Genesis 19:4

4 But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house, both young and old, all the people together.

Genesis 19:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 19:4

But before they lay down
Upon their beds to sleep; it was between supper time and bedtime that the following affair happened, while the angels were talking to Lot about the men of Sodom, and inquiring what sort of men they were, as the Jewish writers ^F12 suggest:

the men of the city, [even] the men of Sodom, compassed the house round
about;
the house of Lot, where the angels were:

both old and young:
the males of the city of every age; some that were past committing the sin they were so infamous for, as well as those that burned with that unnatural lust; some that could not be actors were willing to be spectators; and all were curious to see the lovely persons, that it was reported all over the city were seen to go into Lot's house:

all the people from every quarter;
all from one end of the city to the other, and from every corner in it: which shows the general corruption and depravity of the city, that it was so far from having ten righteous persons in it, that of the proper inhabitants of it, there was not, as Jarchi notes, one righteous person, no, not one.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Bereshit Rabba, ut supra. (sect. 50. fol. 44. 4.)

Genesis 19:4 In-Context

2 And said: I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your servant, and lodge there: wash your feet, and in the morning you shall go on your way. And they said: No, but we will abide in the street.

3 He pressed them very much to turn in unto him: and when they were come into his house, he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate:

4 But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house, both young and old, all the people together.

5 And they called Lot, and said to him: Where are the men that came in to thee at night? bring them out hither, that we may know them:

6 Lot went out to them, and shut the door after him, and said: