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Genesis 19

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Angels Visit Lot in Sodom 1–3

1
And the two angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth; ​
2
and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn aside, 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 way. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. ​
3
And he urged 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.

The Wickedness of Sodom Exposed 4–11

4
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;
5
and they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men that came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. ​
6
And Lot went out unto them to the door, and shut the door after him.
7
And he said, I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly.
8
Behold now, I have two daughters that 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, forasmuch as they are come under the shadow of my roof. ​
9
And they said, Stand back. And they said, 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 drew near to break the door.
10
But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
11
And 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. ​

Warning and Impending Judgment 12–14

12
And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of the place:
13
for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before Jehovah; and Jehovah hath sent us to destroy it. ​
14
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for Jehovah will destroy the city. But he seemed unto his sons-in-law as one that mocked. ​

The Escape to Zoar 15–23

15
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are here, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16
But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, Jehovah being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. ​
17
And 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. ​
18
And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my lord:
19
behold now, thy servant hath found favor in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy lovingkindness, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die:
20
behold 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. ​
21
And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken.
22
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. ​
23
The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came unto Zoar.

Destruction of the Cities of the Plain 24–29

24
Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven; ​
25
and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
26
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. ​
27
And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Jehovah:
28
and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
29
And 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 which Lot dwelt. ​

Lot and His Daughters: Origin of Moab and Ammon 30–38

30
And 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. ​
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 bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. ​
38
And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 19

Verse 1

two angels — Malak, messenger. They are the 'men' who 'went toward Sodom' while Abraham stood before the LORD (Gen 18:22). Lot 'sat in the gate' (shaar), the place of public business, as Boaz sat at the gate in Ruth 4:1. He rises and bows with his face to the ground; Heb 13:2 says 'some have entertained angels unawares'.

Verse 2

wash your feet — Lot's offer echoes Abraham's at Mamre: 'Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet' (Gen 18:4). 'Turn in' is sur, to turn aside. The visitors answer, 'we will abide in the street', the open square (rechob); in Judg 19:20 the old man in Gibeah likewise says, 'only lodge not in the street'.

Verse 5

that we may know them — Yada, to know; v.8 uses the same verb of daughters who 'have not known man', so it means sexual relations here. Jude 7 speaks of Sodom and the cities about it 'giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh'. At Gibeah the cry is the same: 'Bring forth the man… that we may know him' (Judg 19:22).

Verse 8

the shadow of my roof — 'Shadow' is tsel, covering: a guest under the roof is under the host's protection. 'Known man' is the verb of the men's demand in v.5. The text records the offer without commending it, and the visitors answer by pulling Lot inside and shutting the door (v.10). Judg 19:24 records a like offer at Gibeah.

Verse 11

with blindness — Sanverim, a word found only here and in 2 Kgs 6:18, where Elisha prays, 'Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness'. In both places it falls on men who come against the LORD's servants; there it is lifted when the LORD 'opened their eyes' (2 Kgs 6:20). Here, though 'both small and great', they 'wearied themselves' (lah) to find the door.

Verse 13

the cry of them is waxen great — Tsa'aqah, a cry of distress, the word of the LORD's own statement in Gen 18:21, 'according to the cry of it, which is come unto me'. 'Destroy' is shachath, the verb of Abraham's plea (18:28, 31, 32), and the visitors now say the LORD 'hath sent us to destroy it'.

Verse 14

as one that mocked — Tsachaq, to laugh or make sport, the verb of Sarah's laughter at the promise (Gen 18:12–15). Lot's warning, 'the LORD will destroy this city', is received as a jest by his sons in law. The account records no more of them: they are not among those brought out (v.16).

Verse 16

the LORD being merciful unto him — Chemlah, pity, which the KJV has only here and in Isa 63:9, 'in his pity he redeemed them'. 'Lingered' is mahah, to hesitate. The men take hold of the hands of Lot, his wife and his two daughters and set them 'without the city': the rescue is their act, grounded in the LORD's pity.

Verse 17

look not behind thee — Nabat, to look: the verb returns in v.26, where Lot's wife 'looked back'. The 'plain' is the kikkar, the district of the cities, and the way out is 'to the mountain'. Christ takes up the warning: 'Remember Lot's wife' (Luke 17:32), and the one in the field 'let him likewise not return back' (17:31).

Verse 20

a little one — Mits'ar, small, comes from the same root as the city's name: Zoar (Tsoar) is 'little' (v.22). Lot has just said he 'cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me' (v.19), and asks for the nearby city instead. The reply in v.21 grants it: 'I have accepted thee concerning this thing also'.

Verse 22

I cannot do any thing — The judgment waits until Lot is safe in Zoar. Peter calls him 'just Lot' and says 'The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations' (2 Pet 2:7, 9). The city was earlier named Bela (Gen 14:2); it is 'called Zoar' (Tsoar, little) from the plea of v.20.

Verse 24

brimstone and fire — Gophrit, sulphur, the portion of judgment named again in Ps 11:6 and Ezek 38:22. 'The LORD rained… from the LORD out of heaven': the name stands twice in the one verse. Christ recalls the day: 'it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all' (Luke 17:29). Deut 29:23 couples Admah and Zeboim with Sodom and Gomorrah.

Verse 26

a pillar of salt — She 'looked back' with the same verb, nabat, as the warning of v.17. Netsiv means something set up; the KJV renders it 'garrison' elsewhere (1 Sam 13:3), and 'pillar' only here. 'Remember Lot's wife' (Luke 17:32) is Christ's own reference to her, set within his warning about the day of the Son of man.

Verse 29

God remembered Abraham — Zakar, to remember, the verb of 'God remembered Noah' (Gen 8:1), and it is a remembering that acts. The verse gives Abraham as the reason Lot was sent out of 'the overthrow' (haphekah), after Abraham asked, 'Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?' (18:23). Peter says God 'delivered just Lot' (2 Pet 2:7).

Verse 30

dwelt in a cave — Lot goes up to 'the mountain', which he had declined in vv.17–19, and leaves Zoar, the city he had asked for, 'for he feared to dwell in Zoar'. 'Feared' is yare. He had once 'pitched his tent toward Sodom' (Gen 13:12); now he lives in a cave (me'arah) with his two daughters.

Verse 32

preserve seed — The daughters' reason is given in v.31: 'there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth'. 'Preserve' is chayah, to keep alive, the verb of Lot's 'my soul shall live' in v.20. They give their father wine; v.33 says he 'perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose'.

Verse 37

Moab — The name means 'from the father'. The Moabites remain 'unto this day', and the LORD told Israel not to distress them, 'because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot' (Deut 2:9); yet 'An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD' (Deut 23:3). Ruth 'the Moabitess' (Ruth 1:22) is named in Christ's line (Matt 1:5).

Verse 38

Benammi — Ben-ammi, 'son of my people', and from him come 'the children of Ammon'. Israel was told of the Ammonites, 'distress them not… because I have given it unto the children of Lot' (Deut 2:19). Rehoboam's mother was 'Naamah an Ammonitess' (1 Kgs 14:21), so Ammon appears in the line of Judah's kings.