Genesis 19:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 19:8
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine plural absolute
known
יָדְעוּ֙ya.de.'U
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
man
אִ֔ישׁ'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
out
אוֹצִֽיאָה'o.tzi.'ah-
H3318
to go (causatively · verb, hiphil infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
do
וַעֲשׂ֣וּva.'a.Su
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
good
כַּטּ֖וֹבka.Tov
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · preposition with the article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
eyes
בְּעֵינֵיכֶ֑םbe.'ei.nei.Khem
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
these
הָאֵל֙ha.'El
H411
these or those · definite article + demonstrative particle
men
לָֽאֲנָשִׁ֤יםla.'a.na.Shim
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
do
תַּעֲשׂ֣וּta.'a.Su
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine plural
nothing
אַל'al-
H408
not (the qualified negation · negative particle
came
בָּ֖אוּBa.'u
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
shadow
בְּצֵ֥לbe.Tzel
H6738
shade · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
roof
קֹרָתִֽיko.ra.Ti
H6982
a rafter (forming trenches as it were) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Judges 19:24 Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good u…
Genesis 19:31-38 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all t…
Genesis 18:5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And…
Genesis 42:37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to th…
Judges 9:15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire…
Isaiah 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou…
Mark 9:6 For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.
Romans 3:8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is jus…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 19:4-11
Now it appeared, beyond contradiction, that the cry of Sodom was no louder than there was cause for. This night's work was enough to fill the measure. For we find here,
I. That they were all wicked, Gen 19:4. Wickedness had become universal, and they were unanimous in any vile design. Here were old and young, and all from every quarter, engaged in this riot; the old were not past it, and the young had soon come up to it. Either they had no magistrates to keep the peace, and protect the peaceable, or their magistrates were themselves aiding and abetting. Note, When the disease of sin has become epidemical, it is fatal to any place, Isa 1:5-7.
II. That they had arrived at the highest pitch of…
men of Sodom, compassed the house--Appalling proofs are here given of their wickedness. It is evident that evil communications had corrupted good manners; otherwise Lot would never have acted as he did.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 19:8
Behold now, I have two daughters - Nothing but that sacred light in which the rights of hospitality were regarded among the eastern nations, could either justify or palliate this proposal of Lot. A man who had taken a stranger under his care and protection, was bound to defend him even at the expense of his own life. In this light the rights of hospitality are still regarded in Asiatic countries; and on these high notions only, the influence of which an Asiatic mind alone can properly appreciate, Lot's conduct on this occasion can be at all excused: but even then, it was not only the language of anxious solicitude, but of unwarrantable haste.
John Gill on Genesis 19:8
Behold now, I have two daughters, which have not known man,.... Though some think they were espoused to men, but had not yet cohabited with them, see Genesis 19:14,
let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes; this was a very great evil in Lot to make such an offer of his daughters; it was contrary to parental love and affection, an exposing the chastity of his daughters, which should have been his care to preserve; nor had he a power to dispose of them in such a manner: and though fornication is a lesser evil than sodomy, yet all evil is to be avoided, and even it is not to be done that good may come: nothing can be said to excuse this good man, b…
The Church Fathers
Now this is the first lust which conquered the world, and because of it the first transgression of the law took place. It brought the Sodomites unto the work of impurity. For the lust of the belly is the captain of the host of the left side, and to it are fettered all the hosts of sin, and as captains of hosts go forth to war at the head of their companies against the enemy, even so also doth it, as the captain of the host of all wickedness, go forth to war against that which is good.
CONDUCT OF LOT TO THE SODOMITES. — Lot says to the Sodomites, " But I have two daughters, who have not known a man. I will bring them out to you, and use them as it may please you, only do not injury to these men . He wished, in giving up his daughters, to obtain in return that his guests should not suffer such an outrage on the part of the Sodomites. In this respect, the question arises as to whether a change of dishonest acts or any sin can be admitted, so that we do one bad thing so that another does not do a greater evil; or rather this should be attributed to fear, and not to clear thinking, that Lot said that. And truly this was dangerous exchange. Now, if it is attributed to a human disturbance and to a mind impressed by such great wickedness, it is not to be followed as an example. [
Indeed, when they [the men of Sodom] were raging to commit such a crime, Lot says among other things: "I have two daughters who have not yet known a man. I will bring them out to you, and you may abuse them as it pleases you, provided that you do nothing evil to these men." Because he wanted to offer his daughters as a form of compensation so that his male guests would not suffer such an outrage from the Sodomites, it is rightly questioned whether such a compensation of crimes or any sins should be admitted, that we might do something evil in order to prevent another from doing a greater evil, or whether it should rather be attributed to the disturbance of Lot's mind rather than his intention, since he said this; indeed, this compensation is most perilously admitted; but if it is attributed to human disturbance and a mind disturbed by such great evil, it should in no way be imitated.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Abraham — Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred…
Angel — A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job 1:14: 1 Sam.…
Cities — The earliest notice in Scripture of city-building is of Enoch by Cain, in the land of his exile. (Genesis 4:17) After the confusion of tongues the descendants of Nimrod founded Babel, Erech, Accad…
Lot — (Heb. goral, a “pebble”), a small stone used in casting lots (Num. 33:54; Jonah 1:7). The lot was always resorted to by the Hebrews with strictest reference to the interposition of God, and as a…
Hospitality · .Lot to the angel — .Lot to the angel
Sodom · Wickedness of the inhabitants of — Wickedness of the inhabitants of
Sodomites · Wickedness of — Wickedness of
Sodomy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Travellers · Protected by those who entertained them — Protected by those who entertained them
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
I have two daughters. As the constancy of Lot, in risking his own life for the defense of his guests, deserves no common praise; so now Moses relates that a defect was mixed with this great virtue, which sprinkled it with some imperfection. For, being destitute of advice, he devises (as is usual in intricate affairs) an unlawful remedy. He does not hesitate to prostitute his own daughters, that he may restrain the indomitable fury of the people. But he should rather have endured a thousand deaths, than have resorted to such a measure. Yet such are commonly the works of holy men: since nothing proceeds from them so excellent, as not to be in some respect defective. Lot, indeed, is urged by ex…
Lot went out to them, shut the door behind him to protect his guests, and offered to give his virgin daughters up to them. "Only to these men (האל, an archaism for האלּה rof, occurs also in Gen 19:25; Gen 26:3-4; Lev 18:27, and Deu 4:42; Deu 7:22; Deu 19:11; and אל for אלּה in Ch1 20:8) do nothing, for therefore (viz., to be protected from injury) have they come under the shadow of my roof." In his anxiety, Lot was willing to sacrifice to the sanctity of hospitality his duty as a father, which ought to have been still more sacred, "and committed the sin of seeking to avert sin by sin." Even if he expected that his daughters would suffer no harm, as they were betrothed to Sodomites (Gen 19:14…
Lot opposed homosexuality and rape and rebuked their wicked plans, but he was hypocritically willing to sacrifice his daughters to fend off the townsmen’s vice. Lot had originally pitched his tent next to Sodom; now Sodom controlled his life.
Rashi on Genesis 19:5
ונדעה אותם AND WE SHALL KNOW THEM — with homosexuality, as in "who have not known a man" (Genesis Rabbah 50:5).
