Genesis 19:16-17

19:16 When Lot ¹  hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. ²  They led them away and placed them ³  outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they ⁴  said, “Run ⁵  for your lives! Don’t look ⁶  behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! ⁷  Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”

[19:16]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:16]  ² tn Heb “in the compassion of the Lord to them.”

[19:16]  ³ 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”).

[19:17]  ⁴ 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.

[19:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “escape.”

[19:17]  ⁶ 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.

[19:17]  ⁷ tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.