Genesis 19
1. And two of the messengers came to Sodom in the evening. And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. And Lot saw. And he rose up to meet them. And he prostrated noses toward the land.
2. And he said, “Behold na, my lords, turn away, na, unto your slave's house. And lodge. And wash your feet. And ye shall cause-to-early-rise, and ye shall walk to your way.” And they said, “No! For we will lodge in the boulevard.”
3. And he very-much pressed into them. And they turned away unto him. And they came unto his house. And he made a drinking-feast to them. And he baked matzahs. And they ate.
4. Before they will lay down... And the men of the city, the men of Sodom, were compassed upon the house from young and unto old─all the people from the edge.
5. And they called unto Lot. And they said to him, “Where are the men who came unto thee tonight? Cause- them -to-exit unto us. And we knew them!”
6. And Lot exited unto them to the opening. And he shut the door after him.
7. And he said, “Do not, na, my brethren, bad-do.
8. Behold, na, two daughters are to me who knew not a man. I will-cause- them -to-exit, na, unto you. And do ye to them as is good in your eyes. Only don’t do a speech to these men. For concerning establishment they came into the shadow of my beams!”
9. And they said, “Near-thou beyond!” And they said, “The one came to sojourn. And he judged, judging! Now will we bad-do to thee from [more than] them!” And they very much pressed into the man─into Lot. And they neared to break the door.
10. And the men sent their hand. And they brought Lot unto them houseward. And they shut the door.
11. And they smote the men who are the opening of the house via blindnesses─from little and big. And they wearied to find the opening!
12. And the men said unto Lot, “Who else is to thee here?—son-in-law and thy sons and thy daughters and all who are to thee in the city─cause-thou-to-exit from the place!
13. For we are rotting this place! For their scream is big with the faces of Yehovah, and Yehovah sent us to rot her!”
14. And Lot exited. And he spoke unto his sons-in-law, takers of his daughters. And he said, “Arise! Exit from this place! For Yehovah is causing- the city -to-rot!” And he was as a joker unto his sons-in-law.
15. And as the sunrise ascended, and the messengers hastened into Lot saying, “Arise! Take thy woman and two of thy daughters who are found lest thou wilt be consumed in the iniquity of the city!”
16. And he what-whated himself. And the men caused-to-grasp into his hand and into the hand of his woman and into the hand of two of his daughters in the compassion of Yehovah upon him. And they caused- him -to-exit. And they rested him from outside to the city.
17. And he was, as their causing-to-exit them outsideward. And he said, “Cause-thou-to-escape concerning thy being! Peer-thou not after thee! And stand thou not in all the round-area! Cause-thou-to-escape mountainward, lest thou wilt be scraped-off!”
18. And Lot said unto them, “Not, na, my lords!
19. Behold, na, thy slave found favour in thine eyes. And thou magnified thy grace that thou did with me to cause-to-keep-alive my being. And I, I will not be able to-cause-to-escape to the mountain lest the bad will cling to me, and I will die!
20. Behold, na, this city is approached to flee there. And he is insignificant. I will escape, na, there. Isn’t he insignificant? And my being lived!”
21. And he said unto him, “Behold, I carried thy faces also to this speech to-my not to-flip-over this city that thou spoke.
22. Hurry! Cause-thou-to-escape there! For I will not be able to do a speech unto thy coming there!” Therefore, he called the name of the city ‘Little’ (Zoar).
23. The sun exited upon the land. And Lot [Enveloped] came to Zoar.
24. And Yehovah caused-to-rain upon Sodom and upon Amorrah sulfur and fire from with Yehovah from the heavens.
25. And He flipped-over those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities and the sprout of the soil.
26. And his woman peered from after him. And she became a pillar of salt.
27. And AvRaham [Father-Of-A-Multitude] early rose in the morning unto the place where he stood with the faces of Yehovah.
28. And he distantly-looked upon the faces of Sodom and Amorrah and upon all the faces of the land of the plain. And he saw. And behold, the incense of the land ascended as the incense of a furnace.
29. And he was via Elohim rotting the cities of the plain. And Elohim remembered AvRaham. And He sent Lot from the midst of the flipping-over via flipping-over the cities which Lot sat in them [fem.].
30. And Lot ascended from Tzoar [Little]. And he sat in the mountain. And two of his daughters are with him. For he feared to sit in Tzoar. And He sat in a cave─he and two of his daughters.
31. And the firstborn said unto the little, “Our father is old. And a man ‘ain’t’ in the land to come upon us as the way of all the land.
32. Walk-thou. We will-cause- our father -to-drink wine. And we lay with him. And we enlivened seed from our father.”
33. And they caused- their father -to-drink wine in that night. And the firstborn [fem.] came. And she lay with her father. And he did not know via her lying and via her arising.
34. And he was from tomorrow. And the firstborn said unto the little, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. We will-cause- him -to-drink wine also tonight. And come-thou. Lie-thou with him. And we enlivened seed from our father.”
35. And they caused- their father -to-drink wine also in that night. And the little arose. And she lay with him. And he did not know via her lying and via her arising.
36. And the two daughters of Lot conceived from their father.
37. And the firstborn childed a son. And she called his name Mo-Av [From-Father]. He is the father of Moab unto today.
38. And the little [fem.], also he, childed a son. And she called his name Ben-Ami [Son-of-my-People]. He is the father of the children of Amon unto today.
Genesis 19 Frances
(Commenced 6/29/2021; Finished 8/24/2021)
Questions and Answers
1. a) The text states, “And two of the messengers.” How many messengers were traveling originally in these texts?
There were three. Thus, Yehovah Himself is one of the messengers. (Be aware that the word messenger in Hebrew is exactly the same as angel in Hebrew. Be also aware that the word messenger in Greek also means angel.) The third Messenger, Messenger Yehovah, arrived later, having stayed for a time with Avraham to have a discussion about Yehovah’s justice.
1. b) Did these messengers intend to arrive to Sodom in the evening?
They fully intended to arrive at the time just before violence.
1. c) Why did Lot sit in the gate of Sodom?
Lot was a judge. That is where judgment took place in the various cultures of the Bible (apart from empires being described). Lot was at work; it is time for him to go home; but he sees these sojourners.
1. d) If the above is true, why did judgment take place at city gates?
Consider the following:
- This is a place where folks knew that judgment took place.
- This kept the judgments public. (A courthouse location for judgment is an excellent way for injustice to take place; only a few observers can watch, whereas at the city gate, all who desire can see if justice is occurring, no limits on seating.)
- The ability to view justice in public is a matter of morality and ethics! All court systems that do not permit public viewing and reviewing will be corruption-based.
1. e) What did Lot see?
He saw the two sojourners walking into the city.
1. f) Why did he rise up to meet them instead of signaling them to come to him?
Lot is showing deference to the sojourners: that they are for Lot to serve, and not vice versa.
1. g) Why did Lot prostrate noses toward the land before these men whom he didn’t know?
This physical humility indicated Lot’s willingness and desire to slave for the sojourners.
1. h) Why would or should Lot be willing to slave for sojourners?
What is the morality behind this? First, one has the responsibility to do to another as that person would desire the other to do to him/her. Then, when Lot was traveling, he was the sojourner; how he was greeted would tell him much about how he must behave to others.
The actual morality is this: Yehovah has established that some humans will sojourn. If they sojourn, they are in a land that isn’t theirs; they are in a culture or a series of cultures that is/are not theirs. They do not have backing of friends and family. They are vulnerable, and have no means of support. Therefore Yehovah has established that dealing with the sojourner is equal to dealing with Yehovah Himself Who determined to become a sojourner among humans. How one treats a sojourner is how one treats Yehovah.
In the Tribulation, one’s everlasting Salvation or everlasting damnation will hinge upon how one deals with the sojourner. If that is true then, a person has no business assuming that it just isn’t the case now.
1. i) Did Lot violate by prostrating to angels?
Not at all. The angels are playing a role of sojourners. Lot had no idea they were angels.
2. a) Who said, “Behold …”?
Lot said this.
2. b) Why did Lot say, “Behold”?
What were the men supposed to behold? They were being told to behold Lot in the prostrated position. Lot knew of the great danger that these two men were now about to face.
2. c) Why does Lot call them “my lords”?
He is letting them know that he respects them and that he is willing to slave for them.
2. d) From what is Lot telling these men to turn away?
He is telling them to turn away from the area where they are, and where they are headed.
2. e) Define na:
It is a Hebrew word that is a particle (that is a word that has only one form, and doesn’t take other forms) that acts as a softener indication in speech.
2. f) Why did Lot use the word na twice?
What Lot said sounded like commands: like demands. Therefore, he used the softener twice to indicate that he isn’t demanding; he is urging.
2. g) Who is this slave to which Lot refers?
It is he, himself! Lot is declaring that he is a slave of these two sojourners, and that he has a house to which he desires them to come.
2. h) Define lodge:
It means to lean. What is strange is that the Hebrew word is pronounced lean. The English word lean comes directly from the Hebrew word. We might say, “take a load off.”
2. i) What is the purpose of washing feet in cases like this?
It is remove the sand so that one can actually rest or sleep. The fine sand between toes ruins good rest. It acts like sand paper.
2. j) Why didn’t Lot offer to wash their feet, seeing that Yeshua did wash His disciples’ feet?
When sojourners arrive so deadly tired, that they don’t even drop their sandals, those who remove their sandals and wash their feet will be doing right before Yehovah. The intimacy of the act will not be noticed by those who are so tired until later. These men in Lot’s day could wash their own; therefore, there was no tradition to wash the feet of sojourners who can do their own.
2. k) What does “cause to early-rise” mean?
This means that these sojourners will themselves intentionally get themselves up in the morning.
2. l) Why would Lot almost press them to early rise and walk to their way?
He is warning them to leave quickly the next morning. The use of na doesn’t occur in the rest of this speech.
2. m) Why did these angelic men decline the offer?
Consider the following:
- They determined to demonstrate Lot’s character and his urgency to keep them from lodging in the boulevard to their deaths.
- It could be that these sojourners, acting as human sojourners, knew that Lot would be at risk by taking them in.
- If they were playing a role as human sojourners, they might be showing their lack of trust even for Lot.
- It was vital for Lot to know the kind of character that Lot had!
2. n) Would lodging in the boulevard be that bad?
Yes! It would be lethal! (In this case, it would be lethal to the men from the edge!)
2. o) What is the boulevard?
It is the main street housing the main courtyard of the enfortressed city.
3. a) Wasn’t pressing into them rude? (He did get up.)
No! When attempting to save lives, there is nothing rude.
3. b) Did he physically press into them?
The text would have used other words to describe this. He verbally pressed into them, showing great importunity (being urgent and persistent in a request).
3. c) Why was Lot so insistent that these two men come to Lot’s house?
Lot knew very well what would happen to these two men if they stayed in the boulevard.
3. d) What would happen to the men if they stayed in the boulevard?
They would have been violated—gang raped! That was a pastime of the folks from the edge.
3. e) Why did the two messengers concede and go with Lot?
They had a mission, and that mission involved saving Lot! They had acted as if they would stay in the boulevard, but they demonstrated Lot’s character: that he would do what is right even at great personal expense.
3. f) Do angels drink?
When it is appropriate for them to behave as if they are humans, and if the humans among whom they are appearing drink alcohol, angels drink!
3. g) What is a matzah?
It is bread made with flour and water, and specifically with no leavening or vinegar.
3. h) Why did Lot bake matzahs?
They are the fastest item that one can make that is satisfying and tasty. He did this himself because of his willingness to slave for these sojourners.
Fresh matzah with butter, with honey, or even with cream cheese is very good!
3. i) Why does the text indicate that they ate?
Isn’t that detail obvious? This shows that angels (who are spirits) can eat! The food doesn’t just drop to the floor! Therefore, when angels appear in physical bodies, those physical bodies really can take in food and drink!
Go to Page 2 for Genesis 19 - Questions and Answers
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Original page July 23, 2026