_LOT ENTERTAINS TWO ANGELS, WHO CONDUCT HIM, WITH HIS WIFE AND TWO DAUGHTERS, OUT OF THE CITY WHICH WAS ABOUT TO BE DESTROYED. BRIMSTONE AND FIRE FALL FROM HEAVEN UPON SODOM AND GOMORRAH. LOT'S WIFE BECOMES A PILLAR OF SALT. LOT FLIES FROM ZOAR TO THE MOUNTAINS, AND HAS AN INCESTUOUS COMMERCE WITH H... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE CAME, &C.— This perhaps might be rendered more properly, _And_ the _two angels_ [who had been with Abraham at noon] _came to Sodom at even. And Lot sat at the gate of the city,_ according to the custom of those times, when the elders used to sit at the gates of cities to transact either pu... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MEN OF THE CITY, BOTH OLD AND YOUNG, &C.— The men of this abandoned city, being informed of the arrival of these strangers (who probably were of a very beautiful appearance) flocked from all quarters of the town, numbers of every age, with the most infamous purpose, shocking to relate or think o... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD NOW, I HAVE TWO DAUGHTERS, &C.— See Judges 19:23. Nothing can afford us a stronger proof of the sacredness of hospitality, than this proposal of Lot's, to which that in Judges is similar. Yet at the same time it must be allowed, that the proposal was highly blameable, as it is an eternal maxi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE WILL NEEDS BE A JUDGE— He will needs pretend to give us laws, to be a censor or corrector of our manners. This seems to imply, as if Lot had heretofore given good advice to the Sodomites, which indeed is confirmed by what St. Peter says of Lot, 2 Ephesians 2:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SMOTE, &C.— Lot being in great danger, the angels, by their superior power, rescued him from the mad multitude without, whom they _smote with blindness,_ that is, with such a dimness and confusion of sight, or temporary loss of it, as disenabled them from finding Lot's door, which they wear... [ Continue Reading ]
SONS-IN-LAW, WHICH MARRIED HIS DAUGHTERS— These must either have been daughters of Lot, different from those mentioned in Genesis 19:8 or we must understand the Hebrew, as many versions have done, as expressing only a _future marriage,_ a _betrothing; sons-in-law, who were to have married_ [were bet... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHILE HE LINGERED— Alarmed at the apprehension of so terrible an event, shocked for the destruction of his relations and friends, and the inhabitants of this devoted city, Lot stood benumbed, as it were, and unable to move, when the angels led him and his family by the hand from the accursed cit... [ Continue Reading ]
AND LOT SAID UNTO THEM—MY LORD— In Genesis 19:17 it is said, that when _they_ (the angels) had brought Lot forth, _he_, i.e.. _one of them, said,_ &c. And so here Lot applying to _both,_ (who evidently acted by one commission,) immediately addressed _one_ only, and him, most probably, who had said,... [ Continue Reading ]
I CANNOT ESCAPE, LEST, &C.— Lot betrayed the weakness of his faith, as if he saw a better way of security for himself than God pointed out, or, as if he doubted the sufficiency of the Divine protection. He urges two motives for permission to go to the city of Zoar; 1st, Because it was near, not so f... [ Continue Reading ]
SEE, I HAVE ACCEPTED THEE, &C.— I have granted thee this request also. The Hebrew is, _I have lifted up thy face,_ which some of the versions follow: and the metaphor, most probably, is taken from the Oriental custom of prostrating the body, and laying the face to the ground, when soliciting favours... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE—CALLED ZOAR— It was before called _Bela._ See ch. Genesis 14:2. and being saved at Lot's intercession, _because it was a little one,_ it was thence called Zoar, or _little._ It stood on the utmost skirt of the plain of Jordan, and was one of the five cities in that region where Sodom stood... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD RAINED—FROM THE LORD— Houbigant asserts, and Calmet also is of the same opinion, that the _Jehovah_ here repeated refers to the _Father_ and the _Son:_ and so, says he, almost all the ancient fathers have understood it, as they doubted not that the Son of God appeared to Abraham in a human... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HIS WIFE LOOKED BACK, &C.— The angels, Genesis 19:17 commanded _Lot,_ and consequently those with him, _not to look back,_ which, I apprehend, cannot be understood to mean, a mere turning of the eyes only, but a delay in the plain about to be destroyed, from a love of the things left behind, whi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABRAHAM GAT UP EARLY, &C.— Impatient to know the efficacy of his intercession with the Lord, and trembling for the fate of the unhappy sinners, Abraham rose early, and came to the place where he had _stood before,_ or interceded with the Lord on the former day; when he beheld the dreadful catast... [ Continue Reading ]
CITIES IN WHICH LOT DWELT— That is, in _one_ of which Lot dwelt. So ch. Genesis 8:4. _the ark rested on the mountains, i.e._. one of the mountains of _Ararat._ See Judges 12:7. Matthew 26:8. His disciples (i.e. _one_ of them, Judas) _saw it_ and _had indignation._ REFLECTIONS.—Abraham spent the nig... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE FEARED TO DWELL IN ZOAR— We have here another proof (see Genesis 19:19.) of the weakness of Lot's faith. He seems to have been very timorous, and to have had but little of the fortitude of his uncle Abraham. God had lately preserved Zoar for his sake, and yet he is scarcely arrived there, bef... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRST-BORN SAID, &C.— There can be no doubt, I suppose, that the principal reason why the sacred writer recorded this event, was to point out to the Israelites the incestuous and hateful origin of the Moabites and Ammonites, their enemies, as before he mentioned the sin of Canaan for the same re... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CALLED HIS NAME MOAB, THE FATHER OF THE MOABITES— This addition, _the father of the Moabites,_ and the same in the next verse, _father of the children of Ammon,_ plainly points out the design of Moses referred to in the beginning of the last note. _Moab_ signifies, _from my father;_ plainly mark... [ Continue Reading ]