Genesis 19:17

19:17 When they had brought them outside, they ¹  said, “Run ²  for your lives! Don’t look ³  behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! ⁴  Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”

Genesis 19:19

19:19 Your ⁵  servant has found favor with you, ⁶  and you have shown me great ⁷  kindness ⁸  by sparing ⁹  my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because ¹⁰  this disaster will overtake ¹¹  me and I’ll die. ¹² 

Genesis 19:30

19:30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.

Genesis 22:2

22:2 God ¹³  said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac ¹⁴  – and go to the land of Moriah! ¹⁵  Offer him up there as a burnt offering ¹⁶  on one of the mountains which I will indicate to ¹⁷  you.”

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¹ tn Or “one of them”; Heb “he.” Several ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac) read the plural “they.” See also the note on “your” in v. 19.

² tn Heb “escape.”

³ tn The Hebrew verb translated “look” signifies an intense gaze, not a passing glance. This same verb is used later in v. 26 to describe Lot’s wife’s self-destructive look back at the city.

⁴ tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

⁵ tn The second person pronominal suffixes are singular in this verse (note “your eyes,” “you have made great,” and “you have acted”). Verse 18a seems to indicate that Lot is addressing the angels, but the use of the singular and the appearance of the divine title “Lord” (אֲדֹנָי, ’adonay) in v. 18b suggests he is speaking to God.

⁶ tn Heb “in your eyes.”

⁷ tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”

⁸ sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.

⁹ tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.

¹⁰ tn Heb “lest.”

¹¹ tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.

¹² tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.

¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ sn Take your son…Isaac. The instructions are very clear, but the details are deliberate. With every additional description the commandment becomes more challenging.

¹⁵ sn There has been much debate over the location of Moriah; 2 Chr 3:1 suggests it may be the site where the temple was later built in Jerusalem.

¹⁶ sn A whole burnt offering signified the complete surrender of the worshiper and complete acceptance by God. The demand for a human sacrifice was certainly radical and may have seemed to Abraham out of character for God. Abraham would have to obey without fully understanding what God was about.

¹⁷ tn Heb “which I will say to.”