?"
There was loud banging on the front door.
"Oh no," Lot's wife moaned.
"Hey Lot!" a voice called, "Send out your visitors! We wanna get to know them!"
"Yeah," another voice said, "We'll open a barrel, or at least bend them over one!"
There was boisterous laughter.
"I'll deal with this," Lot muttered, heading back into the main room.
Pheine followed him. "Daddy, what..."
"Bar the door behind me; then go back and wait with your mother."
Lot opened the door, slipped out and pulled it shut behind him.
Pheine lowered the crossbar into place and put her ear to a crack around the doorframe.
"Hey," Lot pleaded, "Don't do this. These men are my guests; they've come under my roof..."
"And we're gonna **** them senseless," a voice declared.
"I have two daughters, virgins. I'll bring them out and you can do whatever you want to them, only please, don't hurt my guests."
Pheine recoiled in horror.
"You come to our city," another voice said, "play the judge and now tell us what to do? Know what? We're gonna **** you worse than senseless. Truss him up boys!
Pheine barely felt the hand that pulled her away from the door. I have two daughters... She slumped against a wall and sank to the floor before noticing the strange light that filled the anteroom. She looked up and saw the two visitors but not as they had been. Clad all in white, they glowed and had wings. They raised their hands to the door, which vanished, and flashed blinding rays of bright light into street. Screams and curses rent the air as the visitors yanked her father back inside and shut the door, which reappeared.
(...).
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