Welcome to the second part in which I'm covering Genesis 19:4-9
What follows next are some of the most misunderstood verses in comedy, which tragically have resulted in millions of deaths. I believe that at times through history, translators have deliberately tried to obscure the true meaning for political purposes. Then as people were wiped out, confirmation and cultural bias mixed with translator ideology have given us our three main religions today. The Torah is comedy,satire and parody. It also contains what today we'd call Hip Hop lyrics and tales presented pretty much how we enjoy Game Of Thrones today. Torah doesn't mean Law as in a set of rules to follow, but as suggested by it's root (a straight flow).
Torah is FLOW.
The Torah, I believe refers to charcters that were already known. It also refers to places and customs that would've been apparent. However, what we have today is the comedic version.
Just as Hip Hop artists and stand up comedians flow today.
At this point, I also want to add that I hate anti- semitism, islamaphobia, racism, homophobia and and transphobia. I don't want any of this being used against people in an unkind way. I'm very aware that this will be distressing for lots of people.
I've chosen Sodom and Gomorrah to start with as it contains the actual comedic structure as highlighted in the key - as well as a ton of double-entendres. Remember, this was written by the people for the people. It is a book sending up and parodying organised religion. However, what shines through is it's warmth. It's also massively important for us empaths to understand that it's the energy techniques that are under the stories which are the highest level manifestation techniques.
The Word Of God is the Vibration Of God, not the actual words in the book.
At times in history when the people rose up they were quashed and this book was then put into the hands of an elite who were the only people to have access to it and who decided what interpretation was allowed. There are massive periods of oppression. The last uprising of the people took place at the time of Jesus. The movement seems to have been totally squashed with the arrival of Constantine, when once again it becomes a psy- op and control system, switching the interpretation from criticism of authority to moral condemnation of the people. Instead of a source of inspiration for the people, it's turned into a form of mental slavery. With women and the LGBTQI community being scapegoated, and Empaths being consigned to myth.
So here we go with Verse 4. in the NIV version.
"Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city - both young and old - surrounded the house."
Except that's not what the original biblical Hebrew says.
The original says,
Before they had bedded down (it's a much funnier verb and has a sexual implication), THE ARMY - both young and old (meaning in this context) THE WHOLE, ENTIRE ARMY - surrounded the house.
The direct translation so that in English it would make sense is
"Before they had bedded down, the army - from every part of the city of Sodom - the whole lot of them! - surrounded the house. "
Verse 5
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."
This is a mistranslation and I'll explain why.
Yada has three different meanings in this story. It means 'to know - as in to perceive', yada - to interrogate and yada - to have sex with. It forms the basis of the comedy for the major callback.
This is the Sodomite Army who are afraid that Lot's guests are criminals or terrorists. They want to yada - interrogate them.
Because this is comedy, Lot (whose name means veiled, as in the hidden, veiled meaning- or the double entendre , or pun as it is in the context of a joke) replies with a joke in verse 6-7. He deliberately misunderstands them.
"6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him, (7) and said, " No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing (8) Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you , and you can do what you like with them. "
So Lot being a punster/a joker pretends that instead of yada - to interrogate, they mean yada to have sex with. In the original Hebrew it doesn't say that he has two daughters that he will bring out as in bring out of the house, but as in 'present'. Also notice that Lot doesn't refer to his daughters as virgins. That's because in this story they are already married and not in the house to begin with. (I'll explain that bit later.)
"But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."
We're back to another joke and double entendre, - 'they have come under the protection of my roof'. Roof is also slang for erection. That's why we have the prostitute Rahab going up to the roof of the spies, and David 'walking on the King's roof when he sees Bathsheba' (it's implying that he's masturbating which is why he had an erection, or arose from his bed).
How do we know that the Sodomite Army wanted to interrogate and not have sex with the guests?
By their response in verse 9.
"Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them."
OK - let me break this sentence down.
"This fellow came here as an alien" - they are calling Lot an immigrant and fellow is what today we'd call an idiot or a joker.
"Play the judge" - to play the judge means that Lot is accusing them of being immoral. In this case he's joking that they're rapists. And it's comedy. Remember, he's the one that solicited them in the first place.
It's worth knowing that the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah would've considered themselves moral and upstanding citizens. Where they went astray was their terrible treatment of the poor and outsiders. In behaving this way they had inadvertantly built a wall between themselves and God, so they were destroyed.
So the main points are, Lot's house is surrounded by the army. The army want to YADA - interrogate the guests. Lot (whose name means pun) jokes that they want to YADA - have sex with his guests. He jokingly offers to present his daughters (who are not in the house) to them instead. The army are really insulted and refer to Lot as a fellow, which means joker and remind him that he's an immigrant.
Here is an excerpt from an amazing academic thesis that Randall C. Bailey did. He introduced me to the term translator ideology. Though he's unable to see this as comedy- he does a great job identifying that it is the army surrounding the house as a military tactic, wanting to interrogate the spies.
"The Hebrew root, סבב ,means to surround. In Josh 6:3-4 we read,
3You shall march around (סבב (the city, all the warriors circling the
city once. Thus you shall do for six days, 4 with seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh
day you shall march around the city seven times, the priests blowing
the trumpets.
The word סבב is a military term for engagement for battle.49 In Judg 16:2 we
read,
The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” So they circled
around [ סבב [and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They
kept quiet all night, thinking, “Let us wait until the light of the
morning; then we will kill him.”
Here's an excerpt-
Similarly, the Hebrew word עם can be translated either as people or
army,
52 for example Exod 14:5-6:
5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the
minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people,
and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” 6 So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army [עם[
with him; 53
In Exod 17:13 עם refers to the army: “And Joshua defeated Amalek and his
people [עם [with the sword.”54 Similarly, in Num 31:32 עם is coupled with
another military term referencing soldiers: “The booty remaining from the spoil
that the troops [הצבא עם [had taken totalled six hundred seventy-five thousand
sheep.”55 "