Genesis 19:20

Genesis 19:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
• New International Version (NIV)Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!"
• New King James Version (NKJV)See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

Context of Genesis 19:20

18“Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. 19“You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.” 21“All right,” the angel said, “I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little village. 22But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” (This explains why that village was known as Zoar, which means “little place.”)

Genesis 19:20 word by word

הִנֵּה־נָ֠א הָעִ֨יר הַזֹּ֧את קְרֹבָ֛ה לָנ֥וּס שָׁ֖מָּה וְהִ֣יא מִצְעָ֑ר אִמָּלְטָ֨ה נָּ֜א שָׁ֗מָּה הֲלֹ֥א מִצְעָ֛ר הִ֖וא וּתְחִ֥י נַפְשִֽׁי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Behold now, this cityעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• nearקָרֹבqârôb qârôb · nearH7138
• to fleeנוּסnûs · to fleeH5127
• unto, and itהוּאhû' hîy' · he/she/itH1931
• a little oneמִצְעָרmits‛âr · littleH4705
• Oh, let me escapeמָלַטmâlaţ · to escapeH4422
• and my soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
• shall liveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421

Cross-references for Genesis 19:20

• Genesis 19:30Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters.
• Proverbs 3:5Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
• Amos 3:6When the ram’s horn blows a warning, shouldn’t the people be alarmed? Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has planned it?
• Genesis 12:13So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”
• Psalms 119:175Let me live so I can praise you, and may your regulations help me.
• Isaiah 55:3“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.

Commentaries on Genesis 19:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20It is a little one - Probably Lot wished to have it for an inheritance, and therefore pleaded its being a little one, that his request might be the more readily granted. Or he might suppose, that being a little city, it was less depraved than Sodom and Gomorrah, and therefore not so ripe for punishment; which was probably the case.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-38Verses 1-38 - The Destruction of Sodom and Amorah 9. גשׁ־ gesh -hāl'âh “approach to a distant point,” stand back. 11. סנורים sanevērı̂ym “blindness,” affecting the mental more than the ocular vision. 37. מואב mô'āb Moab; מאב mē'āb “from a father.” בן־עמי ben -‛amı̂y Ben-ammi, “son of my people.” עמון ‛amôn Ammon, “of the people.” This chapter is the continuation and conclusion of the former. It records a part of God‘s strange work - strange…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-22Lot asked the angels for permission to live in the small town of Zoar (which means "little place") even after they saved him.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-381. there came two angels--most probably two of those that had been with Abraham, commissioned to execute the divine judgment against Sodom. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom--In Eastern cities it is the market, the seat of justice, of social intercourse and amusement, especially a favorite lounge in the evenings, the arched roof affording a pleasant shade.Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 19:20

• Angel (a Spirit)
• Disobedience to God
• Lot
• Prayer
• Sodom
• Zoar

In the dictionaries

• Abraham
• Angel
• Bela
• Cave
• Concerning
• Deal
• Escape
• Lot
• Pillar
• Press

Commentaries on Genesis 19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings