19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. 4 He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy 5 the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. 6
1 tn The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, 124-25.
3 tn Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
4 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.
5 tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.
6 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.