How does Genesis 19:35 reflect on the morality of Lot's daughters? Text Of Genesis 19:35 “So again that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the younger daughter got up and lay with him. And he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.” Narrative Setting Lot and his two daughters have just escaped the cataclysmic judgment on Sodom (Genesis 19:23–29). Isolated in a cave in the hill country near Zoar, they believe no men remain from whom they might bear children (19:31). Their action springs from fear, despair, and misplaced pragmatism, not from obedience to Yahweh. Cultural And Legal Backdrop 1. Patriarchal times prized lineage and inheritance (cf. Genesis 15:2–3; 24:60). 2. Incest was already morally unacceptable. Even in pre-Mosaic law, marriage to a father was taboo in Near-Eastern custom (Code of Hammurabi §154; Middle Assyrian Laws A §31). 3. Later Mosaic legislation makes Yahweh’s stance explicit: “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness” (Leviticus 18:6; also 18:7-8; 20:11-12). Moral Evaluation From Scripture • Scripture records, but never condones, the act. The narrative is descriptive, not prescriptive. • Intoxication is repeatedly condemned (Proverbs 20:1; Ephesians 5:18). • Incest is condemned (Leviticus 18; Deuteronomy 27:22). • The daughters’ scheme shows lack of faith in God’s providence. Noah’s sons found wives after the Flood; Abraham secured a wife for Isaac. God had preserved these three; He could have preserved husbands as well. The Role Of Alcohol And Intent Wine served as the tool to achieve deliberated sin. Moral culpability lies primarily with the daughters, whose plan was conceived knowingly (19:32, 34). Lot bears secondary blame for succumbing to drunkenness and failing to guard his family. Lot’S Slippery Slope Lot compromised by settling near Sodom (13:12), accepting Sodom’s gate-sitting leadership role (19:1), offering his daughters to the mob (19:8), and hesitating to leave (19:16). The daughters imitate and extend their father’s pattern of moral compromise. Consequences In Salvation History 1. Moab, son of the older daughter, becomes progenitor of the Moabites (19:37). 2. Ben-Ammi, son of the younger, becomes father of the Ammonites (19:38). 3. Both nations later oppose Israel (Numbers 22–25; Judges 3:12-14). 4. Yet Yahweh’s grace reaches even Moab: Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 1:4) becomes great-grandmother of King David and thus ancestor of Messiah (Matthew 1:5–6). God turns human sin to serve His redemptive plan (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28). Descriptive Vs. Prescriptive Genesis frequently records human sin without editorial comment (e.g., polygamy of Lamech, deceit of Jacob). Silence does not equal approval. Interpreters must compare narrative acts with later didactic passages to discern morality. Scriptural Cross-References Condemning Incest • 1 Corinthians 5:1 shows NT continuity of the prohibition. Theological Implications Human depravity is evident even among the covenant family (Romans 3:10-18). The episode underscores the need for the promised Redeemer first announced in Genesis 3:15 and ultimately fulfilled in Christ (Luke 24:46-47). Archaeological Support For The Setting Excavations at Tall el-Hammam (Jordan Valley) have uncovered a Middle Bronze-age city destroyed by sudden high-temperature “airburst,” leaving melted pottery and trinitite-like glass—consistent with the kind of catastrophic event Genesis 19 describes. Lessons For Believers • Proximity to wickedness erodes moral clarity (Psalm 1:1). • Fear and unbelief trigger rash, sinful solutions (Isaiah 7:9b). • Parental example powerfully shapes children’s ethics (Deuteronomy 6:7). • God’s grace can redeem even the darkest family histories (Ruth 4:14–17). Christological Thread Through Ruth of Moab, the disgrace of Lot’s daughters ultimately gives way to David’s line and the birth of Jesus, “who will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The story magnifies divine sovereignty: human evil cannot thwart God’s redemptive program. Conclusion Genesis 19:35 reveals the moral failure of Lot’s daughters—premeditated incest compounded by intentional intoxication of their father. Scripture condemns the act while using the candid report to expose human sinfulness and highlight the necessity of redemption. The passage, far from undermining biblical morality, affirms the Bible’s realism about sin and the overarching grace of God, who brings forth salvation history even through flawed human actors. |
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