Genesis 19:12-14

19:12 Then the two visitors ¹  said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? ²  Do you have ³  any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? ⁴  Get them out of this ⁵  place 19:13 because we are about to destroy ⁶  it. The outcry against this place ⁷  is so great before the Lord that he ⁸  has sent us to destroy it.”

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ⁹  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ¹⁰  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ¹¹ 

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¹ tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “visitors” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “Yet who [is there] to you here?”

³ tn The words “Do you have” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Heb “a son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who (is) to you in the city.”

⁵ tn Heb “the place.” The Hebrew article serves here as a demonstrative.

⁶ tn The Hebrew participle expresses an imminent action here.

⁷ tn Heb “for their outcry.” The words “about this place” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.” The repetition of the divine name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

⁹ sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.

¹¹ tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.