References (34)
[Here comes a new "toledot unit" that forms the seventh literary unit (of twelve) in Genesis.]
This is the continued story of Terah (Terah) (his genealogy/family tree – Hebr. ).
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran became the father of Lot.
Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, Haran's son, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, Abram's wife, and they journeyed from Ur in Chaldea and came to Haran (Hebr. Charan), where they stayed.
Abram went as the Lord (Yahweh) had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran (Hebr. Charan) [].
Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his nephew, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people (servants, literally "souls") that they had acquired in Haran. They set out to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to the land of Canaan.
Abram left Egypt (Hebr. Mitsrajim), he and his wife [Sarai], together with everything that belonged to him, even [his nephew] Lot was with him until Negev [the southern region of Canaan].
Lot, who went with Abram, also had small livestock, herds, and tents.
There was a dispute between the herdsmen of Abram's flocks and the herdsmen of Lot's flocks—the Canaanites and the Perizzites also lived in the land.
Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between you and me, or between my herdsmen and your herdsmen—we are brothers.
Lot lifted up his eyes. And he looked at the whole plain of Jordan
[east of Bethel, see ]. Yes, the whole plain
(its entirety) was rich in water everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah – like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, all the way down to
Tsoar.
[Tsoar was one of the five cities in this area. It was here that Lot fled from Sodom and Gomorrah (). The name means "insignificance," and it was formerly called Bela, which means "destruction." The names seem to indicate that it was a minor city.] So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself. And Lot set out (departed) eastward. And they separated, [like] a man from his brother.
Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled near the cities of the plain. [Five cities are mentioned in the Jordan Valley, see , .] Yes, he [Lot] pitched his tent near Sodom.
After Lot had separated from him, the Lord (Yahweh) said to Abram:
"Now lift up your eyes! And look out from the place where you are
– to the north and to the south [the length]
and to the east and to the west [the breadth].
They also took Abram's nephew Lot and all his possessions, since he lived in Sodom.
and took back all the property. He also took back his brother [relative] Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of the people.
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom, and Lot saw them and rose up to meet them, and he fell on his face to the ground. [Bowing deeply was a common sign of respect at that time.]
They called out to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came in to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know (have sexual relations with) them."
And Lot went out to them at the door and shut the door behind him.
And they replied, "Move aside," and they said, "These came here on a journey, and he [Lot] wants to be a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them." And they pressed hard against the man, against Lot, and came close to breaking down the door.
But the men [angels] stretched out their hands and pulled Lot into the house and closed the door. [The more unusual Hebrew sentence structure with the verb last indicates that the door is not sealed in the usual way but supernaturally.]
And the men [the heavenly visitors] said to Lot, "Do you have anyone here, sons-in-law, your sons and your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of this place,
And Lot went out and spoke to his [future] sons-in-law who were to marry [had married] his daughters, saying, "Rev, get away from this place, for the Lord (Yahweh) is going to destroy the city." But he was like a man joking (teasing, mocking) to his sons-in-law.
[The Hebrew text is without tense. The Greek translation Septuagint translates it as "already married sons-in-law," which would refer to other daughters (than the two mentioned in ) who were already married, but since the daughters live with him, it is more likely that they are betrothed and the text refers to future sons-in-law (as translated in the Latin Vulgate). Regardless, the main point is that they did not listen and did not believe that he was serious. The same verb describes Sarah's response, see , , .]
And when morning dawned, the angels hurried Lot, saying, "Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the transgressions of the city."
Lot said to them, "Not so, my lord,
The sun had risen over the earth when
Lot arrived at
Tsoar.
And it came to pass, when God (Elohim) destroyed the cities of the plain, that God (Elohim) remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt. [; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ]
And
Lot went up from
Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, he and his two daughters with him, for he was afraid to dwell in
Zoar, and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to me, "Do not attack Moab or engage in battle with them, for I will not give you any of their land as your possession, since I have given Ar [a city in Moab; here also refers to the entire area] to the sons of Lot as their possession.
and when you come near, opposite the sons of Ammon, do not attack them or fight with them, for I will not give you the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, since I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.
Do to them as you did to Midian [enemy, see ],
as you did to [the commander] Sisera [who led Jabin's army, see ],
as with [King] Jabin [in northern Canaan, see , ]
at the Brook of Kishon [],
Then it will be as in the days of Lot. People ate, drank, bought, sold, planted, and built.
On the day
Lot left
Sodom, fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
[Society had changed since Noah's days: in addition to eating and drinking, people also bought, sold, planted, and built. There was economic prosperity and abundance. This is not wrong in itself, but the sin was that they did not want to know God. There were not even ten righteous people in the city, see . Note that "married and were given in marriage" is not included here. It is implied that people no longer married and promised each other fidelity, but lived in loose relationships.
The conclusion from these two examples was that people lived as usual. The day Noah entered the ark and the day Lot left the city were like any other day. There was no special sign in the sky that morning. What they also have in common is that the righteous are saved before the judgment comes.]Remember
Lot's wife.
[In it is told how she turned back and longed for Sodom, which became her downfall.]But he saved righteous Lot, who was tormented by the lawless lives of the wicked.
