Genesis 19:15-23
New English Translation
15 At dawn[a] the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here,[b] or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!”[c] 16 When Lot[d] hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them.[e] They led them away and placed them[f] outside the city. 17 When they had brought them outside, they[g] said, “Run[h] for your lives! Don’t look[i] behind you or stop anywhere in the valley![j] Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord![k] 19 Your[l] servant has found favor with you,[m] and you have shown me great[n] kindness[o] by sparing[p] my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because[q] this disaster will overtake[r] me and I’ll die.[s] 20 Look, this town[t] over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one.[u] Let me go there.[v] It’s just a little place, isn’t it?[w] Then I’ll survive.”[x]
21 “Very well,” he replied,[y] “I will grant this request too[z] and will not overthrow[aa] the town you mentioned. 22 Run there quickly,[ab] for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.)[ac]
23 The sun had just risen[ad] over the land as Lot reached Zoar.[ae]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 19:15 tn Heb “When dawn came up.”
- Genesis 19:15 tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.
- Genesis 19:15 tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
- Genesis 19:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Genesis 19:16 tn Heb “in the compassion of the Lord to them.”
- Genesis 19:16 tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).
- Genesis 19:17 tn Or “one of them”; Heb “he.” Several ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac) read the plural “they.” See also the note on “your” in v. 19.
- Genesis 19:17 tn Heb “escape.”
- Genesis 19:17 tn The Hebrew verb translated “look” signifies an intense gaze, not a passing glance. This same verb is used later in v. 26 to describe Lot’s wife’s self-destructive look back at the city.
- Genesis 19:17 tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
- Genesis 19:18 tn Or “my lords.” See the following note on the problem of identifying the addressee here. The Hebrew term is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
- Genesis 19:19 tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ʾadonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.
- Genesis 19:19 tn Heb “in your eyes.”
- Genesis 19:19 tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”
- Genesis 19:19 tn Heb “kindness that you have done with me.”sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.
- Genesis 19:19 tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.
- Genesis 19:19 tn Heb “lest.”
- Genesis 19:19 tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.
- Genesis 19:19 tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.
- Genesis 19:20 tn The Hebrew word עִיר (ʿir) can refer to either a city or a town, depending on the size of the place. Given that this place was described by Lot later in this verse as a “little place,” the translation uses “town.”
- Genesis 19:20 tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”
- Genesis 19:20 tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.
- Genesis 19:20 tn Heb “Is it not little?”
- Genesis 19:20 tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.
- Genesis 19:21 tn Heb “And he said to him, ‘Look, . . . .’” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18-19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the Lord here. Most English translations leave the referent of the pronoun unspecified and maintain the ambiguity.
- Genesis 19:21 tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”
- Genesis 19:21 tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).
- Genesis 19:22 tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.
- Genesis 19:22 tn Heb “Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.” The name of the place, צוֹעַר (tsoʿar) apparently means “Little Place,” in light of the wordplay with the term “little” (מִצְעָר, mitsʿar) used twice by Lot to describe the town (v. 20).
- Genesis 19:23 sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).
- Genesis 19:23 tn The juxtaposition of the two disjunctive clauses indicates synchronic action. The first action (the sun’s rising) occurred as the second (Lot’s entering Zoar) took place. The disjunctive clauses also signal closure for the preceding scene.
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