פירוש על בראשית 19:36

ותהרין וגו AND THEY BECAME PREGNANT, ETC. — Even though a woman does not become pregnant from the first intercourse, these [women] mastered themselves and took out their hymens; and they became pregnant from the first intercourse (Genesis Rabbah 51:9).

ותהרין, they each became pregnant as a result of one sexual union with their aging father. As soon as they became aware of this, they desisted from further such contact with their father.

These did it with themselves... שלטו means “had relations,” since לרבעה is translated by Onkelos as למשלט. In other words, they “had relations with themselves” and removed their virginity [beforehand. This enabled them to conceive]. This is the meaning of והוציאו ערותן לחוץ. Some versions of Rashi say והוציאו עדותן (“they removed their evidence”), which means the same. It refers to their virginity, which are the evidence they are virgins, as it is written (Devarim 22:17) אלה בתולי בתי, which Targum Yonasan explains as אלה עדות בתי.

ותהרין, “they became pregnant;” according to Rashi, this point is made by the Torah to show the miraculous intervention by G–d that although it is a natural law that a virgin does not become pregnant as a result of sleeping with a man for the first time, in this instance there was help from heaven. [If this had not been a firm conviction by earlier generations, all the documented stories about priests being the ones to deflower virgins before they were given to their respective husbands, would make no sense at all, as many such virgins would have given birth to children from such priests’ semen. Ed.] According to Bereshit rabbah 51,9 quoting Devarim 22,17, the words: ואלה בתולי בתי, “these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity,” are proof that Judaism does not accept the so-called principle accepted by the gentiles on this subject.

.ומהרין שתי בנות לוט, “the two daughters of Lot became pregnant;” According to Rashi, although normally virgins do not become pregnant from the first time they have carnal relations, these two girls had first removed their hymens, so as to enable them to conceive from the first intercourse with a male. [The author refers to an obscure Midrash, according to which the word ervah, used as synonym for genitals, is spelled with the letter ד instead of ר, i.e. instead of עדותן it should be ערותן as their “proof,” that they had been virgins prior to this. This is based on Deuteronomy 22,17 where the mother of a daughter whose newly wedded husband had accused her daughter of not entering marriage as a virgin by saying: “here is the proof that my daughter was a virgin when she married you.” Ed.] At any rate, Lot’s daughters, through tricks known to girls, contorted themselves in a manner that could serve them as “proof” that they had been innocent virgins up to that time.