Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 19:9

And they said, Stand back. And they said [again], This one [fellow] came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, [even] Lot, and came near to break the door.

9. Stand back ] LXX , Lat. recede illuc; cf. “give place,” Isa 49:20.

This one fellow ] Lot is reminded of his solitariness and of his foreign extraction.

came in to sojourn ] The people contrast Lot’s position as a sojourner ( gr) in the city with his claim to decide and play the judge.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 9. And he will needs be a judge] So his sitting in the gate is perhaps a farther proof of his being there in a magisterial capacity, as some have supposed.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Stand back, or, go further off, i.e. out of our way; stand not between us and the door; or, come hither, that so they might seize him, and proceed in the designed wickedness.

This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: q.d. One man, and he too but a stranger, presumeth to oppose the whole society of the native citizens. Heb. In judging he will judge. This busybody, if not restrained in time, will take authority to himself to censure, reprove, and condemn us from time to time.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And they said, stand back,…. Turn on one side, get away from the door, that we may come to it:

and they said [again]: to one another:

this one [fellow] came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge; this one man, and he a stranger and sojourner, no freeman or citizen of this city, sets himself against the whole body of the inhabitants, and takes upon him to judge what is right and wrong to be done; and if he is let alone in “judging he will judge” m, as it may be rendered; he will take upon him this office, and continue to exercise it, and determine and decide all matters among us at his pleasure. This confutes the above notion of the Jews, that Lot was appointed a judge by the men of Sodom, yea, the president of the court for that day;

[See comments on Ge 19:1]:

now will we deal worse with thee than with them: the men in his house, both by abusing his body in their unnatural way, and by beating and bruising him, and pulling him in pieces, limb from limb; something of this kind they seem to threaten him with, and attempted to effect, as follows:

and they pressed sore upon the man, [even] Lot; not only with words in a bullying way, with menaces and threats, with oaths, and curses, and imprecations; for it is the same word that is used of Lot, pressing the angels with words and arguments to come into his house, Ge 19:3; but they rushed in upon him in a body, and pushed him away, and pulled him about, and would in all probability have torn him to pieces, had he not been rescued by the angels:

and came near to break the door: that which was shut, the door of the passage that led to the house.

m “judicabit judicando”, Drusius.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verses 9-11: The men of Sodom were enraged by Lot’s refusal to deliver his guests to them and his plea on their behalf. Their attitude is typical of that of depraved sinners today toward God’s children. The men of Sodom had elevated Lot to a position of honor among them, so long as he did not take a positive stand against their sin. But when he spoke out to convict them of their guilt they showed their true opinion of him: contempt. They attempted to assault Lot and was about to break down his door. The angels came to Lot’s rescue, pulling him bodily into the house and firmly securing the door. Then by supernatural power they “smote the men with blindness.” This is an expression denoting not natural blindness or sightlessness of the eyes, but confused vision accompanied with mental disorientation.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

9. And they said, Stand back. That Lot, with all his entreaties, than which nothing could be adduced more likely to soothe their rage, was thus harshly repelled, shows the indomitable haughtiness of this people. And, in the first place, they threaten that, if he persists in interceding, they will deal worse with him than with those whom he defends. Then they reproach him with the fact, that he, a foreigner, assumes the province of a judge. Every word proves the pride with which they swell. They place one man in opposition to a multitude, as if they would say, ‘By what right hast thou alone challenge to thyself authority over the whole city?’ They next boast that, while they are natives, he is but a stranger. Such is, at the present time, the boasting of the Papists against the pious ministers of God’s word: they allege against us, as a disgrace, the paucity of our numbers, in contrast with their own great multitude. (422) Then they pride themselves upon their long succession, and contend that it is intolerable for them to be reproved by new men. (423) But however contumaciously the wicked may strive, rather than submit to reason, let us know that they are exalted only to their own ruin.

(422) “ Car ils objectent comme pour reproche, que nous ne sommes que une pongnee de gens, et qu’eux sont bien en plus grand nombre.” — French Tr

(423) As the Reformation was styled the new religion, so the reformers were stigmatized as new men. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(9) This one fellow came in to sojourn.Heb. the one came to sojourn, as if an extraordinary concession had been made in Lots favour in allowing him to dwell within their walls. In ancient times the rights of citizenship were most jealously guarded, and the position of a sojourner made very bitter.

He will needs be a judge.Heb., is ever acting as a judge. This suggests that Lot had previously reproved the men of Sodom, and agrees with 2Pe. 2:8.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

9. Stand back Hebrew, approach far off; or, draw near farther away . The coarse cry of a mob . Kalisch explains: “ Approach nearer to us, farther away from the door . ”

He will needs be a judge This Lot, who forsooth came in to sojourn merely, will persist in playing the judge .

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And they said, “Stand back”. And they said, “This one fellow came in to sojourn and he must now be a judge over us. Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” ’

Some simply tell him to get out of the way, but others begin to bring up the racial factor, and then the moral factor. Lot is not really one of us, they say. He just lives among us. (The previous day they may well have thought differently, but such are men hot after sin). Now he is setting up his standards against ours. This foreigner is setting himself up as our judge. It is interesting to note how even evil men try to persuade their consciences that what they are doing is right. This is their way, they say, and who has the right to criticise?

“Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” His reputation among them is now in tatters. No longer a fellow-citizen but an alien, and therefore a fair target for their evil ways. They will abuse him first, then they will turn to the others.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

‘And they pressed sore on the man, even Lot, and drew near to break down the door.’

The writer has a fine touch. ‘The man’. No longer ‘Lot’ to them, only to the reader. He is now a stranger. Previously they have held back slightly in deference to their fellow-citizen, but now they are unrestrained, for he is no longer that. Lot is about to be sexually assaulted and worse.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Gen 19:9. And he will needs be a judge He will needs pretend to give us laws, to be a censor or corrector of our manners. This seems to imply, as if Lot had heretofore given good advice to the Sodomites, which indeed is confirmed by what St. Peter says of Lot, 2 Eph 2:8.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Gen 19:9 And they said, Stand back. And they said [again], This one [fellow] came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, [even] Lot, and came near to break the door.

Ver. 9. Stand back, &c. ] They set up the bristles at Lot’s admonition; a sure forerunner of destruction, as in Eli’s sons.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

judge. See Gen 19:1. He sat in Sodom’s gate, the seat of the judges. See note on Gen 13:7.

worse. Hebrew. ra’. App-44.

break = break open, shiver.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

And they said

The world’s contempt for a worldly believer.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

Stand: 1Sa 17:44, 1Sa 25:17, Pro 9:7, Pro 9:8, Isa 65:5, Jer 3:3, Jer 6:15, Jer 8:12, Mat 7:6

This: Gen 13:12, Exo 2:14, Act 7:26-28, 2Pe 2:7, 2Pe 2:8

pressed: Gen 11:6, 1Sa 2:16, Pro 14:16, Pro 17:12, Pro 27:3, Ecc 9:3, Ecc 10:13, Dan 3:19-22

Reciprocal: Pro 5:12 – and my Eze 16:49 – pride Mat 26:61 – This Joh 7:52 – Art Joh 9:34 – and dost Act 14:18 – scarce

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge