Genesis 19:9

9 And they said, Go thou (away) from hence. And again they said, Thou enteredest [in] hither as a comeling; whether that thou shalt deem us? therefore we shall torment thee more than these. And they did violently to Lot full greatly (And they did great violence to Lot). Then it was nigh that they would break (down) the doors;

Genesis 19:9 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 19:9

And they said, stand back
Turn on one side, get away from the door, that we may come to it: and they said [again]:
to one another: this one [fellow] came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge;
this one man, and he a stranger and sojourner, no freeman or citizen of this city, sets himself against the whole body of the inhabitants, and takes upon him to judge what is right and wrong to be done; and if he is let alone in "judging he will judge" F13, as it may be rendered; he will take upon him this office, and continue to exercise it, and determine and decide all matters among us at his pleasure. This confutes the above notion of the Jews, that Lot was appointed a judge by the men of Sodom, yea, the president of the court for that day; (See Gill on Genesis 19:1): now will we deal worse with thee than with them:
the men in his house, both by abusing his body in their unnatural way, and by beating and bruising him, and pulling him in pieces, limb from limb; something of this kind they seem to threaten him with, and attempted to effect, as follows: and they pressed sore upon the man, [even] Lot;
not only with words in a bullying way, with menaces and threats, with oaths, and curses, and imprecations; for it is the same word that is used of Lot, pressing the angels with words and arguments to come into his house, ( Genesis 19:3 ) ; but they rushed in upon him in a body, and pushed him away, and pulled him about, and would in all probability have torn him to pieces, had he not been rescued by the angels: and came near to break the door:
that which was shut, the door of the passage that led to the house.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (jwpv jpvy) "judicabit judicando", Drusius.

Genesis 19:9 In-Context

7 and said, I beseech, do not ye, my brethren, do not ye do this evil.
8 I have two daughters, that knew not yet (a) man; I shall lead out them to you (I shall lead them out to you), and mis-use ye them as it pleaseth you, so (long as) that ye do none evil to these men, for they (have) entered under the shadow of my roof.
9 And they said, Go thou (away) from hence. And again they said, Thou enteredest [in] hither as a comeling; whether that thou shalt deem us? therefore we shall torment thee more than these. And they did violently to Lot full greatly (And they did great violence to Lot). Then it was nigh that they would break (down) the doors;
10 and lo! the (two) men put (forth their) hand(s), and led in Lot to them (and brought Lot back in with them), and they closed the door.
11 And they smote with blindness they that were withoutforth (And then they struck with blindness those who were outside), from the least till to the most; so that they might not find the door.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.