Discovery BoxGenesis 11:31 
Context11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there.
Genesis 13:10
Context13:10 Lot looked up and saw 1 the whole region 2 of the Jordan. He noticed 3 that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated 4 Sodom and Gomorrah) 5 like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, 6 all the way to Zoar.
Genesis 19:9
Context19:9 “Out of our way!” 7 they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, 8 and now he dares to judge us! 9 We’ll do more harm 10 to you than to them!” They kept 11 pressing in on Lot until they were close enough 12 to break down the door.
Genesis 19:14
Context19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. 13 He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy 14 the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. 15
1 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.
2 tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”
3 tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
4 sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).
5 tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.
6 sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the
7 tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”
8 tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”
9 tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”
10 tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.
11 tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”
12 tn Heb “and they drew near.”
13 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.
14 tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.
15 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.
