Tag: Lot

An Angel’s Limitation

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When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the surrounding area; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.”
Genesis 19:17 (NASB)

There’s a fascinating view in the Jewish commentaries regarding angels:

An angel can only do the ONE thing it was tasked with doing: rescue, heal, bless, destroy, etc. Just one thing. That’s why two were sent in Gen 19. One to rescue Lot, and one to destroy the cities.

ויחזיקו AND THE MEN LAID HOLD [UPON HIS HAND]– One of these was commissioned to rescue him whilst his fellow was to overthrow Sodom; that is why it is stated (v. 17) “And he said, escape”, and it is not stated “And they said” (Genesis Rabbah 50:11).
Rashi on Genesis 19:16:1

And here as well:

ויוציאה, “they took him outside;” there is a letter ו missing before letter ה, to hint that only one angel, i.e. ויוציא, singular, the angel Gavriel, had been charged with the task of saving Lot.
Chizkuni on Genesis 19:16

Sodom’s Sun God

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The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven,
Genesis 19:23-24 (NASB)

In the same way we learn that the plagues in Egypt point to God’s triumph over specific Egyptian gods, there is a teaching that says that the inhabitants of the 5 cities of Sodom and Gomorrah worshipped the sun.

ויאיצו, in order that their destruction should take place at the very moment the sun, their great god, would come forth. (compare Berachot 7)
Sforno on Genesis 19:15

Blindness

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And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.
Genesis 19:11 (NKJV)

When the angels blinded the men trying to get past Lot, the rabbis point out a couple of fascinating things about the word-choices here.

First, this isn’t merely physical blindness. Surely a blind person can find a door if they really tried. This describes a stupor.

The word choice verifies this. The story uses an uncommon hebrew word for “blindness.”

Ordinarily, the word used for “blind” is ivvare (עיוור), and it just means… blind. But here, the word is sanvare (סָנְוֵר), and it carries a sense of mental or spiritual blindness.

This word sanvare is so uncommon that it’s only used once more in the whole Bible, in 2 Kings 6:8-23.

In the story, there’s an enemy who surrounds the prophet Elisha in Dothan, and when Elisha’s servant’s eyes are open, he sees an army of angels with chariots of *fire.*

It’s where we get these lyrics to a famous hymn:

So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
2 Kings 6:16 (NKJV)

And then Elisha prays that God strike the enemies with blindness. With sanvare.

The blinded and confused enemies are then led by Elisha into Israel’s territory, but rather than have them killed, Elisha prepared a great feast for them.

In Sodom, we have a feast (Genesis 19:3), surrounded (19:4), blindness (19:11), people moved (19:16), and then fire (19:24).

In Dothan, we have surrounded (2 Kings 6:14), fire (6:17), blindness (6:18), people moved (6:19), and a feast (6:23).

Isn’t that interesting?

In the case of Sodom, we have what starts with a feast and hospitality, but it ends in fire and destruction.

On the case of Dothan, we have what starts out as the outlay of destruction by fire, but it ends in a feast.

What do you suppose scripture is teaching us?

As Messengers

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In Genesis 19, we read that two “angels” (malakim, or messengers) arrive in Sodom.

But after that, there’s nothing to indicate that they’re angels again until verse 15, when the text says the angels urged Lot to leave the city with his wife and two daughters. Every other time, they’re simply called “the men.”

The men of Sodom call them “the men.”
Lot calls them “the men.”

But the weird part is that even the NARRATOR calls them “the men.”

And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.”
Genesis 19:5 (NKJV)

See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
Genesis 19:8 (NKJV)

But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
Genesis 19:10 (NKJV)

h’anashim. הָאֲנָשִׁ֜ים. The men.

Perhaps we’re supposed to understand that for the men of Sodom, for Lot, and even for the reader, we’re meant to see these angels as completely indistinguishable from humans. We’re being told that even if we were there in the story, we would have also thought they were just men.

And with that, perhaps we’re meant to learn that God often speaks to us… through people. Words of encouragement, blessing, and even warnings can be from God, but through people who are acting as messengers. As malakim.

To Judge

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And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.
Genesis 19:9 (NKJV)

The ancient Hebrew uses double-words for emphasis.

When the wicked men of Sodom accuse Lot of acting as judge, they use a double-word structure. This phrase never appears anywhere else in the scripture.

וַיִּשְׁפֹּט שָׁפוֹט – vayyishpot shafot

“And he judged, judging.”

The root word שָׁפַט “shafat,” meaning “to judge,” first appears in Genesis 16:5, when Sarai says to Abram, “may God judge between you and me.”

The next is when Abraham pleads with God: “won’t the Judge of the earth do rightly?”

And then it’s here, in double-emphasis.

In the first instance, Sarai is claiming the moral high ground, using a phrase reserved for someone willing to stand before God in her accusation against her husband.

In the second instance, Abraham addresses God’s own moral high ground, appealing to God’s righteousness and God’s unique ability to render judgement rightly in light of mercy.

So when the text shows us that men of Sodom use this word, we are shown an irony.

In the same way “yadah” (to know) has been corrupted, so has “shafat” (to judge). Because there is nothing to judge at this point.

The word shafat presents a picture of someone deciding who is wrong and who is right. The “judge,” or law-giver applies wisdom to examine the evidence and make the determination when there is disagreement, or when it’s hard to tell due to limited evidence.

But the readers have already been told that the men of Sodom are wicked; judgement has already been established back in Genesis 13:13.

But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
Genesis 13:13 (NKJV)

The men of Sodom calling Lot a judge is irony for the reader.

Three Angels, Three Women

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In Genesis 18, Abraham is visited by three “men” who are later revealed to be angels, or “malakim” in the next chapter.

In Genesis 19, there are three women described: Lot’s two daughters, and Lot’s wife.

Lot’s two daughters survive with him, but his wife dies when she is turned into a pillar of salt.

There were three women; two women live, one dies.

There were three angels; two angels are present, one is absent.

Perhaps this is related.

Surrounded

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Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house.
Genesis 19:4 (NIV)

When you study biblical words, you find yourself asking a lot more questions.

This word “surrounded” has only been used twice in Genesis prior to this. Both times are in Genesis 2, describing the rivers that surrounded the land.

The name of the first is Pishon; it [a]flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Genesis 2:11 (NASB)

The name of the second river is Gihon; it [a]flows around the whole land of Cush.
Genesis 2:13 (NASB)

[a] Lit surrounds

It feels connected. Perhaps.

Flood and Fire

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But he urged them strongly, so they turned his way and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Genesis 19:3 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS, 2006)

There are all sorts of links between the Genesis flood and the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but the theme of alcohol afterwords is striking.

The rabbis point out that the word “feast” here in Hebrew means a “drinking feast.” That’s what מִשְׁתֶּה means.

A feast. Literally, “a drinking feast.” Lot offered them wine because he was fond of it himself.
Sforno on Genesis 19:3

The teaching isn’t that alcohol is “bad,” but perhaps it’s one of those things that people turn to after grief of loss, and when they do, it leads to greater grief and shame.

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.
Genesis 9:20-22 (NIV)

One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
Genesis 19:31-33 (NIV)

This is a kind of idolatry.

Perhaps the angels abstained to give this hint.

Just the Crackers

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But he urged them strongly, so they turned his way and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Genesis 19:3 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS, 2006)

It’s curious that the messengers of God ate the meal Abraham and Sarah prepared for lunch, but when they visited Lot, it is described differently.

According to the rabbis, the meaning of the text is that Lot prepared a great meal, just like Abraham did, but the messengers only snacked on the crackers. They abstained from the feast itself.

An Insignificant Number

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When Abraham asks God if He would spare the cities from destruction if there were 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, and 10 righteous people there, God says He will not destroy the cities if a requisite number of righteous people were present.

So what is the minimum number of people that are needed to prevent God from destroying a city?

We know that God will save a city on account of 10, because that’s what God said in Genesis 18:32. But how many righteous people were in the city? Is it just Lot? If so, does that mean that one righteous person not sufficient?

Actually, the text might demonstrate that one is all that’s necessary. One is sufficient.

If you remember, the region of Sodom and Gomorrah consists of 5 separate cities: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim, and Bela (that is, Zoar).

These kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
Genesis 14:2 (NIV)

Do you notice something interesting about Bela? Aside from having the nickname “Zoar,” the king of the city isn’t named. It sticks out, right? The rabbis say that the king of Bela isn’t named because the city is so insignificant that the king’s name wasn’t even recorded. It didn’t even matter.

But pay close attention: when we jump ahead to Genesis 19 when Lot is being rescued, where does he ask to go? He’s afraid he can’t get out in time, so he asks if he can go to the little insignificant town along the way. It’s Zoar, one of the 5 wicked cities!

Interestingly, God does not destroy it.

But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it — it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
Genesis 19:18-22 (NIV)

Perhaps Lot is the ony righteous person there. And with just one person, as insignificant as that may seem, God spares the city.

Perhaps the rabbis are right: “a single righteous person could save the rest of the world.”