30 And Lot H3876 went up H5927 out of Zoar, H6820 and dwelt H3427 in the mountain, H2022 and his two H8147 daughters H1323 with him; for he feared H3372 to dwell H3427 in Zoar: H6820 and he dwelt H3427 in a cave, H4631 he and his two H8147 daughters. H1323
Behold now, thy servant H5650 hath found H4672 grace H2580 in thy sight, H5869 and thou hast magnified H1431 thy mercy, H2617 which thou hast shewed H6213 unto me H5978 in saving H2421 my life; H5315 and I cannot H3201 escape H4422 to the mountain, H2022 lest some evil H7451 take H1692 me, and I die: H4191
And Lot H3876 lifted up H5375 his eyes, H5869 and beheld H7200 all the plain H3603 of Jordan, H3383 that it was well watered H4945 every where, before H6440 the LORD H3068 destroyed H7843 Sodom H5467 and Gomorrah, H6017 even as the garden H1588 of the LORD, H3068 like the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 as thou comest H935 unto Zoar. H6820
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth H3318 abroad, H2351 that he said, H559 Escape H4422 for H5921 thy life; H5315 look H5027 not behind thee, H310 neither stay H5975 thou in all the plain; H3603 escape H4422 to the mountain, H2022 lest thou be consumed. H5595
My heart H3820 shall cry out H2199 for Moab; H4124 his fugitives H1280 shall flee unto Zoar, H6820 an heifer H5697 of three years old: H7992 for by the mounting up H4608 of Luhith H3872 with weeping H1065 shall they go it up; H5927 for in the way H1870 of Horonaim H2773 they shall raise up H5782 a cry H2201 of destruction. H7667
Why gaddest thou about H235 so much H3966 to change H8138 thy way? H1870 thou also shalt be ashamed H954 of Egypt, H4714 as thou wast ashamed H954 of Assyria. H804 Yea, thou shalt go forth H3318 from him, and thine hands H3027 upon thine head: H7218 for the LORD H3068 hath rejected H3988 thy confidences, H4009 and thou shalt not prosper H6743 in them.
From the cry H2201 of Heshbon H2809 even unto Elealeh, H500 and even unto Jahaz, H3096 have they uttered H5414 their voice, H6963 from Zoar H6820 even unto Horonaim, H2773 as an heifer H5697 of three years old: H7992 for the waters H4325 also of Nimrim H5249 shall be desolate. H4923
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 19
Commentary on Genesis 19 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 19
Ge 19:1-38. Lot's Entertainment.
1. there came two angels—most probably two of those that had been with Abraham, commissioned to execute the divine judgment against Sodom.
Lot sat in the gate of Sodom—In Eastern cities it is the market, the seat of justice, of social intercourse and amusement, especially a favorite lounge in the evenings, the arched roof affording a pleasant shade.
2. turn in, I pray you … tarry all night—offer of the same generous hospitalities as described in Ge 18:2-8, and which are still spontaneously practised in the small towns.
And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night—Where there are no inns and no acquaintance, it is not uncommon for travellers to sleep in the street wrapped up in their cloaks.
3. entered into his house—On removing to the plain, Lot intended at first to live in his tent apart from the people [Ge 13:12]. But he was gradually drawn in, dwelt in the city, and he and his family were connected with the citizens by marriage ties.
4. men of Sodom, compassed the house—Appalling proofs are here given of their wickedness. It is evident that evil communications had corrupted good manners; otherwise Lot would never have acted as he did.
12, 13. Hast thou here any besides? … we will destroy this place—Apostolic authority has declared Lot was "a righteous man" (2Pe 2:8), at bottom good, though he contented himself with lamenting the sins that he saw, instead of acting on his own convictions, and withdrawing himself and family from such a sink of corruption. But favor was shown him: and even his bad relatives had, for his sake, an offer of deliverance, which was ridiculed and spurned (2Pe 3:4).
15-17. The kindly interest the angels took in the preservation of Lot is beautifully displayed. But he "lingered." Was it from sorrow at the prospect of losing all his property, the acquisition of many years? Or was it that his benevolent heart was paralyzed by thoughts of the awful crisis? This is the charitable way of accounting for a delay that would have been fatal but for the friendly urgency of the angel.
18, 19. Lot said … Oh, not so, my Lord … I cannot escape to the mountain—What a strange want of faith and fortitude, as if He who had interfered for his rescue would not have protected Lot in the mountain solitude.
21. See, I have accepted thee concerning this … also—His request was granted him, the prayer of faith availed, and to convince him, from his own experience, that it would have been best and safest at once to follow implicitly the divine directions.
22. Haste … for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither—The ruin of Sodom was suspended till he was secure. What care God does take of His people (Re 7:3)! What a proof of the love which God bore to a good though weak man!
24. Then the Lord rained … brimstone and fire from … heaven—God, in accomplishing His purposes, acts immediately or mediately through the agency of means; and there are strong grounds for believing that it was in the latter way He effected the overthrow of the cities of the plain—that it was, in fact, by a volcanic eruption. The raining down of fire and brimstone from heaven is perfectly accordant with this idea since those very substances, being raised into the air by the force of the volcano, would fall in a fiery shower on the surrounding region. This view seems countenanced by Job [Job 1:16; 18:15]. Whether it was miraculously produced, or the natural operation employed by God, it is not of much consequence to determine: it was a divine judgment, foretold and designed for the punishment of those who were sinners exceedingly.
26. Lot was accompanied by his wife and two daughters. But whether it was from irresistible curiosity or perturbation of feeling, or that she was about to return to save something, his wife lingered, and while thus disobeying the parting counsel, "to look not back, nor stay in all the plain" [Ge 19:17], the torrent of liquid lava enveloped her so that she became the victim of her supine indolence or sinful rashness.
27. Abraham gat up early in the morning, &c.—Abraham was at this time in Mamre, near Hebron, and a traveller last year verified the truth of this passage. "From the height which overlooks Hebron, where the patriarch stood, the observer at the present day has an extensive view spread out before him towards the Dead Sea. A cloud of smoke rising from the plain would be visible to a person at Hebron now, and could have been, therefore, to Abraham as he looked toward Sodom on the morning of its destruction by God" [Hackett]. It must have been an awful sight, and is frequently alluded to in Scripture (De 29:23; Isa 13:19; Jude 7). "The plain which is now covered by the Salt or Dead Sea shows in the great difference of level between the bottoms of the northern and southern ends of the lake—the latter being thirteen feet and the former thirteen hundred—that the southern end was of recent formation, and submerged at the time of the fall of the cities" [Lynch].
29. when God destroyed the cities, &c.—This is most welcome and instructive after so painful a narrative. It shows if God is a "consuming fire" to the wicked [De 4:24; Heb 12:29], He is the friend of the righteous. He "remembered" the intercessions of Abraham, and what confidence should not this give us that He will remember the intercessions of a greater than Abraham in our behalf.