tion of human nature, the phrase recurs only Sir. 109 1732.—28.
(
Hebrew characters)] lit. 'on account of the 5'; a somewhat paradoxical
form of expression.—30-32. Emboldened by success,
Abraham now ventures on a reduction by 10 instead of 5
(De.); this is continued till the limit of human charity is
reached, and Abraham ceases to plead.—33. went] not to
Sodom, but simply 'departed.'—33b would be equally appropriate
after 33a or 22a.
XIX. 1-29.—The Destruction of Sodom and Deliverance of Lot (J and P).
The three men (see on v.1) who have just left Abraham reach Sodom in the evening, are received as guests by Lot (1-3), but are threatened with outrage by the Sodomites (4-11). Thus convinced of the depravity of the inhabitants, they secure the safety of Lot's household (12-22), after which the city is destroyed by fire and brimstone (23-28).
Thus far J: cf. (Hebrew characters), 13. 14. 16. 24. 27; (Hebrew characters), 2. 7. 8. 18. 19. 20; (Hebrew characters), 4; (Hebrew characters), 8;
(Hebrew characters), 1; (Hebrew characters), 3. 9; (Hebrew characters), 28.—The summary in 29 is from P: cf. (Hebrew characters),
(Hebrew characters) (cf. 617 911. 15).—The passage continues 1822a. 33b (Jh), and
forms an effective contrast to the scene in Abraham's tent (181-15). The
alternation of sing. and pl. is less confusing than in 18; and Kraetzschmar's
theory (see p. 298 f.) does less violence to the structure of the passage.
Indeed, Gu. himself admits that the sing. section 17-22 (with 26) is
an 'intermezzo' from another Yahwistic author (Gu. 181).
1-3. Lot's hospitality.—Comp. Ju. 1915-21.—1a. the
two angels] Read 'the men,' as 1816 [195. 8] 10. 12. 16; see the
footnote.—in the gate] the place of rendezvous in Eastern
cities for business or social intercourse; Ru. 41ff. 11,
Jb. 297 etc.—1b, 2a. Cf. 182.—(Hebrew characters)] Sirs! See on 183.
mistake the sense.—28. (Hebrew characters)] The regular use of the ending (Hebrew characters) (G-K.
§ 47 m) from this point onwards is remarkable (Di.). The form, though
etymologically archaic, is by no means a mark of antiquity in OT, and
is peculiarly frequent in Deut. style (Dri. on Dt. 117).—32. (Hebrew characters)] see
on 223.
1. (Hebrew characters)] This word has not been used before, and recurs only
in v.15 (in [E] also v.12, and in G v.16). The phrase is, no doubt, a correction
for (Hebrew characters), caused by the introduction of 22b-33a, and the consequent
identification of Yahwe with one of the original three, and
the other two with His angels (We. Comp.2 27 f.).—2. (Hebrew characters)] so pointed
