Genesis 19:2

Hebrew Bible

1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground. 2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” 3 But he urged them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men—both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom—surrounded the house. 5 They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can take carnal knowledge of them! 6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never been intimate with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

Judges 19:15

Hebrew Bible

14 So they traveled on, and the sun went down when they were near Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. 15 They stopped there and decided to spend the night in Gibeah. They came into the city and sat down in the town square, but no one invited them to spend the night. 16 But then an old man passed by, returning at the end of the day from his work in the field. The man was from the Ephraimite hill country; he was living temporarily in Gibeah. (The residents of the town were Benjaminites.) 17 When he looked up and saw the traveler in the town square, the old man said, “Where are you heading? Where do you come from?” 18 The Levite said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote region of the Ephraimite hill country. That’s where I’m from. I had business in Bethlehem in Judah, but now I’m heading home. But no one has invited me into their home. 19 We have enough straw and grain for our donkeys, and there is enough food and wine for me, your female servant, and the young man who is with your servants. We lack nothing.” 20 The old man said, “Everything is just fine. I will take care of all your needs. But don’t spend the night in the town square. 21 So he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys. They washed their feet and had a meal. 22 They were having a good time, when suddenly some men of the city, some good-for-nothings, surrounded the house and kept beating on the door. They said to the old man who owned the house, “Send out the man who came to visit you so we can take carnal knowledge of him.” 23 The man who owned the house went outside and said to them, “No, my brothers! Don’t do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Don’t do such a disgraceful thing! 24 Here are my virgin daughter and my guest’s concubine. I will send them out, and you can abuse them and do to them whatever you like. But don’t do such a disgraceful thing to this man!

 Notes and References

"... Here is an even more striking case: In the famous J story of Sodom and Gomorrah, two travelers (who happen to be angels) arrive in Sodom. Lot, who is Abraham’s nephew, shows them hospitality, but the people of Sodom surround the house and demand that he send the guests out to the crowd. In a story that is found in the text that I identified in the book of Judges, some travelers (a man and his concubine) arrive in a city in Benjamin. One man shows them hospitality, but the people of the city surround the house and demand that he send the guest out to the crowd. In Genesis Lot says to the angels, “Turn ... and spend the night” (Genesis 19:2). In Judges the travelers “turned to spend the night” (Judges 19:15). In Genesis the angels answer, “We’ll spend the night in the square”. In Judges the old man says, “Don’t spend the night in the square”. In Genesis Lot “pressed” the men to spend the night. In Judges the concubine’s father “pressed” his son-in-law to spend the night. Genesis says, “and they came to his house”. Judges says, “and he had him come to his house”. In Genesis Lot offers the visitors the washing of feet. In Judges, too, “they washed their feet”. In Genesis, “the people of the city surrounded the house”. In Judges, “the people of the city surrounded the house”. The people of Sodom tell Lot, “Bring them out to us, and let’s know them!”. In Judges, the people say, “Bring out the man ... and let’s know him!”. In Genesis Lot goes out to talk to the crowd: “And Lot went out to them”. In Judges the old man goes out to the crowd: “And the man went out to them”. Lot pleads with the crowd: “Don’t do bad, my brothers”. The old man pleads: “Don’t, my brothers. Don’t do bad”. Lot offers his virgin daughters to the crowd. The old man offers his virgin daughter to the crowd. Lot “delays” The man and the concubine in Judges “delay”. It should be getting obvious that there is something going on here that is more than an editor with an eraser and a pencil. And there is further evidence that it is something pervasive that is happening. There are at least five sets of these parallel stories that have dense clusters of common terminology spread through this connected group of texts. They occur all across the group: in J, Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, and 2 Samuel ..."

Friedman, Richard Elliott The Hidden Book in the Bible (pp. 24-25) Harper San Francisco, 1998

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