8 Behold now, I have two daughters * * * * * 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 root
These men had come under the shadow of Lot's roof for protection, it
seems, and Lot felt that his honor demanded that he should shield them
even at the cost of the purity and safety of his own daughters! Do you
know I have always had a mild curiosity to know what his daughters were
under the shadow of his roof for. It could not have been for protection,
I judge, since Lot was one of God's best friends. He was on all sorts of
intimate terms with the Deity--knew things were going to happen before
they came--was the only man good enough to save from a doomed city--the
only one whose acts pleased God; and this act seems to have been
particularly satisfactory. These men were "angels of God" who required
this infamy for their protection! If it takes all the honor out of a man
when he gets to be an angel, they may use my wings for a feather-duster.
Now here is a little property law. Num. xxvii.: