Genesis 19:1-8

1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and 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.

This is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot is deemed to be the only good man in the two cities, and Yahweh decides to spare him. When angels come to visit Lot and destroy Sodom, he takes them to his house. When a crowd comes to sodomize the angels, Lot offers up his virgin daughters in their place.

The angels do strike the would-be rapists with blindness, and the deed does not get done. However, the fact remains that the only person of the two cities that Yahweh deems a good person is willing to allow his daughters to be raped by a mob of men from a city so foul that Yahweh deemed they must be destroyed. These are supposedly some of the worst guys ever, yet Lot offers his daughters to them.

I do not have any respect for a man who would offer his daughters to be raped. I would rather fight the entire city to the death than allow any daughters of mine to be raped, and I would imagine that any decent father would do the same. This man, who had the favor of Yahweh, is a vile and pitiful excuse for a man. Is this the best that Yahweh could find? It might be appropriate for him to simply destroy the lot, Lot included.

Numbers 31:17-18

17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

This is a simple story laid out in the Book of Numbers, chapter 31. Yahweh commands Moses to gather an army and destroy the Midianites. He gathers 12,000 men to destroy this city. They kill every man, take everything of value, and burn their homes to the ground. They take the women, children, and goods to Moses. Then, he tells them to kill all but the virgin girls, which they were to keep for themselves.

While Yahweh did not specifically command that Moses take the virgin girls, he did condone it. He demands that a portion of the spoils, including the virgins be sacrificed to him. Is this something that a good god would demand? Is this something that a good god would even allow to happen?

Moses, under the command of Yahweh, destroys an entire city, kills all but the virgin girls, sacrifices a portion of them to Yahweh, then allows all others to be divided up amongst the Israelites. Yahweh and Moses obviously have no respect for human life and even less respect for women.

Deuteronomy 22:22-27

22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
23 If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
24 Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.
25 But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die.
26 But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:
27 For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

Very plainly, this law suggests that the law giver does not understand how rape works. Firstly, it suggests that a wife raped is the same an adulterous wife. Then, that a wife-to-be is more important than a woman who is not betrothed, as the man is not put to death for defiling such a virgin. In fact, the only things considered immoral in these texts is the defiling of another man’s wife or wife-to-be. This suggests that the law giver believed women to be the property of men.

On the topic of the mechanics of rape, this ancient and short-sighted law does not take into account the possible reasons a woman might have for refraining to cry out. It completely disregards the woman’s ability or inability to fight back or cry out for help and suggests that her mere proximity to other people would render her able to let her assailant’s actions be known. This is not always the case. With this in mind, it is painfully obvious that the author cared more for the property of men than for the well-being of women.

Deuteronomy 22:13-21

13 If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her,
14 And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:
15 Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate:
16 And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her;
17 And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.
18 And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;
19A nd they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.
20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:
21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

According to this passage, it is more shameful for a man to defame a virgin than to rape a virgin. In this instance, the man pays 100 shekels of silver to the woman’s father. In the Book of Deuteronomy chapter 22, verses 28-29, the man only pays fifty shekels for the rape of a virgin.

Additionally, any woman who has sex before she is married may be stoned to death on her father’s doorstep. As it is a common practice among people from many nations to engage in the practice of trying before buying and indeed have premarital sex, this little-known Biblical law is rarely if ever enforced, with the notable exceptions of certain third-world and third-rate countries.

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

28 If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;
29 Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

According to this passage, a man may rape a virgin and as punishment for violating her, he must pay fifty shekels of silver to her father. This implies that women are property to be sought and traded, and that a virgin is only worth fifty shekels, which is approximately 0.6 kg. Then, he must never divorce her.

Deuteronomy chapter 22 is full of laws devoted to various things, including sexual morality. Not surprisingly, it seems as if the rights of women are never even considered in this passage. If the man obeys the law and indeed pays for and marries her, she will never be able to divorce him. Luckily, this man doesn’t seem like the type to obey the law, since he’s a rapist in the first place.

Even if he refuses, there is no suggestion as to what the man’s punishment might be. Judging by the rest of Deuteronomy, it seems that stoning may be an acceptable punishment. Even if that is the case, the rapist can easily escape death by marrying his victim.

It has been suggested that the words lay hold on her and lie with her do not necessarily mean rape. However, if you read the entire chapter, we can see other laws that refer to sexual morality and use even less violent language to suggest forceful sex. The words “lay hold” is often used in the King James Bible to suggest forcefulness. Upon researching other translations of this verse, we find that the term rape is the most commonly used, followed by lay hold and lie with and seize and lie with, all of which suggest force. Even if this verse doesn’t specifically mention rape, it works just as well for rape as it does for consensual sex. In addition, it would protect lovers and predators alike.