Old Testament · Law

Genesis 19:12

Sodom Destroyed

Then the two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—a son-in-law, your sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, Genesis 19:12 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Genesis 19:12, in plain English

The angels tell Lot to gather his family immediately—anyone related to him in the city needs to leave right now because God is about to destroy Sodom.

Why it's here

The angels are giving Lot an urgent rescue operation, not a gentle suggestion. Time is running out. Sodom's fate is sealed, and Lot needs to understand that this isn't about negotiating or waiting—everyone he loves needs to get out immediately.

Who's speaking

The two angels

Where it sits in the story

This is the moment when judgment becomes real. It's no longer abstract; it's happening now. Lot is being given one final opportunity to save his family. The urgency reflects how near Sodom's destruction truly is.

A Closer Look

The scholar's commentary

The angels interrogate Lot regarding any remaining family members in Sodom who should be evacuated before the city's destruction, shifting focus from immediate danger to comprehensive rescue.

Language and setting

The angels' question—אִם־יֶשׁ־לְךָ־פֹ֖ה עֶ֣ד (im-yesh-le-cha po od, literally 'if there are still for you here')—employs the plural 'anyone' and methodically enumerates potential family: sons-in-law, sons, daughters. This detail-oriented concern reveals the divine intention to preserve not merely Lot but his entire household structure. The enumeration is narratively purposive: the text will soon reveal which family members accept the call to escape and which reject it. Medieval commentators noted the rhetorical irony: the angels must teach Lot to recognize his own family members' autonomy and moral agency—they are not property to be rescued but agents capable of rejecting salvation.

Voice

The two angels, addressing Lot directly

Significance

This broadening of the rescue concern reflects the Abrahamic pattern: covenant preservation extends to the household and potential descendants, as in Noah's ark narrative (Genesis 6-7). It establishes the principle that salvation operates familially rather than individualistically.

In context

Genesis 19:10–14

10But the men inside reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

11And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.

12Then the two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—a son-in-law, your sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,

13because we are about to destroy this place. For the outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it.”

14So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

Read all of Genesis 19 — Fire falls from the sky. A city is erased. And Lot's wife looks back — a small act of longing with permanent consequences.

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