Genesis 19

Genesis 19 is a chapter within the Abraham narrative of Genesis. In Genesis 18, Abraham intercedes with the LORD on behalf of Sodom; this chapter continues the account with what then took place in Sodom.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 At evening two angels arrive in Sodom. Lot, who is sitting in the gate of the city, urges them to stay in his house and serves them a meal, baking unleavened bread for them.
• Verses 4–11 The men of Sodom, young and old alike, surround the house and demand that the guests be brought out. Lot offers them his two daughters instead. When the crowd tries to break down the door, the angels pull Lot back into the house and strike the crowd with blindness.
• Verses 12–16 The angels announce that they have come to destroy the city. Lot's sons-in-law, who were betrothed to his daughters, take his warning as a joke. At dawn, when Lot lingers, the angels take him, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and lead them out of the city.
• Verses 17–23 The angels tell Lot to flee to the mountains. Lot asks instead to take refuge in a small city nearby, and his request is granted. That city is named Zoar. The sun has risen by the time Lot enters Zoar.
• Verses 24–29 The LORD rains brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah and overthrows the whole plain. Lot's wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt. In the morning Abraham sees smoke rising from the land. The text records that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out.
• Verses 30–38 Lot lives in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. The daughters make their father drunk with wine and bear sons by him. The elder daughter's son becomes the ancestor of the Moabites, and the younger daughter's son, Ben-ammi, becomes the ancestor of the Ammonites.

Key Verses

• Genesis 19:16 "the LORD being merciful unto him." This shows that Lot's deliverance came not from his own resolve but from God's mercy.
• Genesis 19:26 "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." Jesus himself refers to this scene in the New Testament.
• Genesis 19:29 "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow." This verse links the chapter to Abraham's intercession in chapter 18.

Characters and Places

• Lot: Abraham's nephew, who was living in Sodom.
• Lot's wife: Her name is not recorded. She looks back and becomes a pillar of salt.
• Lot's two daughters: The mothers of Moab and Ben-ammi.
• Abraham: He watches the destruction of the cities from a distance.
• Sodom and Gomorrah: The destroyed "cities of the plain." They have traditionally been located in the region south of the Dead Sea, but their exact location has not been established.
• Zoar: The small city where Lot took refuge. Its name is commonly explained as related to a word meaning "small."
• Moab and Ammon: They later become neighboring peoples of Israel. The line of Moab leads to the story of the Moabite woman Ruth.

Interpretive Considerations

• What was the sin of Sodom? This is one of the most debated points of interpretation. Many conservative denominations and interpreters read "that we may know them" in verse 5 as an attempted homosexual assault. On the basis of Jude 1:7, "going after strange flesh," they regard the passage as Scripture's judgment on homosexuality. Other interpreters place the emphasis on the violence intended against the guests and the refusal of hospitality. They point out that Ezekiel 16:49–50 names pride and failure to care for the poor among the sins of Sodom. This debate is treated in detail in the article Homosexuality and the Church.
• Lot's conduct. The text offers no direct evaluation of Lot's offer of his daughters or of his daughters' actions. Some interpreters seek to explain these events in light of the hospitality customs of the time, while others read them as depicting the moral collapse of Lot's household after its years in Sodom.
• Connections with the New Testament. Jesus says, "Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:32). Sodom is mentioned repeatedly as an example of judgment (Matthew 10:15; 2 Peter 2:6). Second Peter 2:7–8 calls Lot "just Lot," that is, righteous Lot. Hebrews 13:2, which speaks of those who "have entertained angels unawares," is read in connection with Genesis 18–19.

In the Korean Church

• The story of Lot's wife is frequently used in sermons as an illustration of the exhortation "Do not look back."
• The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is widely taught as a Bible story in Sunday schools.
• The chapter is also frequently cited in Korean church discussions of homosexuality.