Cato's Hebrew Bible Deconstruction, Day 30 (Genesis 19)

Gay gang rapes, incest, genocide, and one of the patriarchs offering his own daughters to an angry mob to be raped in place of his angel visitors; no wonder Christians don't mention this story often.

From Genesis 18, we know that LORD – after a strange and ultimately fruitless negotiation session with Abraham – is still determined to destroy the city of Sodom, due to the apparent rampant sinfulness that we are told exists there.

But before he does, a chaotic rescue operation for Lot and his family is carried out. The LORD sends two “angels”into the city to gather Lot and his family before the hour of the attack comes.

(It should be noted that in the Christian NIV, the word used here is “angels,” but in the Orthodox Jewish Bible, which I cross reference throughout this study, the word is malachi and that instead means “messenger.”)

For some reason, they attract a lot of attention as they enter Lot’s house; and an angry, horny mob of men quickly gathers, demanding to have sex with the angels (who are also male!)

The mob is furious that Lot is gatekeeping the angels, and preventing the gang rape they evidently seem to feel entitled to. Bizarrely, Lot tries to appease them by offering his child-age virgin daughters instead, even proclaiming that they are virgins to the crowd in order to sweeten the deal. But the horny crowd rejects the girls; they demand the angels!