A question for the very learned in Bible Scripture...?

Question

Shalom Aleichem/Peace be unto you.

Greetings to you,

I was reading this Bible passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen.%2019:30-32;&version=31; , and I wondered what the older daughter meant by "as is the custom all over the earth." Do you know the answer to that question?

Thank you very much in advance for answering.

Answer 1

a better translation from the Hebrew will be:

"as the way of the world" (the original uses the word way rather than custom) and it simply means "the way such thing is done everywhere"

Answer 2

It refers to procreation.

The daughters were trying to justify having children through  their father.  Of course, they happened to be the best people in Sodom, so they were spared the fire and brimstone.