GenèseChapitre 19

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The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, while Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed with his face to the ground.

He said, "Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant's house. Spend the night and wash your feet, and you can rise early and go on your way." "No," they said, "we will spend the night in the square."

But he pressed them so strongly that they turned aside to him and came into his house. He prepared a feast for them, baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Before they lay down for the night, the men of the city surrounded the house—the men of Sodom, young and old, the whole population to the last man.

They called out to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have our way with them."

Lot went out to them at the entrance, shutting the door behind him,

and said, "Please, my brothers, do not do such a wicked thing.

Look, I have two daughters who have never been with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof."

"Out of the way!" they said. And they said, "This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he plays the judge! We will treat you worse than them." They pressed hard against the man, against Lot, and moved in to break down the door.

But the men reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

Then they struck the men at the entrance of the house with blindness, small and great alike, so that they wore themselves out trying to find the doorway.

The men said to Lot, "Who else do you have here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters—anyone of yours in the city—get them out of this place,

because we are about to destroy it. The outcry against these people before the LORD is so great that the LORD has sent us to destroy it."

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. "Get up, leave this place," he said, "for the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

As dawn was breaking, the angels urged Lot on, saying, "Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city."

When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters, for the LORD had mercy on him. They led them out and left them outside the city.

Once they had brought them out, one of them said, "Run for your life! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, or you will be swept away."

But Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lord!

Look, your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown me great kindness in sparing my life. But I cannot flee to the hills, or the disaster will overtake me and I will die.

Look, there is a town near enough to reach, and it is small. Let me flee there—it is only a small place—and my life will be spared."

He said to him, "Very well, I grant you this request too: I will not overthrow the town you speak of.

Hurry, escape there, for I can do nothing until you arrive." That is why the town was called Zoar.

The sun had risen over the land when Lot came to Zoar.

Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.

He overthrew those cities and the entire valley, along with all who lived in the cities and everything growing from the ground.

But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Early the next morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and over all the land of the valley, and he saw smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.

So when God destroyed the cities of the valley, he remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

Lot went up from Zoar and settled in the hills with his two daughters, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He lived in a cave, he and his two daughters.

The older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to come to us as is the custom everywhere on earth.

Come, let us give our father wine to drink and lie with him, so we can preserve offspring through our father."

That night they gave their father wine to drink, and the older one went in and lay with her father. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

The next day the older said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let us give him wine to drink again tonight, and you go in and lie with him, so we can preserve offspring through our father."

So that night also they gave their father wine to drink, and the younger one got up and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

The older gave birth to a son and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

The younger also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

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Résumé2

Chapitre 19

Main Theme: God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot’s deliverance by God’s grace.

Content: Two angels arrive in Sodom, where Lot welcomes them, but the men of the city—young and old alike—surround his house and demand to "know" the guests. The angels pull Lot inside, strike the men with blindness, and lead Lot, his wife, and his daughters out of the city. God causes sulfur and fire to rain down on Sodom and Gomorrah; Lot’s wife becomes a pillar of salt when she looks back in disobedience. Lot and his daughters settle in a mountain cave, where the daughters bear children by their father and become the matriarchs of the Moabites and Ammonites.

Key Words/Images:

Sulfur and fire: God’s total judgment on sin, symbolizing divine wrath and justice.
Pillar of salt: Lot’s wife as a warning against disobedience and turning back toward what is condemned.
Zoar ("the little"): The city to which Lot fled, demonstrating God’s mercy amid judgment.
Moab and Ben-Ammi: The sons born to Lot’s daughters, ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites.

Contexte historique

Historical and Cultural Context for Genesis 19

People

Lot appears in this chapter as a man of some standing in Sodom – he "sat at the gate" (v. 1), which in the ancient Near East indicated that he held a role in the city's administration or judicial system. The city gate was where elders and leading men gathered to settle disputes and conduct business. Lot’s two daughters remain unnamed in the text, but they play a crucial role in the final part of the chapter, becoming the matriarchs of the Moabites and Ammonites. Lot’s wife is mentioned only in connection with her fate – she becomes a pillar of salt when she looks back (v. 26).

The sons-in-law (חֲתָנָיו, ḥătānāyw) in verse 14 are described as "those who took/were to take his daughters" (לֹקְחֵי בְנֹתָיו) – the expression can mean either fiancés or already married sons-in-law. These men remained in the city and perished in its destruction.

Places

Sodom and Gomorrah were located, according to the text, in "the Jordan Valley" (הַכִּכָּר, hakkikkār), a fertile lowland area. Traditional localization places these cities at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Archaeologists have investigated several possible sites, including Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, where traces of fire and destruction from the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2550–2350 B.C.) have been found. These findings show signs of catastrophic destruction, although a definitive identification is not possible.

Zoar (צוֹעַר, Tsō'ar), also called Bela (Gen 14:2), was a small city spared at Lot’s request. The name is explained by wordplay – Lot says "is it not small?" (מִצְעָר, mits'ār). The city was likely located at the southeastern corner of the Dead Sea and is mentioned later in prophetic literature (Isa 15:5; Jer 48:34).

The mountain cave where Lot and his daughters sought refuge (v. 30) was situated in the hill country east of the Dead Sea, possibly in what later became Moabite territory.

Events and Customs

The duty of hospitality was a sacred obligation in the ancient Near East. Lot’s offer of protection to the strangers – even to the extreme – reflects how seriously this duty was taken. The expression "they have come under the shadow of my roof" (בְּצֵל קֹרָתִי, bětsel qōrātī, v. 8) was a formal declaration that the guests were under the host’s protection. Violating this protection was one of the worst crimes one could commit.

The men’s demand to "know" (נֵדְעָה, nēdə'āh) the guests (v. 5) uses the Hebrew verb יָדַע (yāda'), which in this context carries a sexual meaning. The sin of Sodom is described elsewhere in the Bible as a combination of sexual immorality, pride, abundance, and lack of care for the poor (Ezek 16:49–50).

The blindness (סַנְוֵרִים, sanwērīm, v. 11) that struck the crowd is a rare Hebrew word found only here and in 2 Kings 6:18. It describes a form of disorientation or loss of sight that prevented them from finding the door.

Key Terms

"To overthrow/destroy" (הָפַךְ, hāfak) is used repeatedly in the chapter (vv. 21, 25, 29) and describes total destruction. The word literally means "to turn upside down" and became a fixed expression for divine judgment – "the overthrow of Sodom" became a proverb in later biblical and Jewish literature.

"Sulfur and fire" (גָּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ, gofrīt wā'ēsh, v. 24) describes the means of destruction. The area around the Dead Sea is geologically active with deposits of sulfur, asphalt, and other combustible materials. Some scholars have suggested that the description may reflect an earthquake combined with the ignition of natural gas and sulfur deposits.

The pillar of salt (נְצִיב מֶלַח, nətsīv melaḥ, v. 26): The Dead Sea region has many salt formations, and travelers in later times have identified various salt pillars as "Lot’s wife." The transformation represents the consequence of disobedience to a divine command.

Chapter-Specific Findings

Archaeological excavations at Tell el-Hammam in Jordan, proposed by some scholars as a possible Sodom, have revealed a massive destruction layer from the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1700–1650 B.C.). The findings include glassy material, melted objects, and signs of extreme heat. A study published in 2021 suggested that a cosmic airburst (similar to the Tunguska event) could explain the destruction pattern, although this interpretation remains debated.

At Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira (Early Bronze Age), archaeologists have found extensive cemeteries and cities with signs of fire. Pottery, ash, and destruction horizons align chronologically with the patriarchal period, but a direct link to the biblical cities remains uncertain.

Personnages5

Lot11 God1 Ben-Ammi1 Moab (Lot's son)1 Abraham2

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Mots-clés8

Lot — Abraham's nephew who lived in Sodom and was saved by God before the city's destruction.
Sodom — A biblical city destroyed by God because of its sinful inhabitants.
Gomorrah — Another city destroyed together with Sodom by God for the same reason.
Angels — Heavenly beings sent by God to rescue Lot and his family and to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
Sin — Violation of God's commands and morality, which led to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Pillar of salt — What Lot's wife was turned into when she looked back at Sodom, against the angels' warning.
Cave — The place where Lot and his daughters sought refuge after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Incest — Sexual relations between close relatives, which occurred between Lot and his daughters in order to continue their lineage.