Genesis 19:12–26

19:12 Then the two visitors27 said to Lot, “Who else do you have here?28 Do you have29 any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city?30 Get them out of this31 place 19:13 because we are about to destroy32 it. The outcry against this place33 is so great before the Lord that he34 has sent us to destroy it.”

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters.35 He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy36 the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.37

19:15 At dawn38 the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here,39 or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!”40 19:16 When Lot41 hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them.42 They led them away and placed them43 outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they44 said, “Run45 for your lives! Don’t look46 behind you or stop anywhere in the valley!47 Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”

19:18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord!48 19:19 Your49 servant has found favor with you,50 and you have shown me great51 kindness52 by sparing53 my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because54 this disaster will overtake55 me and I’ll die.56 19:20 Look, this town57 over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one.58 Let me go there.59 It’s just a little place, isn’t it?60 Then I’ll survive.”61

19:21 “Very well,” he replied,62 “I will grant this request too63 and will not overthrow64 the town you mentioned. 19:22 Run there quickly,65 for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.)66

19:23 The sun had just risen67 over the land as Lot reached Zoar.68 19:24 Then the Lord rained down69 sulfur and fire70 on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord.71 19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region,72 including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew73 from the ground. 19:26 But Lot’s74 wife looked back longingly75 and was turned into a pillar of salt.

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27	tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “visitors” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
28	tn Heb “Yet who [is there] to you here?”
29	tn The words “Do you have” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
30	tn Heb “a son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who (is) to you in the city.”
31	tn Heb “the place.” The Hebrew article serves here as a demonstrative.
32	tn The Hebrew participle expresses an imminent action here.
33	tn Heb “for their outcry.” The words “about this place” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
34	tn Heb “the Lord.” The repetition of the divine name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.
35	sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.
36	tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.
37	tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.
38	tn Heb “When dawn came up.”
39	tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.
40	tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
41	tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
42	tn Heb “in the compassion of the Lord to them.”
43	tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).
44	tn Or “one of them”; Heb “he.” Several ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac) read the plural “they.” See also the note on “your” in v. 19.
45	tn Heb “escape.”
46	tn The Hebrew verb translated “look” signifies an intense gaze, not a passing glance. This same verb is used later in v. 26 to describe Lot’s wife’s self-destructive look back at the city.
47	tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
48	tn Or “my lords.” See the following note on the problem of identifying the addressee here. The Hebrew term is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
49	tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.
50	tn Heb “in your eyes.”
51	tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”
52	sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.
53	tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.
54	tn Heb “lest.”
55	tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.
56	tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.
57	tn The Hebrew word עִיר (’ir) can refer to either a city or a town, depending on the size of the place. Given that this place was described by Lot later in this verse as a “little place,” the translation uses “town.”
58	tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”
59	tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.
60	tn Heb “Is it not little?”
61	tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.
62	tn Heb “And he said, ‘Look, I will grant.’ ” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18–19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the Lord here. Most English translations leave the referent of the pronoun unspecified and maintain the ambiguity.
63	tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”
64	tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).
65	tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.
66	tn Heb “Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.” The name of the place, צוֹעַר (tso’ar) apparently means “Little Place,” in light of the wordplay with the term “little” (מִצְעָר, mits’ar) used twice by Lot to describe the town (v. 20).
67	sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).
68	tn The juxtaposition of the two disjunctive clauses indicates synchronic action. The first action (the sun’s rising) occurred as the second (Lot’s entering Zoar) took place. The disjunctive clauses also signal closure for the preceding scene.
69	tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.
70	tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).
71	tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. sn The text explicitly states that the sulfur and fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah was sent down from the sky by the Lord. What exactly this was, and how it happened, can only be left to intelligent speculation, but see J. P. Harland, “The Destruction of the Cities of the Plain,” BA 6 (1943): 41–54.
72	tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
73	tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”
74	tn Heb “his”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
75	tn The Hebrew verb means “to look intently; to gaze” (see 15:5). sn Longingly. Lot’s wife apparently identified with the doomed city and thereby showed lack of respect for God’s provision of salvation. She, like her daughters later, had allowed her thinking to be influenced by the culture of Sodom.

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