Bible Strands
Genesis 19:9
“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The men of Sodom confront Lot at his doorway, responding to his appeal for hospitality by threatening him directly. They advance physically to force entry after verbally attacking his authority.
The words — The verb וַ/יִּשְׁפֹּ֣ט (va/i.yish.Pot) literally renders "and he has judged," marking the mob's accusation that Lot oversteps his status as a sojourner (לָ/גוּר). Their command גֶּשׁ־ הָ֗לְאָה (gesh- Hal.'ah) literally means "approach beyond," demanding he yield the threshold.
The thread — The mob's challenge to Lot's authority parallels the rhetorical question in Exodus 2:14 regarding who appoints a ruler or judge. Lot's presence in the plain aligns with Genesis 13:12, while his subsequent rescue and the city's depravity are noted in 2 Peter 2:7.
Why it lands — The text records a direct threat where collective violence overrides hospitality and legal order. It requires the reader to observe how quickly social boundaries dissolve when power is exercised without restraint.
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 said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
Cross-references
- Exodus 2:14 But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”
- Genesis 13:12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
- 2 Peter 2:7 and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless
- Ecclesiastes 9:3 This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
- Jeremiah 6:15 Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.
- Daniel 3:19 At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,
- Matthew 7:6 Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
- Acts 7:26 The next day he came upon two Israelites who were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’
- Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.
- 1 Samuel 17:44 “Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”