8hineh na li shtei vanot asher lo yad'u ish otzi'ah na ethen aleichem va'asu lahen katov be'eineichem rak la'anashim ha'el al ta'asu davar ki al ken ba'u betzel korati
14vayetze Lot vaydaber el chatanav lokchei venotav vayomer kumu tze'u min hamakom hazeh ki mashchit Adonai et ha'ir vayehi chimtzachek be'einei chatanav
20hineh na ha'ir hazot kerovah lanus shamah vehi mitz'ar imaltah na shamah halo mitz'ar hi utechi nafshi
The two angels arrive in Sodom in the evening and find Lot at the city gate. He rises to meet them, bows down and urges them to stay at his home. They accept, and he prepares a feast and bakes unleavened bread. But before they have time to lie down, the men of Sodom surround the house, young and old alike, demanding that the guests be brought out so they can abuse them. Lot goes out to speak to the crowd and closes the door behind him. In an attempt to protect his guests, he even offers to bring out his two daughters instead. The crowd rejects his words, threatens him too and moves to break down the door. Now the guests rescue their host: they pull Lot inside and strike those outside with blindness, leaving them unable to find the doorway. Genesis 19:1-11
Inside the house, the angels tell Lot that the city is about to be destroyed and instruct him to get his family out. He goes to warn his sons-in-law, but to them his words sound like a joke. Dawn breaks, the angels urge him to leave, and Lot still lingers. Finally they take him, his wife and his two daughters by the hand and lead them outside the city. He must escape to the mountain without looking back or stopping along the way. But Lot fears he will not reach it in time and asks to flee to a small nearby town where he can stay alive. Genesis 19:12-20
Why does Sodom oppose welcoming guests?
Lot opens his home to two strangers, and the townspeople gather around it in violence. What is it about the arrival of guests that provokes such a response?
Ramban explains that the people of Sodom wanted to keep visitors away from their land. The land was good, and they feared that many would come to enjoy it. They despised charity and did not want to support the poor, so they sought to drive newcomers away. In his reading, abusing the guests was meant to deter others from coming. This gives Lot’s hospitality another dimension: in a city that seeks to keep strangers out, he insists on bringing them into his home. Ramban on Genesis 19:5
Abraham hurries, Lot lingers
Rashi explains that Lot learned hospitality in Abraham’s household. Rashi on Genesis 19:1
The resemblance is visible in the story: both see the arrivals, bow down and offer them hospitality and food. Alongside that resemblance, however, the pace is worth noticing.
With Abraham, the verbs follow one another: he runs to meet the guests, hurries to Sarah, asks her to hurry and runs to the herd. He himself drives the preparations forward. With Lot, when it is time to leave Sodom, the angels are the ones urging him on. He delays until they take his hand and lead him out. These are different situations, but the contrast in movement stands out: Abraham runs toward those arriving; Lot has to be brought out. Genesis 18:2-7; Genesis 19:15-16
Why does Lot delay despite the danger? Rashi explains that he wants to save his possessions. In this reading, the warning that the city will be destroyed is not enough to make him leave his property behind at once and depart. He is willing to open his home to others, yet struggles to leave what he owns inside it. Rashi on Genesis 19:16
We can read the tension in the aliyah this way: Lot learned from Abraham to welcome guests and even stands against an entire city to protect them. Yet when he himself must leave, he needs others to take his hand. The man who urged the guests to enter his home now needs to be urged to leave it.