101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

Myths of the Founders 125
handful of men escaping. Later, the Israelites agreed to allow the remaining Benjaminites
to take wives among some non-Hebrew women so that they might preserve
their line.
Substituting the priest, a religious figure, for the angels, we find the two stories offer
almost identical plot lines and on some occasions share almost identical phrases and
ideas. In both stories, for instance, the men of the town want to“know” the male religious
figure. And in offering up the two women inside the house as substitutes, the
two stories use similar phrases.
In the story of Lot, the host says,“do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto
these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof ” (Gen.
19:8). And in this later story the host says, “do with them what seemeth good unto
you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing” ( Judg. 19:24).
Both stories feature a phrase telling the sinful men to do what is “good” with the
woman. This phrase is also linked to a request that the men not violate the principle
of hospitality.
Consider how many touchpoints the two stories have:
1. A religious figure (angel/priest) approaches an evil city;
2. A townsman offers the guest his hospitality and gives him a meal of bread;
3. While in the host’s residence, men of the town demand that the religious figure
come out so that they can“know him,” i.e., sexually force themselves upon him;
4. The host pleads that the townspeople should respect the right of hospitality and
offers up two women as an alternative, telling the intruders to do what seems
“good” with them;
5. A female companion dies;
6. A city is destroyed, with smoke rising high into the sky;
7. The act of destruction nearly wipes out the entire population of the city, with
only a handful of inhabitants escaping; and
8. At the conclusion of the stories, a special sexual arrangement with women other
than wives enables the escapees to preserve their line.
Such a close parallel between the two stories, including the occasional use of
almost identical phrases or story elements, indicates that both follow from a single leg-