This would make a great Staff Report.
Abraham, not Moses.
Interesting explanation - a few observations:
The Moabites and Ammonites - it seems a typical behaviour of ancient texts to attribute questionable or improper ancestry to your unpopular enemies/neighbours. If the Lord smote them, there wouldn’t be any ancestors for the npopular neighbours. So He let themlive to create those races with the improper ancestors.
I wonder if the “know” is an extension of the story to emphasize the horror of it. “Not only did they want to beat them, those horrible people also wanted to bugger them. Worse, they preferred it to nice, clean young ladies…”
Remember the propaganda in WWI about the terrible Huns raping women and bayonetting babies; oh, wait, the Iraqis in Kuwait tossing babies out of incubators to steal the equipment to send to Baghdad.
I do recall reading something once that buggery was also a means by which the Egyptian royalty of the time humiliated the captives defaeated in battle. Presumably it was a not unknown expression of power and control of the time and region.
So it is the same story, but with the death of the concubine. It seems the whole first section was included just to show that the concubine was unfaithful, so it was OK that terrible things happened to her.
What the hell was up with chopping up her body at the end though?
Read the next verse. It was a call to arms, if a rather gruesome one.
Brilliant post. 
Hilarious!
That’s just one in a series of videos. The previous one, #6, covers the story of Sodom and Gomorrah itself.
One of the particular things they ridicule in the one on Lot’s daughters, however, is the inconsistency of God destroying Lot’s wife in a horrific way for a minor (and quite natural) act of disobedience while appearing to be unconcerned about father-daughter incest, something that appears much more serious to us.
Honestly, I think Lot’s wife did it on purpose. Culture of the times or no, non-existence as a pillar of salt has to be better than a lifetime with someone who is perfectly ok with almost literally throwing your children to the wolves.
[QUOTE=flight]
What the hell was up with chopping up her body at the end though?
[/QUOTE]
In the next chapter he sends a piece to each of the sections of Israel to drum support for his revenge against the Benjaminites.
My take that I’ll add to what’s already been read and UDS’s excellent post:
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had just been sacked and enslaved by a coalition of five “kings” (probably more like tribal leaders). This is spoken to. They were rescued by Abraham, this bedouin warlord who has enough military power to defeat the people who defeated them.
So, it would be reasonable of the people of Sodom to assume that “if the 5 Kings are stronger than us, and Abraham is stronger than the 5 kings, it would stand to reason that Abraham is stronger than us”. They are probably grateful to Abraham in some way, which is probably why Lot continues to live among them, but they also fear him; he’s like a desert Don Corleone, and his nephew and heir presumptive lives among them. It’s probably not lost on them that if Abraham ever takes a notion that “I’d like my nephew Lot to be king of Sodom” or just “I could use a boost to my retirement fund, maybe I should just sack Sodom myself, take their valuables and sell their people and buy an upscale retirement condo overlooking the sea”, there’s not a whole lot to stop him from getting his wish. So, again, like being in debt to Don Corleone, you respect him but you’re also afraid of him, and you realize that he might one day ask more in repayment than you’re willing to give, and you may even sleep with a sidearm in case he decides to stop being your friend.
Into this already super paranoid (actually, paranoid implies unjustified- they have reason to be afraid) city walk the angels. Now, while it’s not apparent they’re angels it probably is apparent they’re not like other men: Abraham and Lot both bowed the second they saw them because they instantly recognized “These aren’t regular men here”. Lot did this at the city gate, in front of witnesses.
So, the guy who is most likely to be a serious threat to your already imperiled, historically unable-to-defend-itself-in-battle city has just received two ominous “not like us” guests and taken them to his house.
Do we
1- Hope for the best, maybe send over a fruitbasket
2- Keep an eye on him and if it seems they’re up to no good maybe have a town council meeting to discuss next move
3- Go ahead and send a message NOW before Uncle Abe and his screaming nomads are all over the city
Even if “to know” did mean “to have sex with”, it’s a zillion times more likely to be in a “we’ll show you what we think of your men, they’re literally our whores” than “Mmm-hmm-hmmm, shake that thing Papi!” lustful sense (not that rape is usually about lust whether hetero or homo or any other way).
And while it’s easy to believe Sodom was probably evil before they were sacked, afterwards they were probably a powder keg of suspicion and fear.
The funny thing is, I have never wavered in my feelings about the story (I hate it, and it shows exactly what this God is capable of) but as I have grown to be an adult I understand more why Lots wife was turned to salt. Sometimes you just shouldn’t look back, and one of those times would be when a God or a Devil is doing his thing. Some things you just shouldn’t see.
IIRC from other threads (there have been several) and other readings on the topic, some scholars of biblical language say “turned to a pillar of salt” was probbly a euphemism for dying instantly rather than literal, something like “kicked the bucket” or “bought the farm”. Though that said, there are any number of salt formations claimed to be Lot’s wife in Israel, so the literal translation has been a staple of the tourist trade for at least centuries.
Professor Frank explains it all for you.
If UDS ever offers a Bible study course, count me in!
Another context to consider:
As Abraham and Lot come to the region, they decide to split up the land. So as not to get into an argument with Lot, Abraham let’s lot chose his part of the land. And Lot chooses the area of Sodom and Gomorrah because it was so fertile.
HAH!*
*The ‘hah’ is because the whole area Lot chose became devastated after the wrathful destruction with the Dead Sea becoming… dead. It’s an explanation-story for why the area is ‘dead’ and salty and why Abraham’s Semitic kin (the non-Israelites of the area, who are the descendents of Lot) are relegated to the crappy areas of the region.
The whole Sodom & Gamorrah story (and the next chapter with the daddy drugging and rape) is all just a sacred ethnic joke.
The Ammonites and the Moabites are demonstrated in the text to be the descendants of incest. Sodom & Gomorrah are guilty of being really shitty neighbors.
That’s all it means.
I’m thinking that she didn’t know that she had turning into a pillar of salt as an option available to her.
Me, too!
The Aristocrats!