Vayeira - in Classical Rabbinic Interpretation - Genesis Chapter 19

Genesis Chapter 19

The Rabbis in a Midrash asked why the angels took so long to travel from Abraham’s camp to Sodom, leaving Abraham at noon and arriving in Sodom only (as Genesis 19:1 reports) “in the evening.” The Midrash explained that they were angels of mercy, and thus they delayed, thinking that perhaps Abraham might find something to change Sodom’s fate, but when Abraham found nothing, as Genesis 19:1 reports, “the two angels came to Sodom in the evening.”

A Midrash noted that in Genesis 19:1, the visitors are called “angels,” whereas in Genesis 18:2, they were called “men.” The Midrash explained that earlier, when the Shechinah (the Divine Presence) was above them, Scripture called them men, but as soon as the Shechinah departed from them, they assumed the form of angels. Rabbi Levi (or others say Rabbi Tanhuma in the name of Rabbi Levi) said that to Abraham, whose spiritual strength was great, they looked like men (as Abraham was as familiar with angels as with men). But to Lot, whose spiritual strength was weak, they appeared as angels. Rabbi Hanina taught that before they performed their mission, they were called “men.” But having performed their mission, they are referred to as “angels.” Rabbi Tanhuma compared them to a person who received a governorship from the king. Before reaching the seat of authority, the person goes about like an ordinary citizen. Similarly, before they performed their mission, Scripture calls them “men,” but having performed their mission, Scripture calls them “angels.”

A Midrash expounded on the conversation between Lot and the angels. Expanding on the words, “but before they lay down” in Genesis 19:4, the Midrash told that the angels began questioning Lot, inquiring into the nature of the people of the city. Lot replied that in every town there are good people and bad people, but in Sodom the overwhelming majority were bad. Then (in the words of Genesis 19:4) “the men of the city, the men of sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old,” not one of them objecting. And then (in the words of Genesis 19:5) “they called to Lot, and said to him: ‘Where are the men that came to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.’” Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said in the name of Rabbi Padiah that Lot prayed for mercy on the Sodomites’ behalf the whole night, and the angels would have heeded him. But when the Sodomites demanded (in the words of Genesis 19:5) “Bring them out to us, that we may know them,” that is, for sexual purposes, the angels asked Lot (in the words of Genesis 19:12) “Do you have here (פֹה, poh) any besides?” Which one could read as asking, “What else do you have in your mouth (פֶּה, peh) (to say in their favor)?” Then the angels told Lot that up until then, he had the right to plead in their defense, but thereafter, he had no right to plead for them.

The Master deduced from Genesis 19:15 and 19:23 that one can walk five mils (about 15,000 feet) in the time between the break of dawn and sunrise, as Genesis 19:15 reports that “when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot,” and Genesis 19:23 reports that “The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came to Zoar,” and Rabbi Haninah said that it was five mils from Sodom to Zoar. But the Gemara noted that as Genesis 19:15 reports that “the angels hastened Lot,” they could naturally have covered more ground than a typical person.

Rabbi Eliezer taught that Lot lived in Sodom only on account of his property, but Rabbi Eliezer deduced from Genesis 19:22 that Lot left Sodom empty-handed with the angels telling him, “It is enough that you escape with your life.” Rabbi Eliezer argued that Lot’s experience proved the maxim (of Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:5) that the property of the wicked, whether inside or outside the town, will be lost.

Rabbi Meir taught that while Genesis 9:11 made clear that God would never again flood the world with water, Genesis 19:24 demonstrated that God might bring a flood of fire and brimstone, as God brought upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi (according to the Jerusalem Talmud) or a Baraita in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yose the son of Rabbi Chanina (according to the Babylonian Talmud) said that the three daily prayers derived from the Patriarchs, and cited Genesis 19:27 for the proposition that Jews derived the morning prayer from Abraham, arguing that within the meaning of Genesis 19:27, “stood” meant “pray,” just as it did in Psalm 106:30

Reading the words of Genesis 19:29, "God remembered Abraham and sent out Lot," a Midrash asked what recollection was brought up in Lot’s favor? The Midrash answered that it was the silence that Lot maintained for Abraham when Abraham passed off Sarah as his sister.

Interpreting Genesis 19:29, a Midrash taught that (as Mishnah Shabbat 16:1, Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 115a, 116b rules, if one's house is burning on the Sabbath) one is permitted to save the case of the Torah along with the Torah itself, and one is permitted to save the Tefillin bag along with the Tefillin. This teaches that the righteous are fortunate, and so are those who cleave to them. Similarly, Genesis 8:1 says, "God remembered Noah, and all beasts, and all the animals that were with him in the Ark." And so too, in Genesis 19:29, "God remembered Abraham and sent out Lot."

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba, citing Rabbi Johanan, taught that God rewards even polite speech. In Genesis 19:37, Lot’s older daughter named her son Moab (“of my father”), and so in Deuteronomy 2:9, God told Moses, “Be not at enmity with Moab, neither contend with them in battle”; God forbade only war with the Moabites, but the Israelites might harass them. In Genesis 19:38, in contrast, Lot’s younger daughter named her son Ben-Ammi (the less shameful “son of my people”), and so in Deuteronomy 2:19, God told Moses, “Harass them not, nor contend with them”; the Israelites were not to harass the Ammonites at all.