29 And it came to pass, when God H430 destroyed H7843 the cities H5892 of the plain, H3603 that God H430 remembered H2142 Abraham, H85 and sent H7971 Lot H3876 out of the midst H8432 of the overthrow, H2018 when he overthrew H2015 the cities H5892 in the which H2004 Lot H3876 dwelt. H3427
And Abraham H85 drew near, H5066 and said, H559 Wilt thou also destroy H5595 the righteous H6662 with H5973 the wicked? H7563 Peradventure there be H3426 fifty H2572 righteous H6662 within H8432 the city: H5892 wilt thou also destroy H5595 and not spare H5375 the place H4725 for H4616 the fifty H2572 righteous H6662 that are therein? H7130 That be far H2486 from thee to do H6213 after this manner, H1697 to slay H4191 the righteous H6662 with the wicked: H7563 and that the righteous H6662 should be as the wicked, H7563 that be far H2486 from thee: Shall not the Judge H8199 of all the earth H776 do H6213 right? H4941 And the LORD H3068 said, H559 If I find H4672 in Sodom H5467 fifty H2572 righteous H6662 within H8432 the city, H5892 then I will spare H5375 all the place H4725 for their sakes. And Abraham H85 answered H6030 and said, H559 Behold now, I have taken upon me H2974 to speak H1696 unto the Lord, H136 which H595 am but dust H6083 and ashes: H665 Peradventure there shall lack H2637 five H2568 of the fifty H2572 righteous: H6662 wilt thou destroy H7843 all the city H5892 for lack of five? H2568 And he said, H559 If I find H4672 there forty H705 and five, H2568 I will not destroy H7843 it. And he spake H1696 unto him yet again, H3254 and said, H559 Peradventure there shall be forty H705 found H4672 there. And he said, H559 I will not do H6213 it for forty's H705 sake. And he said H559 unto him, Oh H4994 let not the Lord H136 be angry, H2734 and I will speak: H1696 Peradventure there shall thirty H7970 be found H4672 there. And he said, H559 I will not do H6213 it, if I find H4672 thirty H7970 there. And he said, H559 Behold now, I have taken upon me H2974 to speak H1696 unto the Lord: H136 Peradventure there shall be twenty H6242 found H4672 there. And he said, H559 I will not destroy H7843 it for twenty's H6242 sake. And he said, H559 Oh let not the Lord H136 be angry, H2734 and I will speak H1696 yet H389 but this once: H6471 Peradventure ten H6235 shall be found H4672 there. And he said, H559 I will not destroy H7843 it for ten's H6235 sake. And the LORD H3068 went his way, H3212 as soon as H834 he had left H3615 communing H1696 with Abraham: H85 and Abraham H85 returned H7725 unto his place. H4725
Then shall ye remember H2142 your own evil H7451 ways, H1870 and your doings H4611 that were not good, H2896 and shall lothe H6962 yourselves in your own sight H6440 for your iniquities H5771 and for your abominations. H8441 Not for your sakes do H6213 I this, saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD, H3069 be it known H3045 unto you: be ashamed H954 and confounded H3637 for your own ways, H1870 O house H1004 of Israel. H3478
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.