Genesis 19

Two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, and he bowed down with his face toward the ground.

1And 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;

Note"Angels" translates a Hebrew word that simply means "messengers"; these are two of the three visitors who came to Abraham in the previous chapter. The gateway was not just a door but a broad structure with benches where a town's leading men sat to trade, settle disputes and hear cases. Lot sitting there suggests he had taken some place among the men of Sodom, though verse 9 shows they still counted him an outsider.

2He said, "Please, my lords, turn aside into your servant's house. Stay the night and wash your feet. Then you can get up early and go on your way." They said, "No, we will spend the night in the street."

2And 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.

NoteWashing a guest's feet was the first courtesy owed to a traveler who had walked dusty roads in open sandals. The "street" the visitors propose is the open square just inside the city gate, where travelers with no host would ordinarily bed down for the night.

3But he urged them strongly, and they turned aside to him and went into his house. He made them a feast and baked bread without yeast, and they ate.

3And 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.

NoteBread without yeast needs no hours to rise, so it was what a host baked when a meal had to be put together at once. The word behind "feast" is a Hebrew term for a banquet with drinking.

4Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both old and young, all the people from every part of the city.

4But 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:

5They called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them."

5And 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.

NoteThe King James "that we may know them" is a literal rendering of a Hebrew verb regularly used as a euphemism for sexual intercourse. The demand is made by the assembled men of the town against strangers under another man's protection.

6Lot went out the door to them and shut the door behind him.

6And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

7He said, "Please, my brothers, do not do such a wicked thing."

7And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

8"Look, I have two daughters who have never had sex with a man. Please let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever seems good to you. Only do nothing to these men, since they have come under the shelter of my roof."

8Behold 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.

NoteA host who had taken travelers under his roof was bound by the customs of the time to protect them at any cost to himself and his household. "Under the shadow of my roof" is a set phrase for the claim a guest has on his host. The narrator reports Lot's offer without saying whether it was right.

9They said, "Stand back." And they said again, "This one man came here as an outsider to stay a while, and now he insists on being a judge. Now we will treat you worse than them." They pushed hard against the man, against Lot, and came close to breaking the door.

9And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

NoteLot is a resident alien: a foreigner allowed to live in the city but without a citizen's standing. That is the force of the crowd's complaint, an outsider who came to "sojourn" (stay temporarily) has no right to sit in judgment on them.

10But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and they shut the door.

10But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11And they struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out trying to find the door.

11And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

Note"Small and great" is an idiom for everyone, of every rank and age. The Hebrew word for this blindness is rare (it appears elsewhere only in 2 Kings 6, of an army struck with confused sight) and suggests a dazzled, disorienting blur rather than ordinary loss of vision.

12The men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here? A son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, anyone you have in the city, bring them out of this place,

12And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

13because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it."

13For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.

Note"The cry" is the Hebrew term for the shout of people who have been wronged and are calling for help; it is the standard word for a victim's appeal for justice. What has reached God is an outcry against the city, not the city's own noise.

14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters. He said, "Get up, get out of this place, because the LORD is going to destroy this city." But to his sons-in-law he seemed like a man who was joking.

14And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

NoteThe Hebrew can mean either that these men had already married Lot's daughters or that they were pledged to marry them. Betrothal was legally binding and a betrothed man was already called a son-in-law, which is why translations differ here; only two daughters leave with Lot in verse 15.

15When morning came, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished for its wickedness."

15And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "iniquity" covers both a wrong done and the punishment that follows it, so the phrase can be read as "swept away in the city's guilt" or "swept away in the city's punishment."

16And while he hesitated, the men took hold of his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him. They brought him out and set him outside the city.

16And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17When they had brought them outside, he said, "Run for your life. Do not look behind you, and do not stop anywhere on the plain. Escape to the mountain, or you will be swept away."

17And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

NoteThe Hebrew shifts from two speakers to a single "he" here without saying who. Readers have taken the speaker either as one of the two messengers or as the LORD speaking through them; the text leaves it open.

18Lot said to them, "Oh, not that, my lord!

18And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD:

NoteThe word Lot uses is the Hebrew title *adonai*, "my lord" or "my lords", used both for a human superior and for God. The King James prints it in capitals, resolving an ambiguity the Hebrew keeps open.

19Look, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great mercy by saving my life. But I cannot escape to the mountain; some harm may overtake me, and I will die.

19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

Note"To find grace in your sight" is the ordinary idiom for receiving goodwill from someone with power over you, the way a subject speaks to a king.

20Look, this town is near enough to run to, and it is a small one. Please let me escape there (is it not a small one?) and my life will be spared."

20Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

21He said to him, "See, I have granted you this request too: I will not overthrow the town you have spoken about.

21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

22Hurry, escape there, because I cannot do anything until you get there." That is why the town was named Zoar.

22Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

NoteThe name Zoar sounds like the Hebrew word for "small" or "trifling", the very word Lot uses twice in verse 20 when he pleads that the town is only a little one.

23The sun had risen over the land when Lot came into Zoar.

23The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24Then the LORD rained burning sulfur and fire on Sodom and on Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens.

24Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

Note"Brimstone" is the older English word for sulfur, which burns with a choking smell. Sodom and Gomorrah are placed in the plain at the southern end of the Dead Sea, a region with surface deposits of sulfur, bitumen and salt. The Hebrew repeats "the LORD" where English would expect "himself"; the doubling is in the original and has been explained in various ways.

25He overthrew those cities and the whole plain, and all the people living in the cities, and everything that grew on the ground.

25And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

Note"Overthrew" translates a Hebrew verb meaning to turn a thing upside down. It becomes the fixed word elsewhere in the Bible for what happened to these cities.

26But his wife, who was behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

NoteThe southern end of the Dead Sea is fringed with salt formations, including a ridge of rock salt still called Mount Sodom, where eroded pillars have long been pointed out to travelers as Lot's wife. The King James "from behind him" may mean she was walking behind Lot, or simply that she looked back the way they had come.

27Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

27And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:

NoteThe place is the spot in the previous chapter where Abraham stood arguing with the LORD over how many righteous people it would take to spare the city.

28He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.

28And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the middle of the destruction, when he overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

29And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

NoteIn Hebrew, for God to "remember" someone does not mean recalling something forgotten; it means acting on that person's behalf. The verse credits Lot's escape to Abraham.

30Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave, he and his two daughters.

30And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31The firstborn daughter said to the younger one, "Our father is old, and there is no man on earth to come in to us, the way it is done all over the earth.

31And the firstborn 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:

NoteThe King James "come in unto us" is a literal rendering of a Hebrew euphemism for sexual relations. The word translated "earth" also means "land" or "region," so the daughters may mean that no men are left alive anywhere, or only that there are none in the area where they are now hiding.

32Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will sleep with him, so we can keep our father's family line going."

32Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

Note"Preserve seed" means keeping the family line alive by producing children. A man with no descendants had no one to inherit his land or carry his name, and women with no husband and no sons had neither standing nor support; the daughters give this as their reason.

33So that night they made their father drink wine, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

33And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

34The next day the firstborn said to the younger one, "Look, last night I slept with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and sleep with him, so we can keep our father's family line going."

34And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn 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.

35So that night they made their father drink wine again, and the younger one got up and slept with him. He did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

35And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

36So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

36Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

37The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites, who are still here today.

37And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

Note"Moab" closely resembles the Hebrew phrase meaning "from the father," and the story is told so that the reader hears that echo. The Moabites lived east of the Dead Sea and were near neighbors, and often enemies, of Israel.

38The younger one also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the people of Ammon, who are still here today.

38And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

Note"Ben-ammi" means "son of my kinsman" or "son of my people." The Ammonites lived east of the Jordan, north of Moab; the name of their chief city survives today as Amman.