Genesis 19 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Genesis 19

God Rescues Lot

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” 6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. 13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” 18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.¹

God Destroys Sodom

23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters

30 Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31 And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to 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 offspring from our father.” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

34 The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” 35 So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 36 Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab.² He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi.³ He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

Footnotes

[1] 19:22 Zoar means little
[2] 19:37 Moab sounds like the Hebrew for from father
[3] 19:38 Ben-ammi means son of my people

Commentary

v1-3: Lot's hospitality to the angels, see 18.4-8, following the good example of Abraham. He is also conscious of the risk to them staying in the open.

v4-5: The corruption of Sodom; demonstrated quickly, as they take every opportunity for sinning; both young and old, all the people from every quarter. It seems all shared in these plans to sin. There are not even ten righteous (see 18.32).

The sin of the people of Sodom was twofold. First, their failure to show hospitalty to strangers ('overfed and unconcerned' in Ezek 16.49); second, rape ('detestable things' in Ezek 16.49). See Krish Kandiah's God is Stranger, chatper 2 for more insights into this episode.

v6-7: "My friends;" a word of respect, or of compromise?

v8: Lot offers a 'lesser evil' (Judg 19.23-24). Although his daughters are married, they remain virgins, another indication of the sin of the city; the men are homosexuals. Lot seems to be afraid that the men of the city will attack his house.

Of two evils, the greater and the lesser - choose neither.

v9: Lot's testimony in Sodom; although he sat in the gate of the city (v1), the people have little respect for him. A 'worldly testimony;' no wonder, when he warns his sons-in-law to flee they think he is joking. Job’s testimony in Sodom was blunted; the other residents considered him a judge. He was not known as a ‘friend of sinners.’

2 Pet 2.7 refers to righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked; no doubt life in Sodom is difficult for him, as he seeks to avoid sharing in their sins. We too sometimes struggle to cope with the corruption around us. We may stray between criticism and compromise, without finding true victory in our lives.

v10-11: God's mercy; Lot and his family are kept safe by the direct intervention of God, with the men outside being struck blind.

v12-14: Lot has had opportunity, during the night, to visit his sons-in-law; were they in the crowd? Or had they returned home? Whatever, they do not accept his warning, and later perish with the city.

v16-17: Lot hesitated, or lingered, strangely drawn to the city, struggling to flee, yet he knows he must go. Again the angels show God's mercy in pulling them out of the city, and directing them up into the mountains.

v18-20: Lot is still reluctant to flee, afraid of going to the mountains, although later he does go there, v30. He chose instead a small city, Zoar.

v21-23: The Lord's continued mercy in preserving Lot. But He also grants Lot's request, although it is clearly not the best option. We may see this as another test for Lot.

Yet Abraham's prayer is answered, as just one righteous man is saved.

v24-26: Lot's wife looks back, wanting to go back, and shares in the judgment of the cities.

v27-29: Abraham, from his mountain vantage point, sees the cities; and the writer mentions that, by delivering Lot, God has answered Abraham's prayers. Thus, God's righteousness is revealed, in destroying the cities, and in preserving righteous Lot.

v30: Lot looks for earthly security; but he grows afraid to stay in Zoar, so he moves up into the mountains.

v31-38: Lot's daughters' scheme;

no reference to seeking the mind of God;
perhaps influenced by the corruption of Sodom;
Lot's own influence over them was weak.

Their plan later works, see v37-38, and the lineage of their father preserved, but the two peoples subsequently have histories of sin, not godliness; the Moabites and Ammonites both live in that area, east of the Jordan, near the Dead Sea, which was the site of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lot is ignorant of these plans and events. Yet his ignorance cannot be commended.