The Trouble With Cousin Lot - Parshat Vayeira

(27) Now this is the line of Terah: Terah begot Avram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot. (28) Haran died in the lifetime of his father Terah, in his native land, Ur Kasdim. (29) Avram and Nahor took to themselves wives, the name of Avram’s wife being Sarai and that of Nahor’s wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Yiskah. (30) Now Sarai was barren, she had no child. (31) Terah took his son Avram, his grandson Lot the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Avram, and they set out together from Ur Kasdim for the land of Canaan; but when they had come as far as Charan, they settled there.

(1) The Eternal One said to Avram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (2) I will make of you a great nation, And I will bless you; I will make your name great, And you shall be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.”

(4) Avram went forth as the Eternal had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Avram was seventy-five years old when he left Charan. (5) Avram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the wealth that they had amassed, and the persons that they had acquired in Charan; and they set out for the land of Canaan, and arrived in the land of Canaan.

(6) Avram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, at the terebinth of Moreh. The Canaanites were then in the land. (7) The Eternal appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your offspring.” And he built an altar there to the Eternal who had appeared to him. (8) From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar to the Eternal and invoked the Eternal by name. (9) Then Avram journeyed by stages toward the Negeb.

(10) There was a famine in the land, and Avram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. (11) As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. (12) If the Egyptians see you, and think, ‘She is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live. (13) Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.” (14) When Avram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the woman was. (15) Pharaoh’s courtiers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s palace. (16) And because of her, it went well with Avram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses, and camels.

(1) From Egypt, Avram went up into the Negeb, with his wife and all that he possessed, together with Lot. (2) Now Avram was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold. (3) And he proceeded by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Bethel and Ai, (4) the site of the altar that he had built there at first; and there Avram invoked the LORD by name. (5) Lot, who went with Avram, also had flocks and herds and tents, (6) so that the land could not support them staying together; for their possessions were so great that they could not remain together. (7) And there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Avram’s cattle and those of Lot’s cattle.—The Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the land.— (8) Avram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my herdsmen and yours, for we are brother-men. (9) Is not the whole land before you? Let us separate: if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.” (10) Lot looked about him and saw how well watered was the whole plain of the Jordan, all of it—this was before the Eternal had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Eternal, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Tzoar. (11) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they parted from each other; (12) Abram remained in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the Plain, pitching his tents near Sodom. (13) (Now the men of Sodom were very wicked sinners against the Eternal.)

(14) And the Eternal said to Avram, after Lot had parted from him, “Raise your eyes and look out from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west, (15) for I give all the land that you see to you and your offspring forever.

After Lot had parted from him — So long as this wicked one was with him the word of God was kept from him.

(11) The invaders seized all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and went their way. (12) They also took Lot, the son of Avram’s brother, and his possessions, and departed; for he had settled in Sodom. (13) A fugitive brought the news to Avram the Hebrew, who was dwelling at the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, kinsman of Eshkol and Aner, these being Avram’s allies. (14) When Avram heard that his brother had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers, born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

(1) The two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening, as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to greet them and, bowing low with his face to the ground, (2) he said, “Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house to spend the night, and bathe your feet; then you may be on your way early.” But they said, “No, we will spend the night in the square.” (3) But he urged them strongly, so they turned his way and entered his house. He prepared drinks for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

(4) They had not yet lain down, when the townspeople, the men of Sodom, young and old—all the people to the last man—gathered about the house. (5) And they shouted to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” (6) So Lot went out to them to the entrance, shut the door behind him, (7) and said, “I beg you, my friends, do not commit such a wrong. (8) Look, please, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Let me bring them out to you, please, and you may do to them as is good in your eyes; but do not do anything to these men [men of God?], since they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

(9) But they said, “Stand back! The fellow,” they said, “came here as an alien, and already he acts the ruler! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” And they pressed hard against the person of Lot, and moved forward to break the door. (10) But the men stretched out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. (11) And the people who were at the entrance of the house, young and old, they struck with blinding light, so that they were helpless to find the entrance. (12) Then the men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? Sons-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else that you have in the city—bring them out of the place. (13) For we are about to destroy this place; because the outcry against them before the Eternal has become so great that the Eternal has sent us to destroy it.” (14) So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Eternal is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law as one who jests. (15) As dawn broke, the angels urged Lot on, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two remaining daughters, lest you be swept away because of the iniquity of the city.” (16) Still he delayed. So the men seized his hand, and the hands of his wife and his two daughters—in the Eternal's mercy on him—and brought him out and left him outside the city. (17) When they had brought them outside, one said, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away.” (18) But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lord! (19) You have been so gracious to your servant, and have already shown me so much kindness in order to save my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. (20) Look, that town there is near enough to flee to; it is such a little place! Let me flee there—it is such a little place—and let my life be saved.” (21) He replied, “Very well, I will grant you this favor too, and I will not annihilate the town of which you have spoken. (22) Hurry, flee there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Hence the town came to be called Tzoar. (23) As the sun rose upon the earth and Lot entered Tzoar, (24) the Eternal rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from the Eternal out of heaven. (25) God annihilated those cities and the entire Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground. (26) Lot’s wife looked back, and she thereupon turned into a pillar of salt. (27) Next morning, Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood before the Eternal, (28) and, looking down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the Plain, he saw the smoke of the land rising like the smoke of a kiln. (29) Thus it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain and annihilated the cities where Lot dwelt, God was mindful of Abraham and removed Lot from the midst of the upheaval. (30) Lot went up from Tzoar and settled in the hill country with his two daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Tzoar; and he and his two daughters lived in a cave. (31) And the older one said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to consort with us in the way of all the world. (32) Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him, that we may maintain life through our father.” (33) That night they made their father drink wine, and the older one went in and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she rose. (34) The next day the older one said to the younger, “See, I lay with Father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go and lie with him, that we may maintain life through our father.” (35) That night also they made their father drink wine, and the younger one went and lay with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she rose. (36) Thus the two daughters of Lot came to be with child by their father. (37) The older one bore a son and named him Mo-av; he is the father of the Moabites of today. (38) And the younger also bore a son, and she called him Ben-ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

And Lot saw them — From the practice in Abraham’s house he had learned to look out for strangers.

(1) The Eternal appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of the tent, in the heat of the day. (2) Looking up, he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them and, bowing to the ground, (3) he said, “My lords, if it please you, do not go on past your servant. (4) Let a little water be brought; bathe your feet and recline under the tree. (5) And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves; then go on—seeing that you have come your servant’s way.” They replied, “Do as you have said.” (6) Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quick, three seahs of choice flour! Knead and make cakes!” (7) Then Abraham ran to the herd, took a calf, tender and choice, and gave it to a servant-boy, who hastened to prepare it. (8) He took curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them; and he waited on them under the tree as they ate.

Spend the night and wash your feet — Is it then customary for people first to tarry all night and then to wash? And we know that, Abraham began by saying to them, “Wash your feet”!

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, came … and they called unto Lot and said: “Where are the men?” (Gen. 19:4–5). From this incident you learn that when he departed from Abraham, Lot chose him all the plain of the Jordan (Gen. 13:11), which was Sodom. Although he saw that the men of Sodom were mired in perversion, he nevertheless chose Sodom so that he might behave as they did. How do we know this? He said to the men of Sodom: I have two daughters, who have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out to you (ibid. 19:7). Normally, a man would prefer to undergo death for the sake of his daughter or his wife; indeed he would willingly kill or be killed for their sake, but this man was willing to allow his daughters to be abused by men. So the Holy Blessed One said to him: By thy life, keep them for yourself! Schoolchildren will one day laugh derisively when they read: Thus were both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father (ibid., v. 36).