Incest in the Bible

Most of us are taught that Incest is a sin. That god outlawed it. But the fact is, I cannot find a single passages which backs up this belief.

God tells us that we should not lie with another man's wife. But nowhere does it say anything about our daughters. If you read the Old Testament you will find a multitude of scripture describing who you may not take as a bed partner, but there is a conspicuous lack of mention of daughters.

In fact, there are passages which tell of daughters that have gotten themselves pregnant by their father, while he slept.

GEN 19

31 And the first-born said unto the younger: 'Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.' 33 And they made their father drink wine that night. And the first-born went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the first-born said unto the younger: 'Behold, I lay yesternight with my father. Let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.' 35 And they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. 37 And the first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab--the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. 38 And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi--the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. {

God does not punish these two girls. In fact, the next passages mention nothing more about it. It is funny that of all the passages in the Bible, God has absolutely nothing to say about this act.

There is a sense, however, that the person writing this story finds some slight moral dilemma concerning this, but he is more concerned with discretion than anything else. It is said that Lot was drunk, and knew nothing of either encounter. Are we to believe such a story?

If there were no men around, how did he think his daughters got pregnant? Are we to believe he was so drunk that he didn't know what he was doing? How many times have we heard that one before?

Here then, is law as set forth by God concerning who and what you may not sleep with. You will notice that there is a suspicious lack of mention concerning daughters.

LEV 20:

10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 And the man that lieth with his father's wife--he hath uncovered his father's nakedness--both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. 12 And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have wrought corruption; their blood shall be upon them. 13 And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. 14 And if a man take with his wife also her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you. 15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death; and ye shall slay the beast. 16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. 17 And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness: it is a shameful thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity. 18 And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness--he hath made naked her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood--both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister; for he hath made naked his near kin; they shall bear their iniquity. 20 And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife--he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness--they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is impurity: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.

The laws are all varied according the severity of the crime committed. Some punishments seem rather light in comparison to others of a very similar nature. Yet as we see in these passages, there is no mention of the father/daughter relationship. As we also saw in the story of Lot. No punishment was received by the daughters who impregnated themselves by their father. In fact, they were made the mothers of two new lines that thrived.

Rape is not spoken of in the Bible. It seems to be the males right to take a woman and make her his wife, even if it is against her will. We see proof of this in Numbers, where the laws concerning the taking of beautiful woman that were left over in battle were given.

Throughout history it has been common practice that a daughter should take the place of the mother in all ways, if the mother is incapacitated. The reason given has always been that if the man did not obtain sex at home, he would go elsewhere and usually take his paycheck with him.

My own mother went to school with a girl in this very position in pre-war Europe. The church knew about the arrangement as did the school and all the neighbours. Many pitied her, but since the family had little recourse as there was no welfare or child protective services, the father was not chastised for his actions.

It is not a law given by the Bible, but we must assume by the omission of any law whatsoever $6 concerning the father/daughter relationship that this practice is overlooked, if not sanctioned by God.

In fact, it is well known that if the bible were a true account of history that at least twice incest was the only possible way mankind could have survived and thrived. The first is the story of Adam and Eve and the second is the story of Noah after the flood. Brothers and sisters would have had to have come together because there was no one else according to the bible.

Perhaps we can say that there were others since Cain had to get a wife from somewhere and left his home to get her. That would be interesting in that then one could say that the story of Adam and Eve is about the first Hebrews, not the first people. Or perhaps that god created others but Adam and Eve were first. We might even consider that original sin would not have been universal if there were others.

But in light of a flood that wiped everyone out the point is moot. There is no other way but incest for Noah and his family. But that presents a problem in that we know that genetics degrade if you keep mating with family members. Divine intervention for special periods of time anyone?

We see by these passages, that our own morality has evolved beyond that of the bible. Today, rape is a crime, and all forms of incest have been outlawed. We know it still goes on, but we also know that daughters can, and do, suffer severe mental trauma at the hands of their fathers.

Our empathy has brought us to believe that god outlawed incest in all forms, but that is clearly not the case. Humanity has come out against the practice, and that to me, says a lot about the human mind. It proves that we are more than capable of finding our own morality, and refining it. There is no god required for this