Genesis 19
19
1 And the two Angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of the city. And when he had seen them, he rose up and went to meet them. And he reverenced prone on the ground.
2 And he said: "I beg you, my lords, turn aside to the house of your servant, and lodge there. Wash your feet, and in the morning you will advance on your way." And they said, "Not at all. But we will lodge in the street."
3 He pressed them very much to turn aside to him. And when they had entered his house, he made a feast for them, and he cooked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 But before they went to bed, the men of the city surrounded the house, from boys to old men, all the people together.
5 And they called out to Lot, and they said to him: "Where are the men who entered to you in the night? Bring them out here, so that we may know them."
6 Lot went out to them, and blocking the door behind him, he said:
7 "Do not, I ask you, my brothers, do not be willing to commit this evil.
8 I have two daughters who as yet have not known man. I will bring them out to you; abuse them as it pleases you, provided that you do no evil to these men, because they have entered under the shadow of my roof."
9 But they said, "Move away from there." And again: "You have entered," they said, "as a stranger; should you then judge? Therefore, we will afflict you yourself more than them." And they acted very violently against Lot. And they were now at the point of breaking open the doors.
10 And behold, the men put out their hand, and they pulled Lot in to them, and they closed the door.
11 And they struck those who were outside with blindness, from the least to the greatest, so that they were not able to find the door.
12 Then they said to Lot: "Do you have here anyone of yours? All who are yours, sons-in-law, or sons, or daughters, bring them out of this city.
13 For we will eliminate this place, because the outcry among them has increased before the Lord, who sent us to destroy them."
14 And so Lot, going out, spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to receive his daughters, and he said: "Rise up. Depart from this place. For the Lord will destroy this city." And it seemed to them that he was speaking playfully.
15 And when it was morning, the Angels compelled him, saying, "Arise, take your wife, and the two daughters that you have, lest you also should perish amid the wickedness of the city."
16 And, since he ignored them, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, as well as that of his two daughters, because the Lord was sparing him.
17 And they brought him out, and placed him beyond the city. And there they spoke to him, saying: "Save your life. Do not look not back. Neither should you stay in the entire surrounding region. But save yourself in the mountain, lest you also should perish."
18 And Lot said to them: "I beg you, my lord,
19 though your servant has found grace before you, and you have magnified your mercy, which you have shown to me in saving my life, I cannot be saved on the mountain, lest perhaps some misfortune take hold of me and I die.
20 There is a certain city nearby, to which I can flee; it is a little one, and I will be saved in it. Is it not a modest one, and will not my soul live?"
21 And he said to him: "Behold, even now, I have heard your petitions about this, not to overturn the city on behalf of which you have spoken.
22 Hurry and be saved there. For I cannot do anything until you enter there." For this reason, the name of that city is called Zoar.
23 The sun had risen over the land, and Lot had entered into Zoar.
24 Therefore, the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire, from the Lord, out of heaven.
25 And he overturned these cities, and all the surrounding region: all the inhabitants of the cities, and everything that springs from the land.
26 And his wife, looking behind herself, was turned into a statue of salt.
27 Then Abraham, rising up in the morning, in the place where he had stood before with the Lord,
28 looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and the entire land of that region. And he saw embers rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.
29 For when God overthrew the cities of that region, remembering Abraham, he freed Lot from the overthrow of the cities, in which he had dwelt.
30 And Lot ascended from Zoar, and he stayed on the mountain, and likewise his two daughters with him, (for he was afraid to stay in Zoar) and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
31 And the elder said to the younger: "Our father is old, and no man remains in the land who can enter to us according to the custom of the whole world.
32 Come, let us inebriate him with wine, and let us sleep with him, so that we may be able to preserve offspring from our father."
33 And so they gave their father wine to drink that night. And the elder went in, and she slept with her father. But he did not perceive it, neither when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.
34 Likewise, the next day, the elder said to the younger: "Behold, yesterday I slept with my father, let us give him wine to drink yet again this night, and you will sleep with him, so that we may save offspring from our father."
35 And then they gave their father wine to drink that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and slept with him. And not even then did he perceive when she lay down, or when she rose up.
36 Therefore, the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father.
37 And the elder gave birth to a son, and she called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites, even to the present day.
38 Likewise, the younger gave birth to a son, and she called his name Ammon, that is, 'the son of my people.' He is the father of the Ammonites, even today.
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Genesis 19: CPDV
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Genesis 19
19
The Wickedness of Sodom
1That evening, the two angels came to Sodom # 19:1 Sodom means “scorched” or “burnt region.” while Lot was sitting at the city’s gateway. # 19:1 A city gateway usually consisted of towers, guardrooms, and a meeting area where people could sit. Often, the city leadership would conduct meetings there (see Ruth 4:1–12). Recent archeological discoveries at Tel-Dan revealed a stone bench that was fifteen feet long connected to the wall of one of its towers. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed with his face to the ground. 2He said, “Please, my lords, come to your servant’s house to spend the night and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way.”
“No,” they answered. “We will be fine to spend the night in the town square.”
3But Lot was so insistent they finally agreed to go to his house. Lot had unleavened bread baked for them and prepared a feast, and they ate. 4But before they retired for the night, the men of the city, men young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom, to the last man, surrounded the house. 5They shouted out to Lot, “Where are the men who came to your house tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them!” # 19:5 Or “that we may know [yada’] them.” This word is used frequently for sexual relations. They surrounded the house, not simply to introduce themselves to the men, but to sexually abuse them. See Gen. 13:13; Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Deut. 23:18; Judg. 19:22; Rom. 1:18–32; 1 Cor. 6:9–10.
6Lot went outside, shutting the door behind him, 7and said to them, “No! My brothers, I beg you, don’t sink to such depravity! 8Look, I have two virgin daughters; I’ll bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you please. Only don’t do anything to these men, for they are guests in my house.” # 19:8 Or “they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
9“Get out of our way,” they replied. “This guy comes as a foreigner to live among us, and now he dares to judge us! We’ll inflict more harm on you than on them!” Just then they lunged at Lot and tried to break down the door, 10but the two angels reached out and pulled Lot safely back into the house and bolted the door. 11They struck the men outside the house, young and old, with one blazing flash of light # 19:11 The Hebrew word sanverim is found only here and in 2 Kings 6:18. The word indicates more than sightlessness (Hb. invaron), but a sudden immobilizing and dazzling flash of light. See the Aramaic Targums; Yoma 22b.; H. M. Orlinsky, Notes on the New Translation of the Torah (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1969), 93ff.; E. A. Speiser, “The ‘Elative’ in West-Semitic and Akkadian,” JCS 6 (1952): 81ff. so that they could not find the door!
12Then the visitors said to Lot, “Who else lives here? Do you have any other family here—sons or daughters, sons-in-law or daughters-in-law who live in Sodom? Get them all out of the city, 13because we are about to destroy this place. A tremendous outcry against the people has come before Yahweh, and he has sent us here to destroy it!”
14So Lot went out to find the two men who were pledged to marry his daughters and told them, “Hurry, leave the city, for Yahweh is about to destroy it!” But they thought he was only joking and paid him no attention.
15At dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Go! Take your wife and your two daughters and leave or you will be consumed in the judgment about to come to the city!” 16But Lot hesitated, so the angels grabbed his hands and the hands of his wife and daughters and brought them outside the city, because Yahweh was merciful to them. 17Once they were safely outside the city, the angels said to them, “Run for your lives! Don’t stop anywhere in the plain until you’ve reached the mountains. And don’t even look back, or you’ll die!”
18Lot replied, “Oh no, my lords. 19You’ve been so gracious to your servant, and you’ve been so kind to save our lives, but I can’t make it to the mountains. It’s so far from here; disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die! 20Look, over there is a village close enough to run to, and it’s a small one. # 19:20 Or “Zoar,” a wordplay in Hebrew. The word for “small” sounds like Zoar. Let me escape there instead. You can see that it’s such a small village. Let my life be spared!”
21“All right,” he replied. “I will grant this request too. # 19:21 Or “I have lifted up your face,” a figure of speech for showing favor. I will not destroy that village. 22Now, you must hurry. Run to that village, for I can’t do anything until you are there.” (That is why the village was called Zoar.)
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
23By mid-morning, # 19:23 Or “When the sun had risen upon the earth.” Lot arrived at the small village of Zoar, 24And Yahweh’s fire from heaven fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah. 25He completely destroyed the cities of the plain, and all their inhabitants and whatever grew in the valley. # 19:25 Jesus made it clear that if the miracles he did in Israel had been seen in Sodom, the people of Sodom would have repented. Therefore, it will be more tolerable for them in the Day of Judgment than for the cities of Galilee (see Matt. 11:20–24). Knowing that God will soon judge the corrupt world, it is vital that we live holy lives (see 2 Peter 3:11–15). 26But Lot’s wife turned and gazed longingly on the city and turned into a pillar of salt. # 19:26 See Luke 9:62; 17:32. Perhaps there really was a salt-pillar that resembled a human. In the book the Wisdom of Solomon 10:7, which was included in the Septuagint, it says, “A pillar of salt stands as a memorial to an unbelieving soul,” and Josephus claimed to have seen it in his day (Ant. 1.203).
27That morning, # 19:27 Or “The next morning.” It is unclear whether Abraham saw the moment of the destruction of the cities or if he viewed the smoke rising the next day. Abraham hurried back to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. # 19:27 See Gen. 18:22. The implication from Gen. 18:16 and 18:33 is that this high point may have been some distance from Abraham’s camp. 28Looking down toward all the land of the plain, he saw columns of smoke billowing up from Sodom and Gomorrah # 19:28 Gomorrah means “a ruined heap” or “to chastise.” —like the smoke of a furnace!
29So before God destroyed the cities of the plain where Lot had settled, he remembered his affection for Abraham # 19:29 That is, he honored Abraham’s request. God had not forgotten Abraham and then suddenly remembered him, but rather showed his affection for Abraham by fulfilling his request to spare the righteous. and spared Lot from all the destruction.
Lot and His Daughters
30Afraid to remain in Zoar, Lot left there and settled in the hill country and lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31One day, his firstborn suggested to the younger, “Our father is getting old, and there isn’t a man anywhere who could impregnate us in the normal way. 32Come, let’s get our father drunk with wine and have sex with him. That way we can at least have children through our father.”
33That night, they got their father drunk with wine, and the firstborn went in and slept with him. Lot was so drunk he didn’t have a clue about what had happened. # 19:33 Or “he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.” See v. 35. This chapter opens with Lot sitting at the gate of Sodom, the seat of authority, and ends with him drunk in a cave—from councilman to caveman! Lot could have returned to his uncle, Abraham, but instead he fled to a cave. 34The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “I slept with my father last night. Tonight, it’s your turn. We’ll get him drunk with wine, and you can sleep with him and we can preserve our family line through our father.”
35So they got their father drunk the second time; and the younger went in and slept with him. He was once again so drunk he had no clue what had happened. 36As a result, both Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37The older daughter had a son named Moab, # 19:37 Or “from my father,” a wordplay which in Hebrew sounds like “[conceived] from my father.” who is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. # 19:37 Jewish tradition views these two daughters as righteous women whose motives were noble. Perhaps they presumed the entire world had been destroyed and that Zoar was spared only while they were there, leaving no other living male except their father. Regardless, one day a descendant of Moab, Ruth, would be included in the roots of the Jewish monarchy as David’s great-grandmother (see Ruth 4:17–22) and listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (see Matt. 1:5). There is no sin or evil that can hinder God’s grace from shining through even the darkest cloud of human failure. 38The younger also had a son named Ben-Ammi, # 19:38 Or “son of my relative,” a wordplay which in Hebrew sounds like “son of my [paternal] relative.” the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.
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