18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against 4 Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 5 18:21 that I must go down 6 and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. 7 If not, 8 I want to know.”
19:6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! 11 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with 12 a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. 13 Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection 14 of my roof.” 15
19:9 “Out of our way!” 16 they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, 17 and now he dares to judge us! 18 We’ll do more harm 19 to you than to them!” They kept 20 pressing in on Lot until they were close enough 21 to break down the door.
1 tn Here is another significant parenthetical clause in the story, signaled by the vav (וו) disjunctive (translated “now”) on the noun at the beginning of the clause.
2 tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.
3 tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the
4 tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.
5 tn Heb “heavy.”
6 tn The cohortative indicates the
7 tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the
8 sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.
9 tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to him.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.
10 tn The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) is used here in the sense of “to lie with” or “to have sex with” (as in Gen 4:1). That this is indeed the meaning is clear from Lot’s warning that they not do so wickedly, and his willingness to give them his daughters instead.
11 tn Heb “may my brothers not act wickedly.”
12 tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
13 tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”
14 tn Heb “shadow.”
15 sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.
16 tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”
17 tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”
18 tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”
19 tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.
20 tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”
21 tn Heb “and they drew near.”
22 tn Heb “the word [or message] you have spoken to us in the name of the
23 tn Heb “that went out of our mouth.” I.e., everything we said, promised, or vowed.
24 tn Heb “sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” The expressions have been combined to simplify and shorten the sentence. The same combination also occurs in vv. 18, 19.
25 tn Heb “saw [or experienced] no disaster/trouble/harm.”
26 tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”
27 sn The Chaldeans were prominent tribal groups of Babylonia. The imagery is reminiscent of events in the reigns of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:12-15) and Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23:34-24:1).