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Sodom Falls and Lot Escapes

Genesis 19

The big picture

Lot, Abraham's nephew, lives in Sodom, a city on the plain where he settled. Abraham, his uncle, had pleaded with God to spare the city if righteous people lived there. Two angels, God's messengers, arrive in Sodom at evening. Gomorrah, another city on the plain, faces the same judgment. Lot brings the visitors into his home. A violent mob soon surrounds the house. The night ends with escape, destruction, and another family disaster after Lot reaches the mountains.

In this chapter

Central truth

Genesis 19 shows Sodom's violent corruption, God's judgment, Lot's rescue, and the damaged choices that continue after escape.

Lot and his family hurry through a crowded gate as smoke and fire rise over the city behind them.
Chapter sceneGenesis 19

Scripture beside the summary

Genesis · King James Version · 38

Genesis 19:1-11

A Mob Surrounds Lot's House

Two angels reach Sodom at evening. Lot meets them at the city gate and urges them to stay in his house. He feeds them before night falls. Men from across Sodom then surround the house and demand the visitors for sexual assault. Lot goes outside and calls their plan wicked. He offers his two daughters instead, a terrible choice that Genesis reports without approval. The mob rejects him and threatens him as well. The visitors pull Lot back inside and shut the door. They strike the attackers with blindness. Even then, the men keep trying to find the entrance.

Genesis 19:1-11: A Mob Surrounds Lot's House
Chapter sceneGenesis 19

In everyday life

A shop owner sees an angry crowd gather outside after a dangerous rumor spreads through town. Desperate to protect his building, he offers a worker's private information to redirect the crowd toward someone more vulnerable. The choice shows how panic can make one person's safety seem worth another person's harm. Lot's situation involves threatened sexual violence, which this comparison does not reproduce.

Notice

Genesis 19:9 The crowd calls Lot an outsider who is acting like a judge. His attempt to stop their violence now makes him another target.

Genesis 19:1-11

King James Version

1And 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;

2And 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.

3And 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.

4But 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:

5And 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.

6And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

7And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

8Behold 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.

9And 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.

10But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11And 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.

Genesis 19:12-29

Lot Flees Before Judgment Falls

The angels tell Lot to gather his family because Sodom will be destroyed. His sons-in-law think he is joking. At dawn, the angels press Lot, his wife, and two daughters to leave. Lot hesitates. The angels take them by the hand and lead them outside because the LORD is merciful to him. Lot asks to flee to Zoar, a small nearby city, instead of the mountains. His request is granted. After he reaches Zoar, fire and brimstone destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot's wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt. Abraham later sees smoke over the plain. God remembers Abraham and brings Lot out.

Genesis 19:12-29: Lot Flees Before Judgment Falls
Chapter sceneGenesis 19
Ancient Near East overview
Ancient Near East overview

In everyday life

A father packs medicine after officials order his family to leave a wildfire zone. He still hesitates at the door, so rescue workers lead everyone outside and direct them toward a safer town. Later, a relative sees smoke rising where the neighbourhood stood. A wildfire is a natural disaster, while Genesis describes the cities' destruction as God's judgment.

Notice

Genesis 19:16 Lot lingers even after the warning becomes urgent. The angels take each family member by the hand, and the verse names the LORD's mercy.

Genesis 19:12-29

King James Version

12And 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:

13For 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.

14And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, 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.

15And 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.

16And 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.

17And 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.

18And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

20Behold 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.

21And 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.

22Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

25And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:

28And 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.

29And 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.

Genesis 19:30-38

Fear Drives a Damaging Plan

Lot leaves Zoar because he is afraid to remain there. He and his two daughters move into a mountain cave. The older daughter believes no man is available to continue their family line. She plans for both daughters to make their father drunk and have sex with him without his awareness. They carry out the plan on two nights, and both become pregnant. The older daughter bears Moab, named as the ancestor of the Moabites. The younger bears Ben-ammi, named as the ancestor of the Ammonites. Genesis reports fear, deception, drunkenness, and incest without calling any of them good.

Genesis 19:30-38: Fear Drives a Damaging Plan
Chapter sceneGenesis 19

In everyday life

A family loses its home, savings, and support network after a severe disaster. Living in temporary shelter, they become convinced that ordinary options are gone. Fear closes their thinking until they falsify documents to secure money they believe the family cannot survive without. Their wrongdoing is financial deceit, not the sexual act Genesis reports.

Notice

Genesis 19:31 The older daughter speaks as though no other man is available, even though Zoar still exists. Fear has narrowed what she believes is possible.

Genesis 19:30-38

King James Version

30And 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.

31And 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:

32Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

33And 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.

34And 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.

35And 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.

36Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

37And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

38And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

Details worth noticing

38verses in this reading
3major movements
14verses with speech
3questions in the KJV text

The opening image

Genesis 19:1 begins with “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…”

Where the chapter turns

Genesis 19:20 forms a natural hinge: “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.”

The final note

Genesis 19:38 leaves the reader with “And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.”

A word trail through the chapter

The words father, city, daughters, LORD, door, night help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.

KJV words made clear

compassed
surrounded or enclosed something from every side.
know them
a sexual expression here, shown by the mob's demand and Lot's response.
waxen great
grown great, meaning become very serious or severe.
brimstone
sulfur, a substance that burns and gives off a sharp smell.
sojourn
live somewhere for a time without being a permanent resident.

Music and video connected to the passage

Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.

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Source: eBible.org · eng-kjv2006