38 as to the younger, she also hath born a son, and calleth his name Ben-Ammi: he `is' father of the Beni-Ammon unto this day.
And Nahash the Ammonite cometh up, and encampeth against Jabesh-Gilead, and all the men of Jabesh say unto Nahash, `Make with us a covenant, and we serve thee.' And Nahash the Ammonite saith unto them, `For this I covenant with you, by picking out to you every right eye -- and I have put it a reproach on all Israel.' And the elders of Jabesh say to him, `Let us alone seven days, and we send messengers into all the border of Israel: and if there is none saving us -- then we have come out unto thee.' And the messengers come to Gibeah of Saul, and speak the words in the ears of the people, and all the people lift up their voice and weep; and lo, Saul hath come after the herd out of the field, and Saul saith, `What -- to the people, that they weep?' and they recount to him the words of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God doth prosper over Saul, in his hearing these words, and his anger burneth greatly, and he taketh a couple of oxen, and cutteth them in pieces, and sendeth through all the border of Israel, by the hand of the messengers, saying, `He who is not coming out after Saul and after Samuel -- thus it is done to his oxen;' and the fear of Jehovah falleth on the people, and they come out as one man. And he inspecteth them in Bezek, and the sons of Israel are three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. And they say to the messengers who are coming, `Thus do ye say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead: To-morrow ye have safety -- by the heat of the sun;' and the messengers come and declare to the men of Jabesh, and they rejoice; and the men of Jabesh say `to the Ammonites', `To-morrow we come out unto you, and ye have done to us according to all that `is' good in your eyes.' And it cometh to pass, on the morrow, that Saul putteth the people in three detachments, and they come into the midst of the camp in the morning-watch, and smite Ammon till the heat of the day; and it cometh to pass that those left are scattered, and there have not been left of them two together. And the people say unto Samuel, `Who is he that saith, Saul doth reign over us! give ye up the men, and we put them to death.' And Saul saith, `There is no man put to death on this day, for to-day hath Jehovah wrought salvation in Israel.' And Samuel saith unto the people, `Come and we go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there;' and all the people go to Gilgal, and cause Saul to reign there before Jehovah in Gilgal, and sacrifice there sacrifices of peace-offerings before Jehovah, and there Saul rejoiceth -- and all the men of Israel -- very greatly.
And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the king of the Bene-Ammon dieth, and Hanun his son reigneth in his stead, and David saith, `I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did with me kindness;' and David sendeth to comfort him by the hand of his servants concerning his father, and the servants of David come in to the land of the Bene-Ammon. And the heads of the Bene-Ammon say unto Hanun their lord, `Is David honouring thy father in thine eyes because he hath sent to thee comforters? for to search the city, and to spy it, and to overthrow it, hath not David sent his servants unto thee?' And Hanun taketh the servants of David, and shaveth off the half of their beard, and cutteth off their long robes in the midst -- unto their buttocks, and sendeth them away; and they declare `it' to David, and he sendeth to meet them, for the men have been greatly ashamed, and the king saith, `Abide in Jericho till your beard doth spring up -- then ye have returned.' And the Bene-Ammon see that they have been abhorred by David, and the Bene-Ammon send and hire Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah `with' a thousand men, and Ish-Tob `with' twelve thousand men; and David heareth, and sendeth Joab, and all the host -- the mighty men. And the Bene-Ammon come out, and set battle in array, at the opening of the gate, and Aram of Zoba, and Rehob, and Ish-Tob, and Maacah, `are' by themselves in the field; and Joab seeth that the front of the battle hath been unto him before and behind, and he chooseth of all the chosen in Israel, and setteth in array to meet Aram, and the rest of the people he hath given into the hand of Abishai his brother, and setteth in array to meet the Bene-Ammon. And he saith, `If Aram be stronger than I, then thou hast been to me for salvation, and if the Bene-Ammon be stronger than thou, then I have come to give salvation to thee; be strong and strengthen thyself for our people, and for the cities of our God, and Jehovah doth that which is good in His eyes.' And Joab draweth nigh, and the people who `are' with him, to battle against Aram, and they flee from his presence; and the Bene-Ammon have seen that Aram hath fled, and they flee from the presence of Abishai, and go in to the city; and Joab turneth back from the Bene-Ammon, and cometh in to Jerusalem. And Aram seeth that it is smitten before Israel, and they are gathered together; and Hadadezer sendeth, and bringeth out Aram which `is' beyond the River, and they come in to Helam, and Shobach head of the host of Hadadezer `is' before them. And it is declared to David, and he gathereth all Israel, and passeth over the Jordan, and cometh in to Helam, and Aram setteth itself in array to meet David, and they fight with him; and Aram fleeth from the presence of Israel, and David slayeth of Aram seven hundred charioteers, and forty thousand horsemen, and Shobach head of its host he hath smitten, and he dieth there. And all the kings -- servants of Hadadezer -- see that they have been smitten before Israel, and make peace with Israel, and serve them; and Aram is afraid to help any more the Bene-Ammon.
On that day there was read in the book of Moses, in the ears of the people, and it hath been found written in it that an Ammonite and Moabite doth not come into the assembly of God -- unto the age, because they have not come before the sons of Israel with bread and with water, and hire against them Balaam to revile them, and our God turneth the reviling into a blessing. And it cometh to pass, at their hearing the law, that they separate all the mixed people from Israel.
Also, in those days, I have seen the Jews `who' have settled women of Ashdod, of Ammon, of Moab. And of their sons, half are speaking Ashdoditish -- and are not knowing to speak Jewish -- and according to the language of people and people. And I strive with them, and declare them vile, and smite certain of them, and pluck off their hair, and cause them to swear by God, `Ye do not give your daughters to their sons, nor do ye take of their daughters to your sons, and to yourselves. `By these did not Solomon king of Israel sin? and among the many nations there was no king like him, and beloved by his God he was, and God maketh him king over all Israel -- even him did the strange women cause to sin. And to you do we hearken to do all this great evil, to trespass against our God, to settle strange women?' And `one' of the sons of Joiada son of Eliashib the high priest, `is' son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite, and I cause him to flee from off me.
They have said, `Come, And we cut them off from `being' a nation, And the name of Israel is not remembered any more.' For they consulted in heart together, Against Thee a covenant they make, Tents of Edom, and Ishmaelites, Moab, and the Hagarenes, Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia with inhabitants of Tyre, Asshur also is joined with them, They have been an arm to sons of Lot. Selah.
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.