Genesis 19:4

4 Forsooth before that they went to sleep, men of the city compassed his house, from a child till to an eld man (from a youth unto an old man), 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, My lords, I beseech, bow ye [down] into the house of your servant, and dwell ye there; wash ye your feet, and in the morrowtide ye shall go into your way (and in the morning ye shall go on your way). Which said, Nay, but we shall dwell in the street.

3 He constrained them greatly, that they should turn (in) to him. And when they entered into his house, he made a feast, and baked therf bread, and they ate. (But he greatly constrained them, that they should turn in at his house. And so when they had entered into his house, he made a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.)

4 Forsooth before that they went to sleep, men of the city compassed his house, from a child till to an eld man (from a youth unto an old man), all the people together;

5 and they called (to) Lot, and said to him, Where be the men that entered to thee tonight? (Where be the men who have entered into thy house tonight?) bring them out hither, (so) that we (may) know them, that is, by lechery against kind.

6 And Lot went out to them behind the back, and closed the door, (And Lot went out to them, and closed the door behind him,)