Bible Strands
Genesis 19:7
“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Lot addresses the mob of Sodomite men surrounding his house, pleading with them to halt their intended assault. This occurs immediately after he exits his home and shuts the door behind him.
The words — The Hebrew verb תָּרֵֽעוּ (ta.Re.'u) literally means "you do evil" or "you commit wickedness," reinforced by the emphatic negative אַל־ ('al-) meaning "do not." The particle נָא (na') functions as a polite intensifier, translating to "please."
The thread — The boundary against this act reappears in the covenant code at Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13, which explicitly forbid male same-sex relations as an abomination. The immediate context in Genesis 19:4 establishes the mob's collective intent that Lot is directly confronting.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of a concrete moral boundary against sexual predation, framing it as a specific wicked act. It requires the reader to acknowledge that the duty of protection overrides the demands of a hostile crowd.
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 said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
Cross-references
- Genesis 19:4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.
- Leviticus 18:22 You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.
- Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
- Deuteronomy 23:17 No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute.
- Judges 19:23 The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage.
- 1 Samuel 30:23 But David said, “My brothers, you must not do this with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiders who came against us.
- Acts 17:26 From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
- Romans 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
- 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,
- 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.