And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
Parallel translations
- WEB They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
- BSB And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.
- NKJV And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.
- NASB Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.
- NLT Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The angels strike the mob with blindness so they cannot find the door.
Overview
This supernatural judgment halts the assault and exposes the men's relentless wickedness, as they grope on rather than repent. Their persistence even when struck blind reveals incorrigible hearts. The act previews the comprehensive judgment soon to fall on Sodom.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 2 Kgs 6:18And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
- Acts 13:11And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
- Deut 28:28–29The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
- Jer 2:36Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
- Isa 57:10Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.
- Eccl 10:15The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 19:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.