and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”
Parallel Translations
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and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”
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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.
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and he said: 'Behold now, my lords, turn aside, 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 way.' And they said: 'Nay; but we will abide in the broad place all night.'
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Genesis 19:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 18:4 Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
- Luke 24:28-29 They came near to the village where they were going, and he acted like he would go further. They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” He went in to stay with them.
- Acts 16:15 When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.
- Hebrews 13:2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
- Judges 19:17-21 He lifted up his eyes, and saw the wayfaring man in the street of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?” He said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem Judah to the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem Judah. I am going to Yahweh’s house; and there is no one who has taken me into his house. Yet there is both straw and feed for our donkeys; and there is bread and wine also for me, and for your servant, and for the young man who is with your servants. There is no lack of anything.” The old man said, “Peace be to you! Just let me supply all your needs, but don’t sleep in the street.” So he brought him into his house, and gave the donkeys fodder. Then they washed their feet, and ate and drank.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 2. Nay, but we will abide in the street.…
2. Nay, but we will abide in the street. The angels do not immediately assent, in order that they may the more fully investigate the disposition of the holy man. For he was about to bring them to his own house, not merely for the sake of supplying them with a supper, but for the purpose of defending them from the force and injury of the citizens. Therefore the angels act, as if it were safe to sleep on the highway; and thus conceal their knowledge of the abandoned wickedness of the whole people. For if the gates of cities are shut, to prevent the incursions of wild beasts and of enemies; how wrong and absurd it is that they who are within should be exposed to still more grievous dangers? Therefore the angels thus speak, in order to make the wickedness of the people appear the greater. And Lot, in urging the angels to come unto him, for the purpose of protecting them from the common violence of the people, the more clearly shows, how careful he was of his guests, lest they should suffer any dishonor or injury.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 19:2 And he said, Behold now, my lords,…
Gen 19:2 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.
Ver. 2. Nay, but we will abide in the street.] They would have done so, but for Lot’s importunity. So our Saviour would have gone farther, but that the two disciples constrained him to stay. {Luk 24:29} This was no simulation; or if so, yet it was only exploratory, without deceit or hypocrisy. And if Solomon sinned not in making believe he would do that which was unlawful to be done, {1Ki 3:24} it can be no sin to do the like in things indifferent.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Go on your ways, and so this will be…
Go on your ways, and so this will be no hinderance to your occasions.
We will abide in the street all night: this was no untruth, but really intended by them in the present state of things, and upon supposition that Lot should press them no further; but they also intended, if Lot was earnest with them, to comply with him. The first denial was but decent, and an act of civility, and in them it was a design to discover Lot’s piety and hospitality, and to manifest the great difference between him and the barbarous Sodomites, and the reason and justice of Lot’s deliverance, and their destruction.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he said, behold now, my lords,.... Taking them…
And he said, behold now, my lords,.... Taking them to be, and bespeaking them as persons of quality, who appeared with majesty in their countenances, and looked as if they had been well brought up, and were upon their travels; not knowing them to be angels, whom he received and entertained unawares, as the apostle, referring to Lot and Abraham, observes, Heb 13:2,
turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house; meaning himself, who was their humble servant, and entreats them to turn in to his house, which perhaps was hard by, and take up their lodging with him: the ancient Jews (k) give the sense of the phrase thus, go a roundabout, winding, crooked way to my house, that the men of Sodom may not see you go in there, and know you are there. This is taken from the signification of the word to "turn in", which in a different construction signifies to decline, to go back; and so the Targum of Jonathan,"turn here, and there, and go into the house of your servant:"
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and tarry all night, and wash your feet; the meaning is, that they would stay all night, and take up their lodging with him, when they had washed their feet, which was usually done before they laid down, and even before they supped; and indeed was the first thing that was done to a stranger upon his entering into the house, Gen 18:4,
and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways: signifying that he would not detain them longer than they thought fit; they might rise as soon in the morning as they pleased, and pursue their journey, only he entreats they would accept of a night's lodging with him:
and they said, nay, but we will abide in the street all night; which they said partly out of modesty, it not becoming strangers to be too forward in accepting an invitation, and partly to try whether Lot was hearty in the invitation he gave them; and hereby also reigning ignorance of the manners and behaviour of the men of Sodom, as if they might be safe from their insults in the street in the night; and this made Lot the more pressing upon them, that they might not be exposed to his wicked neighbours.
(k) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 50. fol. 44. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. Nay; but we will abide in the…
Verse 2. Nay; but we will abide in the street] Instead of לא lo, nay, some MSS. have לו lo, to him; "And they said unto him, for we lodge in the street." where, nevertheless, the negation is understood. Knowing the disposition of the inhabitants, and appearing in the mere character of travellers, they preferred the open street to any house; but as Lot pressed them vehemently, and they knew him to be a righteous man, not yet willing to make themselves known, they consented to take shelter under his hospitable roof. Our Lord, willing for the time being to conceal his person from the knowledge of the disciples going to Emmaus, made as though he would go farther, Lu 24:13; but at last, like the angels here, yielded to the importunity of his disciples, and went into their lodgings.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 19:2. They said, Nay, but we will abide…
Gen 19:2. They said, Nay, but we will abide in the street all night — So they said, not only to give Lot an opportunity of evincing the sincerity and cordiality of his invitation, but because it was their real intention to abide in the street, where they, no doubt, would have abode, if he had not so much urged them to lodge in his house.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain My lords. He took them to be men. ---…
My lords. He took them to be men. --- No. They refuse at first, that he may have the merit of pressing them to accept the invitation. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain turn in, I pray you . . . tarry…
turn in, I pray you . . . tarry all night--offer of the same generous hospitalities as described in Gen 18:2-8, and which are still spontaneously practised in the small towns.
And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night--Where there are no inns and no acquaintance, it is not uncommon for travellers to sleep in the street wrapped up in their cloaks.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. My lords, turn in — He shows a…
2. My lords, turn in — He shows a hospitality like Abraham, and like him entertains angels unawares.
Wash your feet — See on Gen_18:4.
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Nay… in the street — They make as though (comp. Luk_24:28) they would not accept his hospitality, thus testing him. By the street we are to understand the broad, open places of the city, which, in that warm climate, would not be an uncomfortable place to lodge.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. my lords] adonai. The Massoretic note upon this…
2. my lords] adonai. The Massoretic note upon this word is “profane,” i.e. not the Divine name: see note on Gen_18:3.
turn aside] Lot’s words are a good example of Eastern hospitality. Possibly to this passage and Gen_18:3 reference is made in Heb_13:2.
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in the street] We must be careful not to connect the modern idea of a “street” with this word, which means rather a wide open space. Cf. Jdg_19:15; Ezr_10:9; Neh_8:1, “the broad place.”
The refusal of “the men” is partly to be explained as a piece of Oriental courtesy, but partly, also, to elicit the avowal that what would be safe in other towns could not be risked in Sodom.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) In the street.—That is, the broad open space…
(2) In the street.—That is, the broad open space of the city. (Comp. Jdg_19:15; Jdg_19:20.) In a warm climate there is little hardship in passing the night in the open air; and as at this early date there were no caravanserais, travellers had to lodge in this way unless they found some hospitable entertainer.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And he said, Beheld new, my lords, Adonai. (vide…
And he said, Beheld new, my lords, Adonai. (vide Gen_18:3) As yet Lot only recognized them as menturn in, I pray you, into your servant"s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet of Gen_18:4 and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. Though an act of kindness on the part of Lot, his invitation was not accepted by the angels obviously with a view to try his character. (Luk_24:28) And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. Literally, for in the broad open spaces (i.e. the streets of the town) we will pass the night; no great hardship in that climax.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.