Kejadian 18:3-5

18:3 He said, “My lord, ¹  if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. ²  18:4 Let a little water be brought so that ³  you may all ⁴  wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get ⁵  a bit of food ⁶  so that you may refresh yourselves ⁷  since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” ⁸  “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”

Kejadian 19:1-3

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while ⁹  Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. ¹⁰  When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ¹¹  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ¹²  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ¹³ 

19:3 But he urged ¹⁴  them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate.

[18:3]  ¹ tc The MT has the form אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Master”) which is reserved for God. This may reflect later scribal activity. The scribes, knowing it was the Lord, may have put the proper pointing with the word instead of the more common אֲדֹנִי (’adoni, “my master”).

[18:3]  ² tn Heb “do not pass by from upon your servant.”

[18:4]  ³ tn The imperative after the jussive indicates purpose here.

[18:4]  ⁴ tn The word “all” has been supplied in the translation because the Hebrew verb translated “wash” and the pronominal suffix on the word “feet” are plural, referring to all three of the visitors.

[18:5]  ⁵ tn The Qal cohortative here probably has the nuance of polite request.

[18:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “a piece of bread.” The Hebrew word לֶחֶם (lekhem) can refer either to bread specifically or to food in general. Based on Abraham’s directions to Sarah in v. 6, bread was certainly involved, but v. 7 indicates that Abraham had a more elaborate meal in mind.

[18:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “strengthen your heart.” The imperative after the cohortative indicates purpose here.

[18:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “so that you may refresh yourselves, after [which] you may be on your way – for therefore you passed by near your servant.”

[19:1]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive clause is temporal here, indicating what Lot was doing at the time of their arrival.

[19:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sitting in the gate of Sodom.” The phrase “the gate of Sodom” has been translated “the city’s gateway” for stylistic reasons.

[19:1]  sn The expression sitting in the city’s gateway may mean that Lot was exercising some type of judicial function (see the use of the idiom in 2 Sam 19:8; Jer 26:10; 38:7; 39:3).

[19:2]  ¹¹ tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.

[19:2]  ¹² tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”

[19:2]  ¹³ sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.

[19:3]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew verb פָּצַר (patsar, “to press, to insist”) ironically foreshadows the hostile actions of the men of the city (see v. 9, where the verb also appears). The repetition of the word serves to contrast Lot to his world.