Discovery BoxGenesis 19:12-17 
Context19:12 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
19:15 At dawn 12 the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, 13 or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” 14 19:16 When Lot 15 hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them. 16 They led them away and placed them 17 outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they 18 said, “Run 19 for your lives! Don’t look 20 behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! 21 Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”
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
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.
12 tn Heb “When dawn came up.”
13 tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.
14 tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “in the compassion of the
17 tn Heb “brought him out and placed him.” The third masculine singular suffixes refer specifically to Lot, though his wife and daughters accompanied him (see v. 17). For stylistic reasons these have been translated as plural pronouns (“them”).
18 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.
19 tn Heb “escape.”
20 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.
21 tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
