ปฐมกาล 19:37 วิจารณ์

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.

But I know that some, so far as the story pertains to a spiritual interpretation, have referred Lot to the person of the Lord and his daughters to the two Testaments. But I do not know if anyone freely accepts these views who knows what the Scripture says about the Ammonites and Moabites who descend from Lot’s race. For how will one be able to apply to Christ the statement that those who descend from his seed “shall not enter the assembly of the Lord” “to the third and fourth generation”?But we, as we are able to perceive, consider Lot to be a figure of the law. Let not the fact that the word law is declined in the feminine gender in Latin appear incongruous, since it preserves the masculine gender in Greek. We consider his wife to represent the people who, after they had set out from Egypt and had been delivered from the Red Sea and the persecution of Pharaoh, as if from the fires of Sodom, again desiring the meat and “pots of Egypt and onions and cucumbers,” looked back and fell in the desert. Those people too became a memorial of concupiscence in the wilderness. In regard to that first people, therefore, it was there that the law, like Lot, lost and left his wife looking back. Then Lot comes and dwells in Zoar, about which he says, “This city is small, and my life shall be saved in it; and it is not small.” Let us see, therefore, so far as it pertains to the law what “the city” is that is “small and not small.” A city is so named from the manner of life of the multitude, because it orders and holds together the lives of many in one place. These therefore who live by the law have a small and petty manner of life as long as they understand the law literally. For there is nothing great in observing sabbaths and new moons and circumcision of the flesh and distinctions between foods in a fleshly manner. But if someone should begin to understand spiritually, these same observances, which in the literal sense were small and petty, in the spiritual sense are not small but great.

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.

Called his name Moab - This name is generally interpreted of the father, or, according to Calmet, מואב Moab, the waters of the father.

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.