Genesis 19:21

21 And he said to Lot, Lo! also in this I have received thy prayers, that I destroy not the city, for which thou hast spoken; (And he said to Lot, Lo! also in this I have received thy prayers, and I shall not destroy the city, of which thou hast spoken;)

Genesis 19:21 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 19:21

And he said unto him, see, I have accepted thee concerning
this thing also
Accepted thy prayer and granted thy request, as well as in other things; shown grace and mercy to thee: or, "have lifted up thy face" ^F5; alluding to the custom of the eastern countries, where persons, when they come into the presence of their superiors, used to prostrate their faces to the ground; when, as a token of their acceptance of them, and good will to them, they used to order them to be lifted up, or them to lift up their faces, and stand before them:

that I will not overthrow this city for the which thou hast spoken;
for, though he had not in express words petitioned that the city might be spared, yet he had tacitly done it, insomuch as he had requested he might flee unto it, where he could not have been safe had it been destroyed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 (Kynp ytavn) "suscepi faciem tuam", Pagninus, Moatanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Piscator.

Genesis 19:21 In-Context

19 for thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast magnified thy grace and mercy, which thou hast done to me, (so) that thou shouldest save my life, (I am most grateful); (but) I may not be saved in the hill(s), lest peradventure evil (over)take me, and I die (but I cannot be saved in the hills, for before that I can get there, the destruction shall surely overtake me, and I shall die);

20 a little city is here beside (there is a little city here), to which I may flee, and I shall be safe therein; whether it is not (such) a little city? and my soul shall live therein.

21 And he said to Lot, Lo! also in this I have received thy prayers, that I destroy not the city, for which thou hast spoken; (And he said to Lot, Lo! also in this I have received thy prayers, and I shall not destroy the city, of which thou hast spoken;)

22 haste thee, and be thou saved there, for I may not do anything till thou enter [in] thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Zoar. (haste thee, and be thou made safe there, for I shall not do anything until thou hast entered in there. And so that is why that city was called Zoar, or Small.)

23 (And so) The sun rose (up) on [the] earth, and Lot entered into Zoar.