Girls' Night Around the Campfire

[MineralMan]

Oldest girl: Moishe, what are we to do if there is no man to marry?

Moishe: There is a story I will tell about that, but it will not apply to any of you, for there are many men in these days who seek a wife and surely one will seek each of you. This story is one of olden days, when things were very different and not as they are today. Elohim will always provide a way. Rules are rules, but may be broken when necessary, it seems. Here is the story of Lot and his two daughters from long, long ago. You may remember the story of Lot and the Pillar of Salt. This is what happened thereafter:

Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

[Angry Dragon]

1. good things can come out of incest??

[MineralMan]

2. Well, according to Genesis 19, it seems so.

It's one of the puzzling stories from the Old Testament, I've always thought. But, it's clearly one of the stories that were told around the campfire, back when the Bible was shared as an oral tradition.

Clearly, the results of those acts were two successful sons, men of renown, as it were. Apparently, the rules could be broken in times of necessity. I don't know. Since this followed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, perhaps there were no men available and, as they say, "needs must." Awkward, isn't it?

[Angry Dragon]

3. until recently I did not know Moses was married and had 2 sons

[MineralMan]

4. The Old Testament is complicated, indeed.

Yes, Moses is said to have had two sons with his wife, Zipporah, but we don't learn much about them, really. Although many of the people named in the Old Testament can be followed and their descendants known, not all can be. Probably, the later stories of Gershom and Eleazer somehow didn't make it into the written version. It's a little odd, but there it is.