Bible Strands
Genesis 19:5
They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The mob of Sodom addresses Lot from outside his home, demanding the location of the two male visitors who arrived that evening. This occurs immediately after the entire city, young and old, has surrounded the dwelling.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יִּקְרְא֤וּ (va/i.yik.re.'U) means "and they called," describing the crowd's loud demand directed toward Lot. The phrase אַיֵּ֧ה הָ/אֲנָשִ֛ים (ai.Yeh ha./'a.na.Shim) translates literally to "where [are] the men," establishing their immediate inquiry.
The thread — This pattern of surrounding a host's house to demand guests appears in Judges 19:22, while Isaiah 3:9 and Jude 1:7 cite Sodom's actions as a benchmark for public, unrepentant sexual immorality.
Why it lands — The text records a direct demand for sexual violence, requiring the reader to recognize the explicit nature of the city's corruption without minimizing its historical or theological weight. It demands an unflinching assessment of how communal sin operates through public coercion.
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 they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
Cross-references
- Judges 19:22 While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”
- Isaiah 3:9 The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
- Jude 1:7 In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
- Leviticus 18:22 You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.
- Romans 1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
- Ezekiel 16:51 Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous.
- Matthew 11:23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- 1 Timothy 1:10 for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching
- Ezekiel 16:49 Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.