John Gill Commentary Genesis 19

And there came two angels to Sodom at even
Or "the two angels" ^F8 , the two men who were angels in the likeness of men, that had been with Abraham in the heat of the day at Hebron, on the evening of the same day came to Sodom:

and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom :
not as a civil magistrate to try causes there, being appointed a judge over them, as Jarchi relates; yea, the Jews say ^F9 : that that day five judges were appointed by the men of Sodom, and Lot was the chief of them; but this is not likely, and seems to be contradicted, (Genesis 19:9) ;

but he sat there to observe strangers that might pass by, and invite them into his house, and that they might not fall into the hands of the wicked Sodomites, who might abuse them; this being a time when not only travellers would be glad to put up and take refreshment, but his wicked neighbours lay in wait for them to satisfy their lusts on them: he had learnt this hospitality from Abraham;

and Lot seeing [them], rose up to meet them :
he arose from his seat and went forward to meet them, which showed his readiness and heartiness to receive them:

and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground ;
not in a religious way, as paying worship to angels, for as yet he did not know them to be such, and if he had, would not have given them divine adoration; but in a civil way, as was the custom of the eastern countries to bow very low in their civil respects to men, especially to great personages; and such Lot took these to be by their goodly looks and by their dress, as appears by his salutation of them in (Genesis 19:2) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: (Mykalmh ynv) "duo illi angeli", Tigurine version, Cocceius; so Ar. "duobus illis angelis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
• F9: Bereshit Rabba, sect. 50. fol. 44. 4.

And he said, behold now, my lords
Taking them to be, and bespeaking them as persons of quality, who appeared with majesty in their countenances, and looked as if they had been well brought up, and were upon their travels; not knowing them to be angels, whom he received and entertained unawares, as the apostle, referring to Lot and Abraham, observes, (Hebrews 13:2);

turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house ;
meaning himself, who was their humble servant, and entreats them to turn in to his house, which perhaps was hard by, and take up their lodging with him: the ancient Jews ^F11 give the sense of the phrase thus, go a roundabout, winding, crooked way to my house, that the men of Sodom may not see you go in there, and know you are there. This is taken from the signification of the word to "turn in", which in a different construction signifies to decline, to go back; and so the Targum of Jonathan,

and you shall rise up early, and go on your ways :
Signifying that he would not detain them longer than they thought fit; they might rise as soon in the morning as they pleased, and pursue their journey, only he entreats they would accept of a night's lodging with him:

and they said, nay, but we will abide in the street all night ;
which they said partly out of modesty, it not becoming strangers to be too forward in accepting an invitation, and partly to try whether Lot was hearty in the invitation he gave them; and hereby also reigning ignorance of the manners and behaviour of the men of Sodom, as if they might be safe from their insults in the street in the night; and this made Lot the more pressing upon them, that they might not be exposed to his wicked neighbours.

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: Bereshit Rabba, sect. 50. fol. 44. 4.

And he pressed them greatly
He prayed, he entreated, he persuaded, he made use of a multitude of words, and of all the arguments he could think of, to prevail upon them; and might not only press them with words, but make use of gestures, as taking them by the hand, or by their clothes, and as it were forcing them into his house, whereby it plainly appeared he was cordial and hearty in his invitation:

and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house :
went along with him to it, and instead of proceeding forward, or continuing where they were, or steering their course to a street in the city, they turned in to Lot's house:

and he made them a feast ;
a large, liberal, and generous entertainment, as Abraham did, consisting of a variety of eatables and drinkables; indeed it has its name only from drinking, wine being a principal part of a banquet:

and did bake unleavened bread ;
not because it was the time of the passover, as Jarchi suggests, for as yet that was not instituted; but for quicker dispatch, that his guests might have their supper the sooner, and get to bed the earlier, and rest themselves; bread without leaven in it being sooner baked than that which is made with it:

and they did eat ;
the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem are,

But before they lay down Upon their beds to sleep; it was between supper time and bedtime that the following affair happened, while the angels were talking to Lot about the men of Sodom, and inquiring what sort of men they were, as the Jewish writers ^F12 suggest:

the men of the city, [even] the men of Sodom, compassed the house round about ; the house of Lot, where the angels were:

both old and young : the males of the city of every age; some that were past committing the sin they were so infamous for, as well as those that burned with that unnatural lust; some that could not be actors were willing to be spectators; and all were curious to see the lovely persons, that it was reported all over the city were seen to go into Lot's house:

all the people from every quarter ; all from one end of the city to the other, and from every corner in it: which shows the general corruption and depravity of the city, that it was so far from having ten righteous persons in it, that of the proper inhabitants of it, there was not, as Jarchi notes, one righteous person, no, not one.

FOOTNOTES:

• F12: Bereshit Rabba, ut supra. (sect. 50. fol. 44. 4.)

And they called unto Lot
With a loud voice, that he might hear, they being in the street, and he within doors; and perhaps there might be a court before his house, through which there was a passage up to it, as seems from (Genesis 19:6):

and said unto him, where are the men which came in to you this night ?
for though they were angels, they appeared like men, and they seemed to be so to them who saw them go into Lot's house:

bring them out unto us, that we may know them ;
not who they were, and from where they came, and what their business was; nor did they pretend anything of this kind to hide and cover their design from Lot, but they were open and impudent, and declared their sin without shame and blushing, which is their character, (Isaiah 3:9); their meaning was, that they might commit that unnatural sin with them, they were addicted to, and in common used, and which from them to this day bears the name of Sodomy. As lawful copulation with a man's wife is modestly expressed by knowing her, (Genesis 4:1Genesis 4:17Genesis 4:25); so this unlawful and shocking copulation of man with man is expressed by this phrase; and that this was their meaning is plain from Lot's answer to them, (Genesis 19:8).