1
Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown,
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šə·nê ham·mal·’ā·ḵîm way·yā·ḇō·’ū sə·ḏō·māh bā·‘e·reḇ wə·lō·wṭ yō·šêḇ bə·ša·‘ar- sə·ḏōm lō·wṭ way·yar- way·yā·qām liq·rā·ṯām way·yiš·ta·ḥū ’ap·pa·yim ’ā·rə·ṣāh
Word by word16 · parsed
√ shᵉnayim — twoNumbermasculine dual construct
שְׁנֵי is the dual construct "two of" — and the count matters. The Geneva note: "Lot had but two angels, and Abraham three"; a quiet measure of the difference between the friend of God and the man who lingered in Sodom.
√ mălʼâk — a messengerArticleNounmasculine plural
הַמַּלְאָכִים — the article makes these the very visitors of ch. 18. K&D: Lot "supposed them to be" travelers "and only recognised them as angels when they had smitten the Sodomites with blindness" (v. 11).
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural
√ Çᵉdôm — Sedom, a place near the Dead SeaNounproperfeminine singularthird person feminine singular
√ ʻereb — duskPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular
בָּעֶרֶב, "at evening." They reached Abraham at noon (18:1) and Sodom at dusk — the day darkens as the scene moves from the oaks of Mamre to the gate of Sodom.
√ Lôwṭ — Lot, Abraham's nephewConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
יֹשֵׁב at the gate: the gate was forum, market, and court (so Pulpit, K&D, citing Deut 21:19; Ruth 4:1) — "the seat of justice, of social intercourse and amusement" (JFB). Whether Lot sat there as a magistrate or watched, like Abraham, for strangers to shelter (Benson, Gill, Calvin), the spot is the civic heart of a doomed city.
√ shaʻar — an opening, iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
√ Çᵉdôm — Sedom, a place near the Dead SeaNounproperfeminine singular
√ Lôwṭ — Lot, Abraham's nephewNounpropermasculine singular
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
√ qûwm — to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
√ qârâʼ — to encounter, whether accidentally or in a hostile mannerPreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person masculine plural
√ shâchâh — to depress, iConjunctive wawVerbHitpaelConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ, Hitpael of šāḥāh — the deep prostration. Gill: "not in a religious way... but in a civil way, as was the custom of the eastern countries." The same gesture Abraham made (18:2) — Lot still keeps the courtesy he learned from his uncle.
√ ʼaph — properly, the nose or nostrilNounmd
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Nounfeminine singularthird person feminine singular