In desperation, Lot’s daughters commit incest with their father. What are the consequences? One child that is born is named Moab, the ancestor of Ruth and the Davidic line of the Messiah. Other descendants are the Moabite women who seduce the Israelites in the Wilderness for idolatry, necessitating the zealot Pinchas’s extrajudicial public slaughter of Zimri and Cozbi. The narrative line is deeply complex and contradictory.
Kindness
2014 24" X 24"
Abraham's nephew Lot decided to live in the cruel city of Sodom, where it was unlawful to offer kindness to any needy person. One of Lot's daughters had pity on a poor stranger, offering him food. (Midrash)
Punishment
2014 24" X 24"
The city of Sodom punished the kind girl by tying her naked to the city wall and smearing her with honey, causing bees to sting her to death. Her cries prompted God's decision to destroy Sodom. (Midrash)
Men of Sodom & Lot’s Wife & Daughters
2014 24" X 24"
Angels were sent to rescue Lot and his family from the destruction. Lot invited them to spend the night and men of Sodom congregated outside of his house, demanding he send out "the men" (angels) so that they could rape them. Trying to avoid this, Lot suggested to send out his virgin daughter instead. (Genesis 19:4-8)
Salted Mrs. Lot
2014 24" X 24"
Fleeing the burning city of Sodom, Lot and his family were told not to look back. Fearing for the safety of her other children and family who refused to leave, Mrs. Lot turned to look back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
(Genesis 19:23-26 & Midrash)
Hop on Pop
2014 24" X 24"
Lot and his two remaining daughters fled and rested for the night. The daughters feared that all the men in the world had been killed in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In desperation they plied their father with wine and had relations with him to propagate their family. (Genesis 19:30-36)Doctor’s Office
2014 24" X 24"
Lot realizes what he has done and despairs that his daughters will bear his children. One child was named Ammon, the father of the Ammonite people; and the other was named Moab, ancestor of the Moabites. (Genesis 19:37-38)
Jew Worshiping Before Midianite Woman
2014 24" X 24"
Once the evil prophet Balaam was unable to curse the Jewish people in the Wilderness, he plotted to destroy them by offering the sexual favors of the Moabite women and seducing the Jewish men to worship an idol. (Numbers 25:1-3)
Ruth Approaches Boaz
2014 24" X 24"
Ruth was a Moabite princess who bravely decided to join the Jewish people. Cleaving to her mother-in-law Naomi and returning to Israel with her, she helped her claim her ancestral heritage by aggressively reminding Naomi's kinsman Boaz of his duty as redeemer. She surprised him in the dark of night as he guarded his wheat harvest. She married the older man and bore his child, Obed, father of Jesse who was the father of David, King of Israel. (Ruth 3:3-16)