Verses 6-8. - And Lot went out at the door unto them, - literally, at the doorway, or opening (pethach, from pathach, to open; cf. pateo, Latin; πρόθυρον, LXX.); in which the gate or hanging door (deleth, from dalai, to be pendulous) swings, and which it closes (vide Gesenius, p. 201) - and shut the door (deleth, ut supra; θύρα, LXX.) after him, - to protect his visitors, which he also sought to accomplish by personal exhortation - and said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly - and also by an infamous proposal which nothing can extenuate and the utmost charity finds difficult to reconcile any pretence of piety on the part cf. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; - i.e. unmarried (cf. Genesis 4:1), though, according to some, already betrothed to two Sodomites (Ver. 14) - let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. The usual apologies - that in sacrificing his daughters to the Sodomites instead of giving up his guests to their unnatural lust. Lot
(1) selected the lesser of two sins (Ambrose);
(2) thereby protected his guests and discharged the duties of hospitality incumbent on him (Chrysostom);
(3) believed his daughters would not be desired by the Sodomites, either because of their well-known betrothal (Rosenmüller), or because of the unnatural lust of the Sodomites (Lunge);
(4) acted through mental perturbation (Augustine) - are insufficient to excuse the wickedness of one who in attempting to prevent one sin was himself guilty of another (Delitzsch), who in seeking to be a faithful friend forgot to be an affectionate father (Kalisch), and who, though bound to defend his guests at the risk of his own life, was not at liberty to purchase their safety by the sacrifice of his daughters ('Speakers Commentary'). Only unto these men - הָאֵל, an archaic form of הָאֵלֶּה, a proof of the antiquity of the Pentateuch (cf. Ver. 25; 26:3, 4; Leviticus 18:27; Deuteronomy 4:42; Deuteronomy 7:22; Deuteronomy 19:11) - do nothing (i.e. offer to them neither violence nor dishonor); for therefore (videGenesis 18:5) came they under the shadow of my roof - in order to find protection.
19:1-29 Lot was good, but there was not one more of the same character in the city. All the people of Sodom were very wicked and vile. Care was therefore taken for saving Lot and his family. Lot lingered; he trifled. Thus many who are under convictions about their spiritual state, and the necessity of a change, defer that needful work. The salvation of the most righteous men is of God's mercy, not by their own merit. We are saved by grace. God's power also must be acknowledged in bringing souls out of a sinful state If God had not been merciful to us, our lingering had been our ruin. Lot must flee for his life. He must not hanker after Sodom. Such commands as these are given to those who, through grace, are delivered out of a sinful state and condition. Return not to sin and Satan. Rest not in self and the world. Reach toward Christ and heaven, for that is escaping to the mountain, short of which we must not stop. Concerning this destruction, observe that it is a revelation of the wrath of God against sin and sinners of all ages. Let us learn from hence the evil of sin, and its hurtful nature; it leads to ruin.
And Lot went out at the door unto them,.... At the door of his house:
and shut the door after him; the door of the passage to his house, the courtyard door, for another word is here used; unless the one was properly the door, and the other a hatch: however, this precaution of shutting it was used to prevent the men of Sodom rushing in, and taking away the men by violence; and that Lot might have some opportunity of trying what he could do by arguments, to prevail upon them to desist from their attempt.
(1) selected the lesser of two sins (Ambrose);
(2) thereby protected his guests and discharged the duties of hospitality incumbent on him (Chrysostom);
(3) believed his daughters would not be desired by the Sodomites, either because of their well-known betrothal (Rosenmüller), or because of the unnatural lust of the Sodomites (Lunge);
(4) acted through mental perturbation (Augustine) - are insufficient to excuse the wickedness of one who in attempting to prevent one sin was himself guilty of another (Delitzsch), who in seeking to be a faithful friend forgot to be an affectionate father (Kalisch), and who, though bound to defend his guests at the risk of his own life, was not at liberty to purchase their safety by the sacrifice of his daughters ('Speakers Commentary'). Only unto these men - הָאֵל, an archaic form of הָאֵלֶּה, a proof of the antiquity of the Pentateuch (cf. Ver. 25; 26:3, 4; Leviticus 18:27; Deuteronomy 4:42; Deuteronomy 7:22; Deuteronomy 19:11) - do nothing (i.e. offer to them neither violence nor dishonor); for therefore (vide Genesis 18:5) came they under the shadow of my roof - in order to find protection.
and shut the door after him; the door of the passage to his house, the courtyard door, for another word is here used; unless the one was properly the door, and the other a hatch: however, this precaution of shutting it was used to prevent the men of Sodom rushing in, and taking away the men by violence; and that Lot might have some opportunity of trying what he could do by arguments, to prevail upon them to desist from their attempt.