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From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Sodom
Message-ID: <3981@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 12-Mar-85 12:30:24 EST
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.3981
Posted: Tue Mar 12 12:30:24 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 15-Mar-85 01:33:26 EST
References: <362@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP> <863@ames.UUCP>
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Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
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In article <863@ames.UUCP> barry@ames.UUCP (Kenn Barry) writes:

>>    "They called to Lot, `Where are the men who came to you
>>    tonight?  Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with
>>    them.'" (NIV)

>	It's less clear in other translations. The RSV says "And they
>called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them
>out to us, that we may know them.'". And the King James also says "know
>them" rather than "have sex with them". A bit more ambiguous, I would
>say.

The verb "know" is the typical KJV euphemism for "have sex".  Seeing as how
the NIV is a fundamentalist bible, one would expect it to be more aggressive
about bringing this point out.  My Jerusalem has the following:

  Calling to Lot they said, "Where are the men who came to you tonight?
  Send them out to us that we may abuse them."

with the following note:

  The unnatural vice that takes its name from this incident was condemned by
  the israelites though it was common among their neighbors.  However,
  underlying the story is a horror of the double offense of such behavior
  towards angels (as the "men" are revealed to be), and the breach of the law
  of hospitality would also be considered serious.

This would explain why Lot would rather have them ravage his daughters rather
than let them abuse his guests.

Charley Wingate   umcp-cs!mangoe