The Death of Sodom and the Birth of 3 Sons

Sodom was a principle city of the Plain below Mamre, where Abraham pitched his tent between Ai (on the west) and Bethel (on the east).  Here in the heat of the day, Abraham was visited by the Three Person God (Baal Shalisha) who spoke to Abraham of the impending judgment of Sodom. The Septuagint adds Gomorrah to the narrative, but in the Masoretic Text, the focus is clearly on Sodom because this is where Lot resided.

The destruction of the city is revealed to Abraham in Genesis 18.  The overthrow of the city and the angelic rescue of Lot and his family is described in chapter 19.  Chapters 18 and 19 have a chiastic structure (ABB'A').  The Jewish Study Bible gives this structure: 18:1-15, the annunciation of Issac's birth - A; 18:16-33, the annuncation of Sodom's destruction - B; 19:1-29 the destruction of Sodom - B; and 19:30-38, the report of the birth of 2 sons to Lot.

This structure suggests that the narrative may originally have been from Lot's point of view rather than from Abraham's. Here Lot's 2 sons become the fathers of nations just as Abraham's son Isaac will become  the father of a nation. The theme of 2 sons for Lot and 1 son for Abraham seems to point to a tradition associated with Lot.

The suggestion that Lot's sons were the product of incest may be a later addition to the text, intended to disgrace the Ammonite and Moabites. Or it may be that this carefully worded narrative is intended to deflect the drunken patriarch's sexual misbehavior upon his daughters. Genesis 19:8 says that Lot offered his daughters who "have never slept with a man" to the Sodomites. These were chaste young women. Sexually inexperienced.  It seems unlikely that they would have initiated sex with their father. This is not the first time that the drunken behavior of the father leads to a bad name for his children. We remember how Noah awoke from a drunken stupor and cursed Canaan (who wasn't born yet).  He didn't curse his son Ham because Ham would become a ruler after Noah and the lines of Ham and Shem would intermarry.

Noah was angry because his son Ham had looked upon his nakedness. Jacob was angry because his son Reuben slept with his concubine, which was to expose the Father's nakedness also.  Noah’s curse falls on Canaan, Ham’s son, which is a deflection of guilt. Jacob’s blessing of Joseph's sons places the youngest above the first-born. The excuse given for Jacob’s behavior is that he was blind. The excuse given for Noah’s behavior is that he was drunk. 

The curse of Canaan parallels the curse of Cain (Gen. 4:11). Cain’s curse involves his being expelled from his homeland. The curse of Canaan is intended to justify Israel’s driving out of the inhabitants known as the Canaanites. Although some Israelites married Canaanites. Salmon, of the tribe of Judah, married Rahab.

The chiastic structure place the destruction of the Sodomites between the promise of a son for Abraham and the birth of 2 sons to Lot.  Three sons represent a tribal confederation in Genesis, so the destruction of the cities of the Dead Sea Plain made way for these Horites to populate the area, which they did. Mount Harun was sacred to the Horites. (Har and Hur are related to the word Horite.)

The kingdoms of Moab and Ammon were in what is now central Jordan. Although not confirmed, the site of Sodom may be what remains of the ancient walled town of Numeira which was consumed by fire around 2350 BC. The town of Zoar, to which Lot fled, is south of Numeira.

Related reading:  "Lot's Story"; "Lot's Daughters"