Kejadian 19:19-24

19:19 Your ¹  servant has found favor with you, ²  and you have shown me great ³  kindness ⁴  by sparing ⁵  my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because ⁶  this disaster will overtake ⁷  me and I’ll die. ⁸  19:20 Look, this town ⁹  over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. ¹⁰  Let me go there. ¹¹  It’s just a little place, isn’t it? ¹²  Then I’ll survive.” ¹³ 

19:21 “Very well,” he replied, ¹⁴  “I will grant this request too ¹⁵  and will not overthrow ¹⁶  the town you mentioned. 19:22 Run there quickly, ¹⁷  for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.) ¹⁸ 

19:23 The sun had just risen ¹⁹  over the land as Lot reached Zoar. ²⁰  19:24 Then the Lord rained down ²¹  sulfur and fire ²²  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ²³ 

[19:19]  ¹ 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.

[19:19]  ² tn Heb “in your eyes.”

[19:19]  ³ tn Heb “you made great your kindness.”

[19:19]  ⁴ sn The Hebrew word חֶסֶד (khesed) can refer to “faithful love” or to “kindness,” depending on the context. The precise nuance here is uncertain.

[19:19]  ⁵ tn The infinitive construct explains how God has shown Lot kindness.

[19:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “lest.”

[19:19]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb דָּבַק (davaq) normally means “to stick to, to cleave, to join.” Lot is afraid he cannot outrun the coming calamity.

[19:19]  ⁸ tn The perfect verb form with vav consecutive carries the nuance of the imperfect verbal form before it.

[19:20]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew word עִיר (’ir) can refer to either a city or a town, depending on the size of the place. Given that this place was described by Lot later in this verse as a “little place,” the translation uses “town.”

[19:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Look, this town is near to flee to there. And it is little.”

[19:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Let me escape to there.” The cohortative here expresses Lot’s request.

[19:20]  ¹² tn Heb “Is it not little?”

[19:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “my soul will live.” After the cohortative the jussive with vav conjunctive here indicates purpose/result.

[19:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And he said, ‘Look, I will grant.’” The order of the clauses has been rearranged for stylistic reasons. The referent of the speaker (“he”) is somewhat ambiguous: It could be taken as the angel to whom Lot has been speaking (so NLT; note the singular references in vv. 18-19), or it could be that Lot is speaking directly to the Lord here. Most English translations leave the referent of the pronoun unspecified and maintain the ambiguity.

[19:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I have lifted up your face [i.e., shown you favor] also concerning this matter.”

[19:21]  ¹⁶ tn The negated infinitive construct indicates either the consequence of God’s granting the request (“I have granted this request, so that I will not”) or the manner in which he will grant it (“I have granted your request by not destroying”).

[19:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.

[19:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.” The name of the place, צוֹעַר (tso’ar) apparently means “Little Place,” in light of the wordplay with the term “little” (מִצְעָר, mits’ar) used twice by Lot to describe the town (v. 20).

[19:23]  ¹⁹ sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).

[19:23]  ²⁰ tn The juxtaposition of the two disjunctive clauses indicates synchronic action. The first action (the sun’s rising) occurred as the second (Lot’s entering Zoar) took place. The disjunctive clauses also signal closure for the preceding scene.

[19:24]  ²¹ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

[19:24]  ²² tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

[19:24]  ²³ tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:24]  sn The text explicitly states that the sulfur and fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah was sent down from the sky by the Lord. What exactly this was, and how it happened, can only be left to intelligent speculation, but see J. P. Harland, “The Destruction of the Cities of the Plain,” BA 6 (1943): 41-54.