Genesis Chapter 19

At a Glance

  • Genesis 19 dramatizes the catastrophic moral collapse of Sodom and Gomorrah, viewed through the lens of Lot’s hospitality and the city’s violent inhospitality.
  • This chapter is a dark study in judgment, hospitality, and moral complexity.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • Genesis 19 belongs to the Sodom narrative, a portion of the Bible that uses vivid, ethically charged storytelling to address communal corruption and divine judgment.
  • - Hospitality versus inhospitality: How guests are treated reveals a community’s character and willingness to extend mercy.

Chapter Overview

Genesis 19 dramatizes the catastrophic moral collapse of Sodom and Gomorrah, viewed through the lens of Lot’s hospitality and the city’s violent inhospitality. Two angels arrive in Sodom, where Lot offers them refuge in his home. The men of the city surround Lot’s house, pressing to “know” the visitors, exposing the pervasive depravity that triggers judgment. Lot’s countercultural hospitality—offering his daughters to men who would misuse them—reflects the moral compromise of the era, yet the angels intervene by striking the would-be mob with blindness. The scene then shifts to the divine plan to destroy the cities as the outcry against their grave wickedness has reached God. Lot and his family are warned to flee, and Lot’s wife famously looks back, becoming a pillar of salt as a consequence of disobedience. Lot and his daughters escape, but the chapter ends with a troubling episode of moral ambiguity involving Lot’s daughters’ scheme to preserve offspring, leading to the birth of Moab and Ammon, who become nations at odds with Israel.

This chapter is a dark study in judgment, hospitality, and moral complexity. It juxtaposes a morally compromised city with a reluctantly righteous family, illustrating how corruption has social ripples and how even the righteous can be compromised by a hostile environment. The narrative warns against the brutal erosion of hospitality, the dangers of crowd-think, and the consequences of choosing fear over faith. It also foregrounds God’s justice and mercy in light of human choices.

Historical & Literary Context

Genesis 19 belongs to the Sodom narrative, a portion of the Bible that uses vivid, ethically charged storytelling to address communal corruption and divine judgment. The genre is historical-narrative with strong moral and theological undertones. The story is set in a landscape of ancient city life, where kinship, hospitality, and reputation intersect with divine cosmic order. The episode functions as a cautionary tale: a city’s moral climate becomes a test case for divine justice and human responsibility. It also provides etiological insights into the origins of Moab and Ammon, revealing how the choices of the patriarchs reverberate through generations.

Key Themes

- Hospitality versus inhospitality: How guests are treated reveals a community’s character and willingness to extend mercy.

- Divine justice and mercy: God’s judgment is real, but there is a thread of mercy in the rescue of Lot and his family.

- Moral ambiguity and human faltering: Lot’s compromised decisions and the disturbing offer of his daughters highlight ethical complexity.

- The consequences of settings and choices: The environment and fear influence actions, shaping future national relationships.

- The sanctity of life and its limits: The city’s violence and the divine response reveal the seriousness with which God regards human flourishing.

Modern Application

Genesis 19 challenges readers to reflect on urban ethics, hospitality, and the boundaries of tolerating societal decay. It invites a sober assessment of how communities respond to vulnerable outsiders and how leadership, even when well-intentioned, can stumble in crisis situations. The text warns against the coercive power of “the crowd” and the moral costs of fear-driven decisions. It also presses believers to seek righteous, courageous response to injustice—protecting the vulnerable, standing for integrity, and praying for mercy where possible. The consequences of looking back or acting out of fear are contrasted with the hope of deliverance that God can provide, even in deeply compromised contexts.

Cross-References

- Genesis 13:12-13 (the contrast between righteous and wicked cities)

- Jeremiah 23:14 (references to similar sins in the prophets)

- Luke 17:28-33 (the warnings about living in a world of moral compromise)

- Hebrews 11:7 (Noah’s faith amid a wicked generation, as a broad pattern)

- 2 Peter 2:6-9 (Sodom’s judgment and righteous Lot)

Recommended Personas

- Lot: Offers insight into the complexities of a righteous person living in a deeply compromised society.

- Angels/Theophanic messengers: Represent God’s intervention and judgment.

- Abraham (as a foil): His response to moral crises offers contrast to Lot’s decisions.

- Jesus: The New Testament perspective on hospitality, justice, and mercy provides a bridge for modern readers.

Chapter Text

1

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

2

And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

3

And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

4

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

5

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

6

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

7

And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

8

Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

9

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

10

But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

11

And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12

And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

13

For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.

14

And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

15

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16

And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

18

And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD:

19

Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

20

Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

21

And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

22

Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23

The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24

Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

25

And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

26

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27

And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:

28

And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29

And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

30

And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31

And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

32

Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

33

And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

34

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

35

And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

36

Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

37

And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

38

And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

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