Genesis 19:17

17 And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life. 1Do not look back or stop anywhere in the 2valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away."

Genesis 19:17 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 19:17

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad,
&c.] Into the fields of Sodom, or the suburbs of it: that he said, escape for thy life;
not one of the two men or angels that had been with him all the night past, for they had now left him, and were gone back to the city: but Jehovah the Son of God, who had been communing with Abraham, and now came to Sodom, and appeared to Lot, just at the time the two angels left him, and bid him escape with all haste, if he had any regard for his life, and that of those with him: look not behind thee;
as showing any concern for his goods and substance he had left behind him, or for his sons-in-law, who refused to come with him, and much less for the wicked inhabitants of the city; and this command was not given to Lot only, but to his wife and daughters, as appears by the sequel: neither stay thou in all the plain:
in the plain of Jordan, for the whole plain, and the cities in it, were to be destroyed: escape to the mountain, lest thou be destroyed, lest thou be consumed;
the same mountain the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they that were with them after the battle of the kings, fled to, ( Genesis 14:10 ) ; here only he and his could be safe from the conflagration of the plain.

Genesis 19:17 In-Context

15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city."
16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
17 And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away."
18 And Lot said to them, "Oh, no, my lords.
19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.

Cross References 2

  • 1. ver. 26; [Matthew 24:16-18]
  • 2. Genesis 13:10
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.