Genesis 19:1-3

PART THIRTY-TWO
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM: LOT'S LAST DAYS

Genesis 19:1-38

1. Lot's Hospitality (Genesis 19:1-3)

1 And the two angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth; 2 and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn aside, 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 way. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. 3 And he urged 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.

While Abraham had been pleading with God, the other two heavenly Visitants had entered the doomed city. Note, the two angels came. Speiser (ABG, 138): This identification is meant for the reader, who knows that Yahweh stayed behind with Abraham (Genesis 18:22) in order to tell him of the melancholy mission. The author was equally direct in introducing the other visit (Genesis 18:1). But Lot must discover the truth for himself, as Abraham did earlier. It was in the light of the miracle (Genesis 19:11) that the men (Genesis 19:5; Genesis 19:8; Genesis 19:10; cf. Genesis 18:22) were now clearly revealed as angels. It is at this point that the text becomes more specific. By thus viewing the action through the eyes of the actors, the spectator also is caught up in the unfolding drama, in spite of his advance knowledge. Note that the angels arrived at Sodom at even, that is, in the evening. Now the southern tip of what is now the Dead Sea is some forty miles from Hebron. Normal traveling time for that distance in the patriarchal age would have been about two days; supposing these visitors had left their sumptuous meal at Abraham's tent toward mid-afternoon, they must have had superhuman powers to have made the journey in such a short time. Note the following suggestions, from Jewish sources (SC, 93), in which they are treated as angels: It would surely not have taken them so long to go from Hebron to Sodom; but they were merciful angels, and they waited until Abraham finished his pleading, in the hope they would not have to destroy the place.. Similarly, they came there immediately after they left Abraham, but did not enter the city until even, hoping that Abraham's prayers would be efficacious. (The first of these suggestions is from the medieval commentator Rashi (d. 1105), the second from Sforno, who died at Bologna in 1550). (We must remember that angels are represented in Scripture as having superhuman knowledge, but not omniscience).

Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. The gate was the usual resort of all, and especially of the elders, of whatever city. There legal issues were adjudicated, transactions completed, bargains made, everyday affairs discussed. The gate was the focal point of all communal activities in an urban center like Sodom. Lot arose to meet his visitors, and bowed himself with his face to the earth (the manner in which courtiers and clients address their superiors in the Amarna letters; in the corresponding case of Abraham (Genesis 18:2), the term for face is significantly missing, ABG, 138).

Lot's hospitality was, in the main, according to the usual ritual, but with significant overtones. (1) He urged them to turn aside, etc. Having gone out to meet them, he invited them to come to his house (in contrast to Abraham's tent, Genesis 18:1; Genesis 18:6; Genesis 18:9-10), suggesting that they turn aside to get there, that is, take a roundabout way. At the same time he invited them to tarry all night at his house, adding, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way. Customarily, this order would have been reversed, that is, the washing of feet should have been the first act of the, ritual. But, according to Rashi, Lot feared that if they washed their feet first, and would then be discovered, the Sodomites would accuse him of having harboured them already for a few days. He therefore asked them to spend the night there without washing their feet, to make it appear that they had only just arrived (SC, 93). When the celestial visitors modestly declined Lot's invitation, stating their preference to abide in the street all night (for the purpose, it seems, of evaluating realistically the abhorrent vices of the Sodomites), Lot is said to have urged them greatly: evidently he pressured them as courteously as possible not to do this, because he knew well the lust and violence to which they would be subjected (undoubtedly a point in his favor). (To pass the night in the street was not an unusual thing. The climate permitted such a course; wrapped in their cloaks, travelers frequently spent the night sleeping in the street, especially in the broad place, the enlarged area just within the city gate which served as the market place and the concourse for all types of people). In response to Lot's urgency the angels turned in unto him, and entered into his house: that is, they took a circuitous path to get there. Safely within the house, Lot proceeded with true. Oriental hospitality to bake unleavened bread and make a feast, and they did eat. The same excellent courtesy which we have noted in Abraham still characterizes the nephew.

We may well ask, Why was Lot in the gate of Sodom in the first place? Whitelaw (PCG, 252):In what capacity Lot was sitting in the gate is not narrated. That he was on the outlook for travelers on whom to practice the hospitality he had learned from his uncle (Poole, Willet, Calvin, Lange) is perhaps to form too high an ideal of his piety (Kalisch); while the explanation that he had been promoted to the dignity of one of the city judges, though not perhaps justified as an inference from Genesis 19:9, is not at all unlikely, considering his relationship to Abraham. Jamieson (CECG, 160), concerning the gate: In eastern cities it is the market, and is often devoted to other business transactions (Ruth, ch. 4), the administration of justice, and the enjoyment of social intercourse and amusement; especially it is a favorite lounge in the evenings, the arched roof affording a pleasant shade. Or, was Lot's presence at the gate of Sodom a further proof of his moral and spiritual degeneracy? As Leupold puts it (EG, 555-556): Lot's presence here will hardly be accounted for on the assumption that he was on the lookout for guests in order to afford his hospitality an opportunity to welcome chance strangers. Strangers cannot have been so common in those days. Rather, Lot's presence in the gate constitutes a reproach to the otherwise good and -righteous-' man (2 Peter 2:8). After having first moved into the Plain of Sodom (Genesis 13:11), he presently chose Sodom itself as his dwelling place (Genesis 13:12); and now finally he has arrived at the point where the activities, the bustle and stir, are looked upon with a more or less tolerant interest. This much cannot be denied in the reference to Lot, that when the approach of the strangers is noticed by him, he promptly advances to them with a gracious invitation. He is not ignorant of the danger that threatens chance visitors in such a town. He arises to meet them and bows with the customary respectful oriental salutation.. With anxiety for their welfarefor he knows what men in the open must faceand, perhaps, consciously at no small risk to himself, he makes his invitation as attractive as possible. (It should be recalled here that, according to Scripture, God does not look with favor on the concentration of population. His command was, at the first, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, Genesis 1:28. Replenish here means to stock the whole earth with progeny. But the rebellious race took the opposite course: they concentrated on a plain in Shinar and presumed to build a city and a towera tower whose top would reach unto heavenmaking it necessary for God to confound their speech and thus scatter them abroad: Genesis 11:1-9. Concentration of population invariably breeds vice, crime, violence, and strife of every kind.)

Review Questions

See Genesis 19:30-38.