Genesis 19:17-28

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 19:17 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.
2. Genesis 19:17 tn Heb “escape.”
3. Genesis 19:17 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.
4. Genesis 19:17 tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
5. Genesis 19:18 tn Or “my lords.” See the following note on the problem of identifying the addressee here. The Hebrew term is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
6. Genesis 19:19 tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ʾadonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.
7. Genesis 19:19 tn Heb “in your eyes.”
8. Genesis 19:19 tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”
9. Genesis 19:19 tn Heb “kindness that you have done with me.”sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.
10. Genesis 19:19 tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.
11. Genesis 19:19 tn Heb “lest.”
12. Genesis 19:19 tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.
13. Genesis 19:19 tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.
14. Genesis 19:20 tn The Hebrew word עִיר (ʿir) can refer to either a city or a town, depending on the size of the place. Given that this place was described by Lot later in this verse as a “little place,” the translation uses “town.”
15. Genesis 19:20 tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”
16. Genesis 19:20 tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.
17. Genesis 19:20 tn Heb “Is it not little?”
18. Genesis 19:20 tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.
19. Genesis 19:21 tn Heb “And he said to him, ‘Look, . . . .’” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18-19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the Lord here. Most English translations leave the referent of the pronoun unspecified and maintain the ambiguity.
20. Genesis 19:21 tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”
21. Genesis 19:21 tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).
22. Genesis 19:22 tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.
23. Genesis 19:22 tn Heb “Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.” The name of the place, צוֹעַר (tsoʿar) apparently means “Little Place,” in light of the wordplay with the term “little” (מִצְעָר, mitsʿar) used twice by Lot to describe the town (v. 20).
24. Genesis 19:23 sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).
25. Genesis 19:23 tn The juxtaposition of the two disjunctive clauses indicates synchronic action. The first action (the sun’s rising) occurred as the second (Lot’s entering Zoar) took place. The disjunctive clauses also signal closure for the preceding scene.
26. Genesis 19:24 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.
27. Genesis 19:24 tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).
28. Genesis 19:24 tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.sn The text explicitly states that the sulfur and fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah was sent down from the sky by the Lord. What exactly this was, and how it happened, can only be left to intelligent speculation, but see J. P. Harland, “The Destruction of the Cities of the Plain,” BA 6 (1943): 41-54.
29. Genesis 19:25 tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
30. Genesis 19:25 tn Heb “and what sprouts of the ground.”
31. Genesis 19:26 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32. Genesis 19:26 tn The Hebrew verb means “to look intently; to gaze” (see 15:5).sn Longingly. Lot’s wife apparently identified with the doomed city and thereby showed lack of respect for God’s provision of salvation. She, like her daughters later, had allowed her thinking to be influenced by the culture of Sodom.
33. Genesis 19:27 tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
34. Genesis 19:28 tn Heb “upon the face of.”
35. Genesis 19:28 tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
36. Genesis 19:28 tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”sn It is hard to imagine what was going on in Abraham’s mind, but this brief section in the narrative enables the reader to think about the human response to the judgment. Abraham had family in that area. He had rescued those people from the invasion. That was why he interceded. Yet he surely knew how wicked they were. That was why he got the number down to ten when he negotiated with God to save the city. But now he must have wondered, “What was the point?”