CHAPTER XIX _The two angels mentioned in the preceding chapter, come in_ _the evening to Sodom_, 1. _Lot, who was sitting at the gate, invites them to enter his_ _house, take some refreshment, and tarry all night; which they_ _at first refuse_, 2; _but on being pressingly solicited, they at la... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:2. _NAY; BUT WE WILL ABIDE IN THE STREET_] Instead of לא _lo,_ nay, some MSS. have לו lo, to him; "And they said _unto him_, for we lodge in the street." where, nevertheless, the negation is understood. Knowing the disposition of the inhabitants, and appearing in the mere character... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:5. _WHERE_ ARE _THE MEN WHICH CAME IN TO THEE, C._] This account justifies the character given of this depraved people in the preceding chapter, Genesis 18:20, and in Genesis 23:13. As their crime was the deepest disgrace to human nature, so it is too bad to be described in the sacr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:8. _BEHOLD NOW, I HAVE TWO DAUGHTERS_] Nothing but that sacred light in which the rights of hospitality were regarded among the eastern nations, could either justify or palliate this proposal of Lot. A man who had taken a stranger under his care and protection, was bound to defend h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:9. _AND HE WILL NEEDS BE A JUDGE_] So _his sitting in the_ _gate_ is perhaps a farther proof of his being there in a _magisterial_ capacity, as some have supposed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:11. _AND THEY SMOTE THE MEN - WITH BLINDNESS_] This has been understood two ways: 1. The angels, by the power which God had given them, deprived these wicked men of a proper and regular use of their sight, so as either totally to deprive them of it, or render it so confused that th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:12. _HAST THOU HERE ANY BESIDES? SON-IN-LAW_] Here there appears to be but _one_ meant, as the word חתן _chathan_ is in the _singular_ number; but in Genesis 19:14 the word is _plural_, חתיו chathanaiv, his sons-in-law. There were only _two_ in number; as we do not hear that Lot ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:16. _WHILE HE LINGERED_] Probably in affectionate though useless entreaties to prevail on the remaining parts of his family to escape from the destruction that was now descending; _laid hold_ _upon his hand _- pulled them away by mere force, _the Lord being_ _merciful_; else they ha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:17. _WHEN THEY HAD BROUGHT THEM FORTH, C._] Every word here is emphatic, _Escape for thy_ LIFE thou art in the most imminent danger of perishing; thy _life_ and thy _soul_ are both at stake. _Look not behind thee _- thou hast but barely time enough to escape from the judgment that... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:19. _I CANNOT ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAIN_] He saw the destruction so near, that he imagined he should not have time sufficient to reach the mountain before it arrived. He did not consider that God could give no command to his creatures that it would be impossible for them to fulfil; but... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:20. _IT IS A LITTLE ONE_] Probably Lot wished to have it for an inheritance, and therefore pleaded its being a _little_ one, that his request might be the more readily granted. Or he might suppose, that being _a little city_, it was less depraved than Sodom and Gomorrah, and therefo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:21. _SEE, I HAVE ACCEPTED THEE_] How prevalent is prayer with God! Far from refusing to grant a reasonable petition, he shows himself as if under embarrassment to deny any.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:22. _I CANNOT DO ANY THING TILL THOU BE COME THITHER._] So these heavenly messengers had the strictest commission to take care of Lot and his family; and even the purposes of Divine justice could not be accomplished on the rebellious, till this righteous man and his family had escap... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:24. _THE LORD RAINED - BRIMSTONE AND FIRE FROM THE LORD_] As all judgment is committed to the Son of God, many of the primitive fathers and several modern divines have supposed that the words ויהוה _vaihovah_ and מאת יהוה _meeth Yehovah_ imply, _Jehovah_ _the Son_ raining brimstone... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:25. _AND HE OVERTHREW THOSE CITIES, AND ALL THE PLAIN_] This forms what is called the lake _Asphaltites, Dead Sea_, or _Salt Sea_, which, according to the most authentic accounts, is about seventy miles in length, and eighteen in breadth. The most strange and incredible tales are... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:26. _SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT_] The vast variety of opinions, both ancient and modern, on the crime of Lot's wife, her change, and the manner in which that change was effected, are in many cases as unsatisfactory as they are ridiculous. On this point the sacred Scripture says lit... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:27. _ABRAHAM GAT UP EARLY IN THE MORNING_] Anxious to know what was the effect of the prayers which he had offered to God the preceding day; what must have been his astonishment when he found that all these cities, with the plain which resembled the garden of the Lord, Genesis 13:10... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:29. _ GOD REMEMBERED ABRAHAM_] Though he did not descend lower than _ten_ righteous persons, (see Genesis 18:32,) yet the Lord had respect to the spirit of his petitions, and spared all those who could be called _righteous_, and for Abraham's sake offered salvation to all the family... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:30. _LOT WENT UP OUT OF ZOAR_] From seeing the universal desolation that had fallen upon the land, and that the fire was still continuing its depredations, _he feared to dwell in Zoar_, lest that also should be consumed, and then went to those very mountains to which God had ordered... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:31. _OUR FATHER IS OLD_]. And consequently not likely to re-marry; _and_ there is _not a man in the earth _- none left, according to their opinion in all _the land_ of Canaan, of _their own family_ and _kindred_; and they might think it unlawful to match with others, such as the inh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:32. _COME, LET US MAKE OUR FATHER DRINK WINE_] On their flight from Zoar it is probable they had brought with them certain provisions to serve them for the time being, and the _wine_ here mentioned among the rest. After considering all that has been said to criminate both Lot and h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:33. _AND HE PERCEIVED NOT WHEN SHE LAY DOWN, NOR WHEN, C._] That is, he did not perceive _the time_ she came to his bed, nor _the time_ she quitted it consequently did not know _who it was_ that had lain with him. In this transaction Lot appears to me to be in many respects excusabl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:37. _CALLED HIS NAME MOAB_] This name is generally interpreted _of the father_, or, according to Calmet, מואב _Moab, the_ _waters of the father_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 19:38. _BEN-AMMI_] בן עמי _Ben-ammi, the son of my people_. Both these names seem to justify the view taken of this subject above, _viz_., that it was merely to _preserve the family_ that the daughters of Lot made use of the above expedient; and hence we do not find that they ever att... [ Continue Reading ]