Bible Strands
Genesis 19:3
But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Lot speaks to the two visitors who initially refused his invitation to stay in the city square. He urges them to enter his home before the men of Sodom surround the location.
The words — The text records וַ/יִּפְצַר־ (va/i.yif.tzar-) as “and he urged” and מְאֹ֔ד (me.'Od) as “exceedingly,” describing Lot’s forceful persuasion. This lexical pair emphasizes the intensity of his insistence that they turn aside into his house.
The thread — The narrative of preparing a meal parallels other hospitality scenes where a host quickly provides food, such as the account in Genesis 18:6 and the preparations noted in Judges 6:19 and 1 Samuel 28:24. These passages share a structural pattern of urgent hospitality rather than identical menu details.
Why it lands — The text states that Lot’s strong insistence overcomes the visitors’ initial refusal, resulting in a meal. It asks the reader to observe how hospitality protocols function as a narrative mechanism before the impending judgment unfolds.
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
King James Version
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
Cross-references
- Genesis 18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
- Judges 6:19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread and an ephah of flour. He placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to present to Him under the oak.
- 1 Samuel 28:24 The woman had a fattened calf at her house, and she quickly slaughtered it. She also took flour, kneaded it, and baked unleavened bread.
- Exodus 12:39 Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.
- 1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.
- Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
- Genesis 21:8 So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.
- Exodus 12:15 For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
- 2 Kings 4:8 One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.
- Luke 5:29 Then Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors was there, along with others who were eating with them.