Bible Strands

Genesis 19:20

Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Lot speaks to the angel after the angel has already commanded him to flee Sodom, asking to escape to a nearby town because he fears the approaching disaster will overtake him in the mountains.

The words — The Hebrew הִנֵּה (hi.neh) and נָא (na') open the verse as a direct, urgent appeal, while קְרֹבָה (ke.ro.Vah) denotes the location's immediate proximity.

The thread — The request for physical preservation parallels the bargaining in Genesis 12:13 and the psalmist’s plea for life in Psalms 119:175, while the reliance on divine mercy intersects with the trust directive in Proverbs 3:5.

Why it lands — The text records Lot’s pragmatic negotiation for refuge before the angel grants conditional approval in verse 21. It requires the reader to note how immediate threat produces unadorned requests for deliverance rather than theological abstraction.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

הִנֵּה־hi.neh-here!נָ֠אna'pleaseהָעִ֨ירha./'Irthe/ cityהַזֹּ֧אתha./Zot<the>/ thisקְרֹבָ֛הke.ro.Vah[is] nearלָנ֥וּסla./Nusto/ fleeשָׁ֖מָּהSha.ma/hthere/ towardsוְהִ֣יאve./Hi'and/ itמִצְעָ֑רmitz.'Ar[is] a small placeאִמָּלְטָ֨ה'i.mal.Tahlet me escapeנָּ֜אna'pleaseשָׁ֗מָּהSha.ma/hthere/ towardsהֲלֹ֥אha./Lo'¿/ notמִצְעָ֛רmitz.'Ara small placeהִ֖ואhi'[is] itוּתְחִ֥יu./te.Chiso/ it may liveנַפְשִֽׁי׃naf.Sh/ilife/ my

King James Version

Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

Cross-references