Genesis 19:4

4 Before Lot and his guests had gone to bed, all of the men came from every part of the city of Sodom. Young and old men alike surrounded the house.

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 "My lords," he said, "please come to my house. You can wash your feet and spend the night here. Then you can go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered. "We'll spend the night in the street."

3 But Lot wouldn't give up. So they went with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them. He baked bread without using yeast. And they ate.

4 Before Lot and his guests had gone to bed, all of the men came from every part of the city of Sodom. Young and old men alike surrounded the house.

5 They called out to Lot. They said, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have sex with them."

6 Lot went outside to meet them. He shut the door behind him.