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.”
Parallel Translations
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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.”
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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.
Show all 3 translations
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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.'
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 (20)
- Judges 19:24 (v8) Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. I will bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them what seems good to you; but…
- Genesis 19:31-38 (v8) The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth.…
- Judges 19:23 (vv6–7) The man, the master of the house, went out to them, and said to them, “No, my brothers, please don’t act so wickedly; since this man has…
- Genesis 18:5 (v8) I will get a piece of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.” They…
- Genesis 42:37 (v8) Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you…
Show all 19 cross-references
- Judges 9:15 (v8) “The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come…
- Isaiah 58:7 (v8) Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that…
- Mark 9:6 (v8) For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.
- Romans 3:8 (v8) Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), “Let’s do evil, that good may come?” Those who say so are justly…
- Genesis 19:4 (v7) 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…
- Exodus 32:22 (v8) Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
- Leviticus 18:22 (v7) “ ‘You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. That is detestable.
- Leviticus 20:13 (v7) “ ‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood…
- Deuteronomy 23:17 (v7) There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
- 1 Samuel 30:23-24 (v7) Then David said, “Do not do so, my brothers, with that which Yahweh has given to us, who has preserved us, and delivered the troop that…
- Acts 17:26 (v7) He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the…
- Romans 1:24 (v7) Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (v7) Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor…
- Jude 1:7 (v7) Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having in the same way as these given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone…
19 distinct cross-references across this passage (20 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv6, 8 6. And Lot went out at the door unto…
6. And Lot went out at the door unto them. It appears from the fact that Lot went out and exposed himself to danger, how faithfully he observed the sacred right of hospitality. It was truly a rare virtue, that he preferred the safety and honor of the guests whom he had once undertaken to protect, to his own life: yet this degree of magnanimity is required from the children of God, that where duty and fidelity are concerned, they should not spare themselves. And although he was already grievously injured by the besieging of his house; he yet endeavors, by gentle words, to soothe ferocious minds, while he suppliantly entreats them to lay aside their wickedness, and addresses them by the title of brethren. Now it appears, how savage was their cruelty, and how violent the rage of their lust, when they were in no degree moved by such extraordinary mildness. But the description of a rage so brutal, tends to teach us that punishment was not inflicted upon them, until they had proceeded to the last stage of wickedness. And let us remember, that the reprobate, when they have been blinded by the just judgment of God, rush, as with devoted minds, through every kind of crime, and leave nothing undone, until they render themselves altogether hateful and detestable to God and men.
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 vv6–8 Gen 19:6 And Lot went out at the door…
Gen 19:6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
Ver. 6. Lot went out.] So he exposed himself, to save his strangers, hoping to save them from that abominable violence. The right of strangers is so holy, that there was scarce ever any nation so barbarous that would violate the same. When Stephen Gardiner had in his power the renowned clerk Peter Martyr, then teaching at Oxford, he would not keep him to punish him; but when he should go his way, as it is reported, gave him wherewith to bear his charges. But these Sodomites had not so much humanity left in them. They had put off the man, and were become dogs and worse. {Deu 23:18} Am I a dog? saith Abner; {2Sa 3:8} that is, so given as dogs be to lust. Lot was the world’s miracle, who kept himself fresh in Sodom’s salt waters.
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 vv7–8 They were brethren by community of nature and habitation;…
They were brethren by community of nature and habitation; see Gen 9:5; 29:4; Lev 19:17; and so he calls them, if possibly he might sweeten and restrain them.
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 vv6–8 And Lot went out at the door unto them,....…
And Lot went out at the door unto them,.... At the door of his house:
and shut the door after him; the door of the passage to his house, the courtyard door, for another word is here used; unless the one was properly the door, and the other a hatch: however, this precaution of shutting it was used to prevent the men of Sodom rushing in, and taking away the men by violence; and that Lot might have some opportunity of trying what he could do by arguments, to prevail upon them to desist from their attempt.
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 v8 Verse 8. Behold now, I have two daughters] Nothing…
Verse 8. Behold now, I have two daughters] Nothing but that sacred light in which the rights of hospitality were regarded among the eastern nations, could either justify or palliate this proposal of Lot. A man who had taken a stranger under his care and protection, was bound to defend him even at the expense of his own life. In this light the rights of hospitality are still regarded in Asiatic countries; and on these high notions only, the influence of which an Asiatic mind alone can properly appreciate, Lot's conduct on this occasion can be at all excused: but even then, it was not only the language of anxious solicitude, but of unwarrantable haste.
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 vv7–8 This evil, so contrary to the rights of hospitality,…
This evil, so contrary to the rights of hospitality, and the law of nature.
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 v8 8. Two daughters — This proposition of Lot is…
8. Two daughters — This proposition of Lot is utterly shocking and outrageous. But see Jdg_19:24, and note there. “We may suppose,” says Murphy, “that it was spoken rashly, in the heat of the moment, and with the expectation that he would not be taken at his word.” The Oriental idea of hospitality would also lead a man to lay down his own life, or go to almost any extreme, for the safety of his guest. With every possible apology, however, Lot’s proposal in this case reveals how his long residence in the wicked city had lowered his moral tone.
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 v6 Vers. 6-8. And Lot went out at the door…
Vers. 6-8. And Lot went out at the door unto them, literally, at the doorway, or opening (pethach, from pathach, to open; cf. pateo, Latin; proquron, LXX); in which the gate or hanging door (deleth, from dalai, to be pendulous) swings, and which it closes (vide Gesenius, p. 201)and shut the door (deleth, ut supra; qura, LXX) after him, to protect his visitors, which he also sought to accomplish by personal exhortationand said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly and also by an infamous proposal which nothing can extenuate and the utmost charity finds difficult to reconcile any pretence of piety on the part of. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; i.e. unmarried, (cf. Gen_4:1) though, according to some, already betrothed to two Sodomites (Ver. 14)let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. The usual apologies that in sacrificing his daughters to the Sodomites instead of giving up his guests to their unnatural lust. Lot
(1) selected the lesser of two sins (Ambrose);
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(2) thereby protected his guests and discharged the duties of hospitality incumbent on him (Chrysostom);
(3) believed his daughters would not be desired by the Sodomites, either because of their well-known betrothal (Rosenm or because of the unnatural lust of the Sodomites (Lunge);
(4) acted through mental perturbation (Augustine) are insufficient to excuse the wickedness of one who in attempting to prevent one sin was himself guilty of another (Delitzsch), who in seeking to be a faithful friend forgot to be an affectionate father (Kalisch), and who, though bound to defend his guests at the risk of his own life, was not at liberty to purchase their safety by the sacrifice of his daughters ("Speakers Commentary"). Only unto these men laeh; an archaic form of hL,aeh; a proof of the antiquity of the Pentateuch (cf. Ver. 25; 26:3, 4; Lev_18:27; Deu_4:42 Deu_7:22 Deu_19:11) do nothing (i.e. offer to them neither violence nor dishonor); for therefore (vide Gen_18:5) came they under the shadow of my roof in order to find protection.
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.