But when Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters. And they led them safely out of the city, because of the LORD’s compassion for them.
Parallel translations
- WEB But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.
- KJV And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
- NKJV And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
- NASB But he hesitated. So the men grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city.
- NLT When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful.
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
When Lot lingers, the angels seize his family's hands and lead them out, the LORD being merciful.
Overview
Lot's hesitation reveals lingering attachment to Sodom, yet God mercifully rescues him anyway. The phrase 'Yahweh being merciful to him' is the heart of the verse: salvation is owed to God's mercy, not Lot's promptness. This pictures the gospel truth that God saves sinners by grace despite their slowness to flee sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 29
- Rom 9:15–16For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Titus 3:5He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
- Ps 86:5For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
- Exod 34:6Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Ps 103:8–10The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
- Lam 3:22Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
- Deut 4:31For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.
- Ps 34:12Who is the man who delights in life, who desires to see good days?
- Mic 7:18–19Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Luke 18:13But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
- Ps 107:1Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.
- Eph 2:4–5But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
- Ps 118:1Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.
- Ps 111:4He has caused His wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
- Ps 86:15But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Ps 106:8Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known.
- Isa 63:9In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
- 2 Pet 2:9if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
- Num 14:18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
- Ps 119:60I hurried without hesitating to keep Your commandments.
- Ps 103:13As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
- Ps 136:1Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His loving devotion endures forever.
- 1 Chr 16:34Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.
- 2 Cor 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
- Ps 106:1Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.
- Luke 6:35–36But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
- John 6:44“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
- Rom 9:18Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
- Josh 6:22Meanwhile, Joshua told the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the house of the prostitute and bring out the woman and all who are with her, just as you promised her.”
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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 19:16 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
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