Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the youngest to the oldest -- all the people from every quarter.
The two visitors have barely stepped inside Lot's house when the whole town arrives at his door. This is not a gang or a fringe group. It is the whole male population, young and old, from every part of the city. Such complete corruption raises a hard question — about the city, and about the believer who chose to live in it.
The verse sets the stage. The next verse gives the demand. One writer sums up what the crowd came for:
But many men of Sodom, both young and old, rudely interrupted their visit. They boldly demanded that the two men who had come to Lot's home come out to them, to suffer the horror of homosexual relations (vv. 4-5).
The arrival of God's messengers did not create this evil. It brought the evil into the open, where Lot could say nothing to excuse it:
The presence of the angels exposed the wickedness of Sodom at Lot's very door. It only magnified the guilt of "both old and young, all the people from every quarter." What could Lot say to lessen such unbridled lust?
The phrases in this verse are the point. No age group is exempt and no district of the city is missing. One commentator reads the wording as the moment when the city's real character finally speaks for itself:
Their visit brings out the open and unnatural depravity of the people of the city — "both old and young, all the people from every quarter" (v. 4). They pour out their shame without shame (v. 5).
Just before this, Abraham had pleaded for the city. He asked God to spare it if ten righteous people could be found there. Verse 4 gives the answer, and the timing matters:
It is beautiful to see that the Lord does not judge Sodom until it has become so bad that not even ten righteous people are left there. If there had been ten, God would have spared the cities. Abraham keeps interceding until this comes to light.
One writer traces such evil back to its root:
The first chapter of Romans puts this before us. There we find a list of crimes that shames us even to read, given not as some rare result of man's sin, but as the natural fruit of his departure from God. God gives them over to evil like the evil that brought judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. He gives them over to evil so corrupt that no one can even speak of it. It is as though the Spirit of God set the root and the fruit side by side and said to men: cut loose from God, and you give free rein to every form of evil the flesh can produce.
Lot had a seat in the gate of Sodom — a place of civic authority. The mob at his door shows what that position was worth:
The shameless proposal Lot made to his fellow citizens showed how powerless he was. The man who sat in Sodom's gate could not restrain their corrupt and lawless ways. If he had ever thought he could improve the people of Sodom by his influence and advice, this moment must have brought the truth home to his poor deceived heart. His life among them had been wasted, and all his efforts were useless.
Another writer explains why Lot could do nothing:
Off the path of faith, he does not master his circumstances; they master him. The men of Sodom break in on him. His very effort to host the heavenly guests only stirs up the lusts of the flesh.
Jesus pointed back to this night. One writer reads the scene as a picture of what is still ahead:
Lot holds an honoured place as a city official. But the city is doomed, and the time has come when it is ripe for judgment. From the Lord's own words in Luke 17, we know that this solemn scene foreshadows the judgment about to fall on this present evil world. There we read, "As it was in the days of Lot… so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed."
- Exposed. The angels' arrival did not cause Sodom's sin. It drew that sin out into the open at Lot's door, where old and young alike stood condemned.
- Complete. "Both young and old, all the people to the last man" — the corruption had no exceptions. The search for ten righteous people had its answer.
- Patient. God waited until the evil was complete; ten righteous people would have saved the city.
- Powerless. Lot's seat in the gate gave him no power to stop anything. The world masters the believer who settles in it.
- Prophetic. Jesus pointed back to this night as a picture of the world's state on the day He is revealed.
And they called to Lot, and said to him, Where are the men that have come in to thee to-night? bring them out to us that we may know them.
The whole town — every man, young and old — comes to Lot's door and states its intention out loud. An evening of hospitality turns into a public display of Sodom's guilt — and it settles a case heaven had already opened.
The verse does not soften what the crowd wanted, and neither do the commentators.
But many men of Sodom, both young and old, rudely interrupted their visit. They boldly demanded that Lot bring out the two men who had come to his home, to subject them to the horror of homosexual relations.
The angels did not cause the evil. Their arrival brought it into the open.
The presence of the angels fully exposed the wickedness of Sodom at Lot's very door. It only increased the guilt of "both young and old, all the people to the last man." Lot might plead with the sinners to hold back from the gross evil planned in their wicked hearts... but he could not plead with the angels to spare the men of Sodom. Nothing but divine judgment could meet the evil.
God had said He would come down and see whether the reports matched the reality. That night at the door settled the question.
The Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me." Sadly, when the angels came into Lot's house, they found that Sodom's grievous sin matched the cry the Lord had heard in heaven.
God's delay was never ignorance:
Of course the Lord knew every detail of the evil in those cities. But He is always slow to judge until the wickedness proves beyond remedy.
Commentators trace the outburst back to comfort. Sodom sat in a rich, easy place, and ease left the men time on their hands.
There was also "abundance of idleness," which gave the men of Sodom plenty of time for their pleasures. When Adam was driven from Eden, he was to eat of the ground with sorrow all the days of his life. God added, "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread." ... With all their idleness, the men of Sodom had clearly managed to eat their bread without the sweat of Adam.
Lot sat in the gate, the seat of a judge. The crowd at his door showed what that was worth.
Lot's position as judge now counted for nothing. In fact they threw it back at him as though he had no right to the office at all. If he had flattered himself that he could exercise an influence for good, he was now undeceived.
The root of the failure was where Lot had chosen to live:
Lot settled in Sodom with apparently some hope of improving it. He was a righteous man, but he "tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds" (2 Peter 2:8). He was simply in the wrong place, and made himself incapable of warning the people of God's judgment against evil.
The New Testament looks back at these cities and names the kind of sin it was.
Jude says: "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire." Here it is clear that this was a breaking out. It was not merely into sin, but into what was flagrant beyond measure — not evil alone, but contrary even to fallen nature.
Two things outlived the city — a word, and a warning:
The memory of the evil and its judgment has lasted. Our language still uses the word "sodomy" for sin of an especially vile and unnatural kind. This judgment, moreover, was a sample of what is yet to come on a much greater scale in "the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly" (2 Peter 3:7).
Jesus Himself used this night as a preview of His return.
The city where Lot holds an honoured place as a magistrate is doomed to judgment. The time has come when it is ripe for judgment. From the Lord's own words in Luke 17 we know what this solemn scene means. It foreshadows the judgment about to fall on this present evil world. There we read, "As it was in the days of Lot... so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed."
- Cry. Sodom's sin had already reached heaven as an outcry. God came down to see, and the demand at Lot's door matched the report.
- Cause. Plenty and idleness fed the appetite. These men ate their bread without Adam's sweat, and had spare time for their pleasures.
- Collapse. Lot sat in the gate as a judge. When the mob came, his office counted for nothing. Settling in the world gives a believer no power to restrain it.
- Condemnation. Scripture treats this as evil beyond ordinary sin, against even fallen nature. The ruined cities remain an example of judgment.
- Coming. The Lord makes that night a preview: as it was in the days of Lot, so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
And Lot went out to them to the entrance, and shut the door after him,
Genesis 19 opens with two angels arriving at Sodom's gate, where Lot is sitting as a man of standing in the city. The crowd outside demands his guests, so Lot steps out and shuts the door behind him — an act that shows both what was good in him and how far he had drifted.
Going outside was in Lot's favour. He put himself at risk for the men under his roof. What he offered once he was outside was not to his credit.
Lot's concern for his guests was commendable. He even went outside, closing the door after him, to plead for the two men who had come under the shelter of his roof (vv. 6-8). But his offer of his daughters was far from commendable. How could he offer them to men of such vile character? He had no right to offer them to anybody, and they were already engaged to be married. He says the men had come to his home for protection. Abraham's words in Genesis 18:5 were very different. Abraham knew his visitors had come to have their hearts comforted by his fellowship.
The shut door had a second purpose. Lot was uneasy about the city he had chosen. He did not want his guests to see what he had settled into.
On the whole this is a sad scene. A believer in the world would have importance in it, and do good. He sits in the gate — the gate of Sodom! But Lot is not easy at being found there. He acts as though he were at ease, but he would keep the strangers from knowing what a place they had found him in. It is no use. He takes it on himself, uses atrocious means — for what could he do against them? Power delivers him, that is all.
Standing outside, Lot addresses the mob as his brothers. One writer links that word to something Lot had lost.
Lot goes out to plead for his guests and to reason with his fellow-townsmen. Sadly, he calls them "brothers." He even offers them his two daughters (vv. 6-8). He has lost the simplicity of faith. In this scene of difficulty, danger and surrounding wickedness he no longer looks only to the Lord. Instead he uses worldly wisdom, choosing what he thought was the lesser of two evils.
Lot meant to protect. What the scene proves is that he had no strength to do it.
We also see that Lot is a true believer. He recognises the heavenly visitors and treats them with due reverence. He seeks to honour them and to shelter them from the insults of the men of the world. Sadly, he only finds that he has no power to restrain their wickedness.
Lot did not arrive at this night in one move. One writer traces the steps that brought him to this door.
Bearing this in mind, our chapter is full of the most solemn warning for us all. He may have regarded his election as a judge as a step up; it was in truth a sad fall, bringing dreadful consequences. We saw him at first pitching his tent toward Sodom. Then he dwelt in it, and shared in its defeat, as recorded in Genesis 14. Now he has become a leader in it. And with what effect? Has he cleaned up its degraded morals? Has he improved its ethical standards? Not in the least! He has, as we shall see, only involved himself and his family in its evils.
Lot's pleading achieves nothing. The crowd turns on him, and the door he shut behind him becomes the door that saves him.
Lot argues with them. He pleads with them. He is even ready to degrade his own children to cover and protect these strangers. In the end the riot gets so bad that they say to him, "Stand back!" Their anger is roused, and they cry, "This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge!" What moral power has he over them when their passions and lusts are roused? None. They tell him plainly, "Now we will deal worse with you than with them." They would have broken the door in. But at that moment the door opens, and the men pull Lot inside.
- Door out. Lot's going outside to plead for his guests was good — he put himself between them and the mob.
- Door shut. He also wanted to hide from the strangers what a place they had found him in. The closed door hid nothing.
- Door word. He called the mob "brothers." He had lost the simplicity of faith, and he now chose what he judged the lesser of two evils.
- Door powerless. Tent toward Sodom, then living in it, then leading in it. He improved nothing there, and he could not restrain the city's wickedness for a single night.
- Door opened. His pleading saved no one, including himself. Hands reached out from inside and pulled him in — power delivered him, and that was all.
and said, I pray you, my brethren, do not wickedly!
Lot steps out of his own front door, pulls it shut behind him, and addresses a mob bent on violence as family. He calls them "my brothers." That one word raises the question of the whole chapter. What happens to a believer's voice once he has settled down inside the place he is trying to correct?
Commentators fasten on that single word. It shows where Lot had come to belong.
Verses 6, 7. What a picture of the falseness of his position. How strange that he could have settled there — and my brothers!
That word was not his starting point. One writer traces the slow drift behind it.
Lot's speech plainly shows how deeply he had become involved in the affairs of Sodom. He intended to stay only a little while. Instead he became a judge among them, and he looked on them as his brothers. Many a Christian has become thoroughly immersed in the world in the same way. He has touched the world in some small way, meaning to get away again. But he has gone further and further into its ties, until he found himself helpless, or unwilling, to break them.
Lot puts himself between the crowd and his guests. Then he offers something no father had the right to offer.
Lot's concern for his guests was commendable. He even went outside, closing the door after him, to plead for the two men who had come under the shelter of his roof (verses 6-8). But his offer to sacrifice his daughters was far from commendable. He had no right to offer them to anybody. Children are not the property of their parents, and his daughters were already engaged to be married (verse 14).
Lot begs the men to hold back. His plea could go only so far.
Lot might plead with the sinners to hold back from the gross evil planned in their wicked hearts. He might propose a lesser evil, as he saw it, to spare the guests he had brought under the shelter of his house. But he could not plead with the angels to spare the men of Sodom. Nothing but divine judgment could meet the evil. Lot's shameless proposal to his fellow citizens showed how powerless he was. The man who sat in Sodom's gate could not restrain their corrupt and lawless ways. Perhaps he had once thought he could improve the people of Sodom by his influence and advice. If so, this moment must surely have shown his poor deluded heart that his life spent for them had been wasted.
Why did a righteous man reach for such a proposal? He had stopped looking to the Lord.
Lot goes out to plead for his guests and to reason with his fellow townsmen. Sadly, he calls them "brothers." He also offers his two daughters (verses 6-8). For he has lost the simplicity of faith. In this scene of difficulty, danger and surrounding wickedness he does not look only to the Lord. Instead he chooses by worldly wisdom what he thought was the lesser of two evils.
The crowd answers that this newcomer has made himself their judge. The taunt exposes his position.
If a man mixes with the world to get ahead, he must make up his mind to bear the sad consequences. We cannot profit from the world and testify effectively against its wickedness at the same time. "This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge!" This will never do. The true way to judge is to stand apart, in the moral power of grace, not in the superior spirit of the Pharisees.
Lot's message that night was a plea for better behaviour. He had a better one to give.
Lot was sitting in the gate, the place of a judge. He was a believer making an effort to control the evil natures of ungodly men... the Christian is "not of this world." He has a message of grace with power to deliver people "from the present evil age" (Galatians 1:4)... Lot settled in Sodom with apparently some hope of improving it. He was a righteous man, but he "was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard" (2 Peter 2:8). He was in the wrong place, and he made himself incapable of warning the people of God's judgment against evil.
- Wrong place. Lot meant to stay in Sodom a little while. He ended up seated in its gate, and that position cost him the power to warn anyone.
- Wrong word. Calling the mob "my brothers" exposed his false position. The men he rebuked were the company he had made his own.
- No power. He could ask them not to act wickedly; he could not stop them. His plea showed how little the man in the gate could restrain.
- No credibility. A believer cannot profit from the world and testify against it at the same time. True judging means standing apart in the power of grace.
- No resource. He had lost the simplicity of faith. So he weighed two evils instead of looking to the Lord, and the message that rescues people out of a doomed world went unspoken.
Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man let me now bring them out to you; and do to them as is good in your sight only, to these men do nothing; for therefore have they come under the shadow of my roof.
Lot stands outside his own door, bargaining with a mob, and the price he offers is his two daughters. It raises two questions: how could a man the Bible calls righteous say this, and what had brought him to it?
Lot's words come out of a mind that has stopped looking upward. One writer traces the offer to that failure.
Lot goes out to plead for his guests and to reason with his fellow-townsmen. Sadly, he calls them "brothers". He offers his two daughters (vv. 6-8). He has lost the simplicity of faith. This is a scene of difficulty, danger and surrounding wickedness. Instead of looking only to the Lord, he chooses by worldly wisdom what he thought was the lesser of two evils.
Protecting his guests was right; the means was not. A commentator points out that Lot had no authority over his daughters to give in the first place.
Lot's concern for his guests was commendable. He even went outside, closing the door behind him, to plead for the two men who had come under the shelter of his roof (vv. 6-8). But his offer to sacrifice his daughters was far from commendable. How could he offer his virgin daughters to men of such vile character? In fact, he had no right to offer them to anybody. Children are not the property of their parents. Besides, his daughters were already engaged to be married (v. 14). As for the two men, Lot says they had come to his home for protection. How different were Abraham's words in Gen. 18:5! Abraham realized that his visitors had come to have their hearts comforted by his fellowship. We may be sure that the two angels would not have allowed Lot to give his daughters to the men of the city.
The offer measures two things: what years in Sodom had done to Lot's thinking, and what his standing in the city was worth.
Lot tried to calm them by sacrificing his two unmarried daughters. That shows how low he had sunk in his own mind through Sodom's contamination. His position as judge now counted for nothing. They threw it back at him as though he had seized the office with no right. If he had flattered himself that he could have a good influence, he was now undeceived.
The men of Sodom threw Lot's position back in his face. One writer says their reply was fair.
He was troubling his righteous soul over their unlawful deeds. Yet the men of the city have a right to say to him, "What business have you here?" They said, "This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge!" (v. 9). You are quarrelling with sin in the place of sin. They have a perfect right to judge like that. Association with the world destroys all power of testimony. He ought to be witnessing to his total separation from the world. There is vexation of spirit, but no power.
The end of the chapter shows what Lot's public office produced — including for the daughters he tried to bargain away here.
When Lot "sat in the gate of Sodom" (v. 1), he was acting as a magistrate. Being a righteous man, he must have longed to help improve its terrible state of unrighteousness and immorality. He achieved nothing. He only wrecked his own power to witness against it, and destroyed his family. "He seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting" (v. 14). He himself barely escaped at the last moment, with no power to deliver others. He even lost his own wife. The angels did rescue his two unmarried daughters, but they soon drew their father, who had drifted away from God, into drunkenness and immorality — the very sins of Sodom itself.
Nothing in this chapter would lead you to call Lot a good man. Yet the New Testament does.
We cannot see any redeeming feature in the sad history. Yet the Holy Spirit is quick to discern anything of Christ in any one of us. He says that God "rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds)." How refreshing that verse is! It is like an oasis in the desert, a silver lining on a gloomy cloud.
(The quotation is from 2 Peter 2:7-8, given here in the ESV; the writer used an older translation.)
- Place. Lot's shocking offer is not an isolated lapse — it is the harvest of where he chose to live, "quarrelling with sin in the place of sin."
- Loss. Living inside Sodom cost him the simplicity of faith. In a crisis he weighed the lesser of two evils instead of looking to the Lord.
- Powerlessness. He had no right to offer his daughters. He had no strength to protect anyone. The mob turned on him instead.
- Family. He took office to improve the city. It wrecked his witness and ruined his family: wife lost, sons-in-law scornful, daughters corrupted.
- Mercy. Despite a record with no redeeming feature, God calls Lot righteous and rescues him. That is the one bright line in the story.