Behavior of Lot’s Daughters

The Aish Rabbi Replies

It’s a very good question. It does seem that at the time the daughters did not know about the rest of the world. The Midrash writes that they assumed the entire world had been destroyed again – as had occurred only a few centuries earlier at the Flood (Bereishis Rabbah 51:8, brought in Rashi to v. 31). This time, so they thought, it was a “flood” of fire rather than water (Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, v. 31). So apparently, Lot’s daughters were relatively young and did not know anything about the world beyond the destruction before them – and so they sincerely believed this was the only way to rebuild the world after the destruction (see Bereishis Rabbah 51:10 and R’ Bachya, v. 30). (It seems clear that they did realize their error shortly after, as they never attempted to have more children with their father after bearing their two sons.)

What about the nearby city of Zoar – which they surely knew was spared because of their father’s request – and which in fact they themselves lived in before moving on to a mountain? Several commentators explain that Lot and his family assumed Zoar was given only a very temporary reprieve – giving Lot and his family a place to rest before moving away entirely (see Ramban, Rashbam, Chizkunu, & Sforno to v. 30, Malbim to v. 20). Alternatively, they assumed Zoar was given a short-term reprieve because it was not quite as old as the other cities of the metropolis and so not quite as sinful, but as soon as it would reach the depravity of Sodom, it too would be destroyed (see Radak and Gur Aryeh to v. 30, Ohr HaChaim to v. 20). (That was possibly Lot’s meaning when he claimed the city is “small” – i.e., small in sin – see Talmud Shabbat 10b and Rashi to v. 20).

In fact, it would be hard to believe that God permanently spared an entire city just because of wicked Lot’s request. Even Abraham’s powerful intercession with God was not able to save Sodom. More likely, Lot was only able to secure a very temporary delay to Zoar’s destruction – based on his claim that fleeing immediately to the hills was too much for him.

Along these lines, there is an opinion in the Midrash that even though the angel allowed Lot to flee to Zoar, its inhabitants were not spared. Although the city was not physically overturned as the other cities (see v. 25), the other effects of the destruction – the fire and sulfur – did affect them (see similarly Mizrachi, Gur Aryeh and Malbim to v. 30). Thus, as far as his daughters knew, no one survived the destruction of Sodom.

Other commentators maintain that Lot’s daughters did know people still existed in the world at large, but they felt that given their circumstances, they had no realistic marriage options. Sforno explains that the daughters realized no one was still alive in their environs. And since their father was elderly and not likely to travel, there was no hope of their seeking more distant spouses. R’ Yosef Kara writes that having just lived in Sodom, which God destroyed because of its wickedness, they felt no one would be willing to marry them given their sinful roots. In addition, their father was old and unlikely to marry again himself. They thus felt their only option of continuing the family line was with their father (see similarly Malbim, v. 31).

Interestingly, the Sages see the behavior of Lot’s daughters in not an especially unfavorable light – as despite their extreme behavior, they did truly believe there was no one else to populate the world and something had to be done. In fact, King David descended from the older daughter, through Ruth the Moabite. See here for a longer discussion of this.