(cf. eh. iv. 1), tl1ough, according to some, Knobel, Gesenius); Approach hither (Baum- alrcnrly betrothed to two Sodomitee (ver. H) garten, Kalisch) ; Come near, farther off -let me, I pre.y you, bring them out 11nto (' Speaker's Commentary'). And they said you; aud do ye to them as is goo·d in your aga1D, This one fellow (Ii terall y, the one, an eyes . . The usual apologies -that in sacrificing expression of the Sodomites' contempt) came his daughters t,;, th~ Sodomites instcn<l of in to sojourn, and he will needs be a. judge: giving ~p his guests, to their unn11tural lust • -literally, and shall he jud{Je, jud'jin']; Lot (l) selected tho lesser or two sins shall he continually play the judge, referring (Ambrose); (2) thereby protected his guests doubtless to Lot's daily rcmonstrances against and discharged the duties of hospitality in- their wickedness (cf. 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8)-now cumbent· on him (Chrysostom); (3) believed will we deal worse with thee, than with his daughters would. not be desired by the them. And they pressed sore upon the Sodomites, either because of their well-known man, even Lot (literally, upon Lot, who betrothal (Rosenmilller), or because of the appears to have offered a sturdy resistance to unnatural lust of the Sodomites (Lange); (4) their violence no less than to their clamours), actecl through mental perturbation (Augue- and came near to break (i:;)~, to break to tine)-are insufficient to excuse tho wicked- pieces, to shiver) the door. ness of one who in e.tte'.!llpting to prevent one 10.-But the men (i. e.. the angels) sin was himself guilty of another (Delitzsch), putVer.forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the who in seeking _to be e. 'faithful friend forgot house to them, and shu~ to the door-deleth to be an affectionate father (Kalisch), and ,vho, though bound to defend his guests at (vide vcr. 6). the risk of his own life, was ·not ilt liberty were Ver. 11.-And they emote the men that to purchase their safety by the sacrifice of (vide at the door-the pethach, or openiug his daughters (' Speaker's Commentary'). -C•:,,.~~ ver. 6)-of the house with blindness, (sanveriru), from an unused quadri- Onl:y: ,unto these men-:-~~y, an archaic form lateral ·signifying to dazzle, is _perhaps hern of i't~~:;i .. a proof of _tho antiquity of the intended not for natural blindness, but for PeufateU:ch (cf. ver. 25; xxvi 3; 4; Levit. confused or bewil<lered vision, involving for xviii. 27 ; Dent. iv. 42; vii. 22 ; xix. 11)- the time being loss of sight, o.ud accom- do nothing (i. e. offer to them neither vio- panied by mental aberration; what Aben :ence nor dishonour) ; for therefore (vide Ezra calls " blindness of eye and mind" (c f. eh. xviii. 5) came they under the shadow 2 Kin!(S vi. 18)-both small and great : so of my roof-in order to find protection. • that they wee.ried themselves to find the do~r Ver. 9. -And they ssid, Stand be.ck. -which they,vonld hardly have done hail it 'AoroO"rn ;,:,i (LXX.); recede i.lluc (Vulgate); beon natural blindness only (Augustine). ".Make way," i & for us to enter ,(Keil,
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-11.-'-Waming lights in Sodom. I. THE ·FLICKERING LIGHT OF LoT's PIETY. 1. That the light of Lot's piety was still burning, though he had long been Rnbjected to the moral contamination of the licentious Pentapolis, is apparent from- (1) The practice of lwspitality which he appears to ltave maintained, having pro- bably learnt it while in his uncle's tent. So men often cling to the outward forms of religion when its living power is ceasing to exert an influence upon the heart; and t.hough adherence to the former ii! not to be mistaken for the latter, yet it renders the decline of the latter less rapid and disastrous than it would otherwise be. (2) Tlie l.:indly reception wliicli he extended to !tis celeiltial visitors. If scarcely so elaborate us the sumptuous entertainment of Abrnhnm at Mumre, the banquet of Lot was at least as outwardly reverential and as unaffectedly sincere and earnest. It clearly testified that Lot had not yet become insensible to the practical duties of religion, as at that time understood. Early religious training is exceedingly difficult to erndicate. (3) The couragedusd:efence which he made of kis threatened guests. At the risk of his personal safety lle endeavoured to repel the violence with which the citizens nssniled them ; o.nd by the proffer of a sacrifice, the greatest surely that a parent could make, he sought to beguile the infamous designs which the townsmen cherished. W11atever mny be said of Lot's conduct in this latter action, his behaviour throughout towards the llngels proved that the life of gruce within his soul was not quite extinct. 2. That the ligl1t of Lot's piety, though still burning, was fast fading, may be gathered from 1.he circumstances-(1) 'J'frnt he Imel remained so iong among tltd 25-1 THE DOOK OF GENESIS. [ell. Xllt. 1-11.