Genesi 19:31 Commento

The contents of this chapter we have, Pe2 2:6-8, where we find that "God, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, and delivered just Lot." It is the history of Sodom's ruin, and Lot's rescue from that ruin. We read (ch. 18) of God's coming to take a view of the present state of Sodom, what its wickedness was, and what righteous persons there were in it: now here we have the result of that enquiry. I. It was found, upon trial, that Lot was very good (Gen 19:1-3), and it did not appear that there was any more of the same character. II. It was found that the Sodomites were very wicked and vile (Gen 19:4-11). III. Special care was therefore taken for the securing of Lot and his family, in a place of safety (Gen 19:12-23). IV. Mercy having rejoiced therein, justice shows itself in the ruin of Sodom and the death of Lot's wife (Gen 19:24-26), with a general repetition of the story (Gen 19:27-29). V. A foul sin that Lot was guilty of, in committing incest with his two daughters (Gen 19:30, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 19 The contents of this chapter are Lot's entertainment of two angels that came to Sodom, Gen 19:1; the rude behaviour of the men of Sodom towards them, who for it were smote with blindness, Gen 19:4; the deliverance of Lot, his wife and two daughters, by means of the angels he entertained, Gen 19:12; the sparing of the city of Zoar at the entreaty of Lot, to which he was allowed to flee, Gen 19:18; the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen 19:23; Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, Gen 19:26; Abraham's view of the conflagration of the cities, Gen 19:28; Lot's betaking himself to a mountain, and dwelling in a cave with his two daughters, by whom he had two sons, the one called Moab, and the other Benammi, Gen 19:30.

Come, let us make our father drink wine,.... Meaning to excess, so as to be inebriated with it, and not know what he did: this wine might be brought with them from Sodom, with other provisions for their refreshment and support; or it may be rather from Zoar, where they furnished themselves with a quantity for their support in the mountain they betook themselves unto: and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the seed of our father; have children by him, and propagate and preserve the human species; this they might think lawful, such incestuous copulations being usual among their neighbours the Arabs, as appears from Strabo (s) and other writers, and especially when there seemed to them to be a necessity for it; and it may be this did not arise from a spirit of uncleanness, or a brutish lust prevailing in them, having been religiously educated, and having preserved their chastity among such an impure generation as the men of Sodom: wherefore this might rather arise, as Bishop Patrick and others have thought, from an eager desire after the Messiah, they might hope would spring from them; their father being a descendant of Shem, a son of Abraham's elder brother, and now remarkably saved from Sodom, which they might conclude was for this purpose; and they knew of no way in which it could be brought about but in this they proposed; and the rather this may be thought to be their view, as the above learned commentator observes, when we remark their former chaste life in Sodom; their joining together in this contrivance, which, had it been a lustful business, they would have been ashamed to have communicated their thoughts of it to one another; and their imposition of names on their children to perpetuate the memory of this fact, which they rather gloried in, than were ashamed of: to which may be added, that the ancient Jewish writers (t) interpret this of the Messiah; and they observe,"it is not said a son, but seed, that seed, which is he that comes from another place: and what is this? this is the King Messiah:''and Ruth, the Moabitess, who was of the race of the eldest daughter of Lot, stands in the genealogy of our Lord, Mat 1:5, however, let the intention be ever so good, it will, not justify an action so monstrously vile. (s) Geograph. l. 16. p. 538. Vid. Pocock, Specim. Arab. Hist. p. 337, 338. (t) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 51. fol. 46. 1. Midrash Ruth, fol. 35. 4.

The two angels mentioned in the preceding chapter, come in the evening to Sodom, Gen 19:1. Lot, who was sitting at the gate, invites them to enter his house, take some refreshment, and tarry all night; which they at first refuse, Gen 19:2; but on being pressingly solicited, they at last comply, Gen 19:3. The abominable conduct of the men of Sodom, Gen 19:4, Gen 19:5. Lot's deep concern for the honor and safely of his guests, which leads him to make a most exceptionable proposal to those wicked men, Gen 19:6-8. The violent proceedings of the Sodomites, Gen 19:9. Lot rescued from their barbarity by the angels, who smite them with blindness, Gen 19:10, Gen 19:11. The angels exhort Lot and his family to flee from that wicked place, as God was about to destroy it, Gen 19:12, Gen 19:13. Lot's fruitless exhortation to his sons-in-law, Gen 19:14. The angels hasten Lot and his family to depart, Gen 19:15, Gen 19:16. Their exhortation, Gen 19:17. Lot's request, Gen 19:18-20. He is permitted to escape to Zoar, Gen 19:21-23. Fire and brimstone are rained down from heaven upon all the cities of the plain, by which they are entirely destroyed, Gen 19:24, Gen 19:25. Lot's wife, looking behind, becomes a pillar of salt, Gen 19:26. Abraham, early in the morning, discovers the desolation of those iniquitous cities, Gen 19:27-29. Lot, fearing to continue in Zoar, went with his two daughters to the mountain, and dwelt in a cave, Gen 19:30. The strange conduct of his daughters, and his unhappy deception, Gen 19:31-36. Moab and Ammon born, from whom sprang the Moabites and Ammonites, Gen 19:37, Gen 19:38.

Our father is old - And consequently not likely to re-marry; and there is not a man in the earth - none left, according to their opinion in all the land of Canaan, of their own family and kindred; and they might think it unlawful to match with others, such as the inhabitants of Zoar, who they knew had been devoted to destruction as well as those of Sodom and Gomorrah, and were only saved at the earnest request of their father; and probably while they lived among them they found them ripe enough for punishment, and therefore would have thought it both dangerous and criminal to have formed any matrimonial connections with them.

LOT'S ENTERTAINMENT. (Gen. 19:1-38) there came two angels--most probably two of those that had been with Abraham, commissioned to execute the divine judgment against Sodom. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom--In Eastern cities it is the market, the seat of justice, of social intercourse and amusement, especially a favorite lounge in the evenings, the arched roof affording a pleasant shade.

The messengers (angels) sent by Jehovah to Sodom, arrived there in the evening, when Lot, who was sitting at the gate, pressed them to pass the night in his house. The gate, generally an arched entrance with deep recesses and seats on either side, was a place of meeting in the ancient towns of the East, where the inhabitants assembled either for social intercourse or to transact public business (vid., Gen 34:20; Deu 21:19; Deu 22:15, etc.). The two travellers, however (for such Lot supposed them to be, and only recognised them as angels when they had smitten the Sodomites miraculously with blindness), said that they would spend the night in the street - בּרחוב the broad open space within the gate - as they had been sent to inquire into the state of the town. But they yielded to Lot's entreaty to enter his house; for the deliverance of Lot, after having ascertained his state of mind, formed part of their commission, and entering into his house might only serve to manifest the sin of Sodom in all its heinousness. While Lot was entertaining his guests with the greatest hospitality, the people of Sodom gathered round his house, "both old and young, all people from every quarter" (of the town, as in Jer 51:31), and demanded, with the basest violation of the sacred rite of hospitality and the most shameless proclamation of their sin (Isa 3:9), that the strangers should be brought out, that they might know them. ידע is applied, as in Jdg 19:22, to the carnal sin of paederastia, a crime very prevalent among the Canaanites (Lev 18:22., Lev 20:23), and according to Rom 1:27, a curse of heathenism generally.