GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”
Lot went out to them through the door, and shut the door after himself. He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly. See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
Genesis 19:5-8 sits inside this longer paragraph.
He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”
Lot went out to them through the door, and shut the door after himself. He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly. See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”
Lot went out to them through the door, and shut the door after himself.
He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly.
See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
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.
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
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.
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him: 'Where are the men that came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.'
And Lot went out unto them to the door, and shut the door after him.
And he said: 'I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly.
Behold now, I have two daughters that 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; forasmuch as they are come under the shadow of my roof.'
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
32 distinct cross-references across this passage (36 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 8 5. Where are the men ? Although it was…
5. Where are the men ? Although it was their intention shamefully to abuse the strangers to their outrageous appetite, yet, in words, they pretend that their object is different. For, as if Lot had been guilty of a fault in admitting unknown men into the city, wherein he himself was a stranger, they command these men to be brought out before them. Some expound the word know in a carnal sense; and thus the Greek interpreters have translated it. But I think the word has here a different meaning; as if the men had said, We wish to know whom thou bringest, as guests, into our city. The Scripture truly is accustomed modestly to describe an act of shame by the word know; and therefore we may infer that the men of Sodom would have spoken, in coarser language, of such an act: but, for the sake of concealing their wicked design, they here imperiously expostulate with the holy man, for having dared to receive unknown persons into his house. Here, however, a question arises; for if the men of Sodom were in the habit of vexing strangers, of all kinds, in this manner, how shall we suppose they had acted towards others? For Lot was not now for the first time beginning to be hospitable; and they, too, had always been addicted to lust. Lot was prepared to expose his own daughters to dishonor, in order to save his guests; how often, then, might it have been necessary to prostitute them before, if the fury of men of such character could not be otherwise assuaged? Now truly, if Lot had known that such danger was impending; he ought rather to have exhorted his guests to withdraw in time. In my opinion, however, although Lot knew the manners of the city; he had, nevertheless, no suspicion of what really happened, that they would make an assault upon his house; this, indeed, seems to have been quite a new thing. It was, however, fitting, when the angels were sent to investigate the true state of the people, that they should all break out into this detestable crime. So the wicked, after they have long securely exulted in their iniquity, at length, by furiously rushing onward, accelerate their destruction in a moment. God therefore designed, in calling the men of Sodom to judgment, to exhibit, as it were, the extreme act of their wicked life; and he impelled them, by the spirit of deep infatuation, to a crime, the atrocity of which would not suffer the destruction of the place to be any longer deferred. For as the hospitality of the holy man, Lot, was honored with a signal reward; because he, unawares, received angels instead of men, and had them as guests in his house; so God avenged, with more severe punishment, the shameful lust of the others; who, while endeavoring to do violence to angels, were not only injurious towards men; but, to the utmost of their power, dishonored the celestial glory of God, by their sacrilegious fury.
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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v8 That I should preserve them from all injury.
That I should preserve them from all injury.
He deserveth praise in defending his guests, but he is to be blamed in seeking unlawful means.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv5–8 Gen 19:5 And they called unto Lot, and said…
Gen 19:5 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.
Ver. 5. That we may know them.] O faces hatched with impudency! They shroud not their sin in a mantle of secrecy, but hang out these sour grapes to the sun to ripen.
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 On vv5, 7, 8 Either know who they are; or rather abuse them,…
Either know who they are; or rather abuse them, as Lot’s answer explains it, and so that word is used, Gen 4:1; Num 31:17; Jdg 19:22. And for the sin here committed, see Lev 18:22; 20:13; Rom 1:26-27; 1Co 6:9 Jud 1:7. They openly and impudently profess their wicked intention, for which they are branded, Isa 3:9; and this intention of theirs is the more probable, because of the great beauty which it is likely was in those bodies which the angels assumed, whereby their lust was more inflamed.
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 On vv5–8 And they called unto Lot,.... With a loud voice,…
And they called unto Lot,.... With a loud voice, that he might hear, they being in the street, and he within doors; and perhaps there might be a court before his house, through which there was a passage up to it, as seems from Gen 19:6,
and said unto him, where are the men which came in to thee this night? for though they were angels, they appeared like men, and they seemed to be so to them who saw them go into Lot's house:
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bring them out unto us, that we may know them; not who they were, and from whence they came, and what their business was; nor did they pretend anything of this kind to hide and cover their design from Lot, but they were open and impudent, and declared their sin without shame and blushing, which is their character, Isa 3:9; their meaning was, that they might commit that unnatural sin with them, they were addicted to, and in common used, and which from them to this day bears the name of Sodomy. As lawful copulation with a man's wife is modestly expressed by knowing her, Gen 4:1; so this unlawful and shocking copulation of man with man is expressed by this phrase; and that this was their meaning is plain from Lot's answer to them, Gen 19:8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v8 I have two daughters - This was unadvisedly and…
I have two daughters - This was unadvisedly and unjustifiably offered. It is true, of two evils we must chose the less, but of two sins we must chose neither, nor ever do evil that good may come of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv5, 8 Verse 5. Where are the men which came in…
Verse 5. Where are the men which came in to thee, c.] This account justifies the character given of this depraved people in the preceding chapter, Ge 18:20, and in Ge 23:13. As their crime was the deepest disgrace to human nature, so it is too bad to be described in the sacred text it is sufficiently marked; and the iniquity which, from these most abominable wretches, has been called Sodomy, is punished in our country with death.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v8 Gen 19:8. I have two daughters — This was…
Gen 19:8. I have two daughters — This was unadvisedly and unjustifiably offered, probably through the great discomposure and perturbation which his mind was in. It is true, of two evils we must choose the less, but of two sins we must choose neither, nor ever do evil that good may come of it.
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 On vv5, 7, 8 Know them. They boldly proclaim their infamous design.
Know them. They boldly proclaim their infamous design.
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5, 8 5. Bring them out unto us, that we may…
5. Bring them out unto us, that we may know them — A euphemism, pointing to the unnatural crime of pederasty, an abomination into which the Canaanitish nations were sunken, and for which they were cast out.
Lev_18:22-25; comp. Jdg_19:22-25; Rom_1:27. From this incident this crime against nature has received the name of Sodomy. Comp. Isa_3:9.
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 On v8 8. forasmuch as] R.V. marg. for therefore: cf. Gen_18:5.…
8. forasmuch as] R.V. marg. for therefore: cf. Gen_18:5. Lot’s proposal, so atrocious in our ears, may have been deemed meritorious in an Eastern country, where no sacrifice was considered too great to maintain inviolate the safety of a stranger who had been received in hospitality. That Lot should have thought of imperilling the honour of his family, and not have rather hazarded his own life, is due not so much to the weakness of the man as to the terribly low estimate of womanhood which prevailed at that time. A parallel is afforded by the story in Jdg_1:19. The three regulations of modern Arab law as to the protection of the stranger are recorded by Robertson Smith in his Kinship, p. 259, “(1) the man whose tent rope has touched thine is thy stranger; (2) so also is he who journeys with thee by day and sleeps by thy side at night; (3) the guest who eats with thee is under thy protection, until he has eaten with another.”
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 On v8 (8) I have two daughters.—It is plain from Jdg_19:24…
(8) I have two daughters.—It is plain from Jdg_19:24 that this proposal was not viewed in old time with the horror which it seems to deserve. Granting with St. Ambrose that it was the substitution of a smaller for a greater sin, and with St. Chrysostom that Lot was bound by the laws of hospitality to do his utmost to protect his guests, yet he was also bound as a father equally to protect his daughters to the last extremity: and if men might substitute smaller for greater sins, they would have an excuse for practising every form of wickedness. The difficulty arises from the high character given of Lot by St. Peter (2Pe_2:7-8): but Lot was righteous only relatively; and though his soul was daily vexed by what he saw, it was not vexed enough to make him quit such evil surroundings, and return to the healthy and virtuous life of the mountains. And, when finally he sought refuge in them, as it was not of his own free will, but on compulsion (Gen_19:30), he found there no peace, but shared, even if unknowingly, in deeds of horrible lust. The warning of his fall is, that men who part with religious privileges for the sake of worldly advantage are in danger of sinking into moral degradation, and of losing, with their faith and hope, not only their self-respect and happiness, but even that earthly profit for the sake of which they sacrificed their religion.
Unto these men.—The form of the pronoun is archaic, and occurs again in Gen_19:25. It is found in a few other places in the Pentateuch, but never elsewhere.
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For therefore, &c. . . . —Comp. Gen_18:5.
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 On vv5–6 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him,…
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Josephus supposes them to have been of beautiful countenances ("Ant.," 1:11, 3), which excited the lust of the Sodomites, and caused them to assault Lot"s house with shameful cries. Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. The sin here euphemistically referred to (cf. Jud_1:19:22) was exceedingly prevalent among the Canaanites (Lev_18:22) and other heathen nations. (Rom_1:27) Under the law of Moses it Was punishable by death.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 after himself
after himself
"behind him" or "after he went through"
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I beg you, my brothers
"I plead with you, my brothers"
my brothers
Lot spoke in a friendly way to the men of the city hoping that they would listen to him. AT: "my friends" (See: Idiom)
do not act so wickedly
"do not do something so wicked" or "do not do such a wicked thing"
Look
"Pay attention" or "Look here"
have not slept with
"have not engaged in sex with." Your language may have a more polite way of saying this. AT: "have not known" (See: Euphemism)
whatever is good in your eyes
"whatever you desire" or "whatever you think is right"
under the shadow of my roof
The two men were guests in Lot's home, so he needed to protect them. The word "roof" is a synecdoche for the whole house and a metaphor for Lot protecting them. AT: "into my house, and God expects me to protect them" (See: Synecdoche and Metaphor)
translationWords
Lot
brother
evil
had relations with
shadow
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 19:6-9 Lot opposed homosexuality and rape and rebuked their…
19:6-9 Lot opposed homosexuality and rape and rebuked their wicked plans, but he was hypocritically willing to sacrifice his daughters to fend off the townsmen’s vice. Lot had originally pitched his tent next to Sodom; now Sodom controlled his life.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.