Commentary
Skeptic's Annotated Bible
19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
Treating the approaching strangers with respect. Lot's not such a bad guy.
19:2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
19:3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
Lot convinces the strangers to come eat his food and stay in his house.
19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
Then a mob arrives...
19:5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
...and wants to rape the strangers.
19:6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
19:7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
Please fellas, be reasonable! These guests are under my protection.
19:8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
If you leave them alone, you can have my daughters. They're virgins!
Oh come on. Really? An angry mob shows up wanting to rape some strangers, and instead you offer up your virgin daughters? What kind of morality story is this?
19:9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
19:10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
19:11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
These are no ordinary men, these strangers; they must be angels. They could cause the mob to become calm, to fall asleep, to repent and go home in shame. But instead they just inflict them with blindness so they can't find the door. Good thinking guys, great use of your angelic powers.
19:12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
Let's make a run for it!
19:13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
Not because of the dangers of this angry mob though; because our loving, kind and just God is going to burn this city to the ground. All of the evil men, all of the women, children, infants, and the innocent animals are all going to be destroyed.
19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters,
Wait, I thought his daughters were virgins? They're MARRIED? No wonder the mob didn't want them; they must have heard what God did to Pharoah when he took Abram's wife! So not only does Lot offer up his daughters to the angry mob, but he lies about them being virgins so they'd be more likely to take them.
and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
19:15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
19:16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
The rest of the family didn't take Lot seriously, so the angels grabbed Lot, his wife and daughters and escorted them out of the city.
19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
...but don't look!
19:18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD:
19:19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
19:20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
19:21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
19:22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
The angels want Lot to go hide in the mountains, but Lot is afraid of something bad happening in the mountains. So the angels agree to let him go to a little town nearby instead, Zoar.
19:23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
Because he had promised never to use a flood again, this time he uses fire and brimstone (burning sulfur).
19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
Even the plants weren't spared from God's wrath.
19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
We TOLD you not to look! Now we have to turn you into a pillar of salt. Because, you know, that happens.
19:27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:
19:28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
No, don't look, don't you know you'll turn into a pillar of salt!?
19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
Oh, I guess that only applied to Lot's family for some reason.
19:30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
Now just a few lines ago Lot was afraid of the mountains, so he went to Zoar. Now he's afraid of Zoar, so he goes to the mountains. Make up your mind!
19:31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:
19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
His two virgin daughters get Lot drunk, sleep with him and get pregnant, so as to preserve the family line. Really, really nice view of family values. This is really horrible stuff, I don't think we should let children read this book.
19:33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
19:34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
19:35 And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
19:36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
The author of this story is really enjoying the storytelling here. Five verses to provide, in loving detail, the acts which were made clear enough in 19:32.
19:37 And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
19:38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
Because each society has to come from a single individual that's accounted for in Genesis somewhere; even better if they arise through sordid circumstances.
I am really just horrified at the view of ethics and morality being described here. This is twisted, sick stuff. I expected to find lots of killing, hypocrisy and absurdities in the Bible, but I didn't expect to find such casually described (and never condemned) acts of incest, rape and lack of concern for the health and welfare of others. Why do we even argue over whether this stuff is moral or not?
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