Genesis 19:1
וַיָּבֹאוּ שְׁנֵי הַמַּלְאָכִים סְדֹמָה בָּעֶרֶב וְלוֹט יֹשֵׁב בְּשַֽׁעַר־סְדֹם וַיַּרְא־לוֹט וַיָּקָם לִקְרָאתָם וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אַפַּיִם אָֽרְצָה׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַ֠יָּבֹאוּ שְׁנֵ֨י הַמַּלְאָכִ֤ים סְדֹ֙מָה֙ בָּעֶ֔רֶב וְל֖וֹט יֹשֵׁ֣ב בְּשַֽׁעַר־סְדֹ֑ם וַיַּרְא־לוֹט֙ וַיָּ֣קָם לִקְרָאתָ֔ם וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ אַפַּ֖יִם אָֽרְצָה׃
Ἤλθον δὲ οἱ δύο ἄγγελοι εἰς Σόδομα ἑσπέρας· Λὼτ δὲ ἐκάθητο παρὰ τὴν πύλην Σοδόμων. ἰδὼν δὲ Λὼτ ἀνέστη εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῖς, καὶ προσεκύνησεν τῷ προσώπῳ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Veneruntque duo angeli Sodomam vespere, et sedente Lot in foribus civitatis. Qui cum vidisset eos, surrexit, et ivit obviam eis: adoravitque pronus in terram,
Los dos ángeles llegaron a Sodoma al anochecer. Lot estaba sentado a la puerta de la ciudad. Al verlos, Lot se levantó a recibirlos, se inclinó hasta tocar el suelo con la frente,
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
LLEGARON, pues, los dos ángeles á Sodoma á la caída de la tarde: y Lot estaba sentado á la puerta de Sodoma. Y viéndolos Lot, levantóse á recibirlos, é inclinóse hacia el suelo;
Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown,
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse narrates the arrival of two messengers at Sodom in the evening, finding Lot seated at the city gate. Lot's reaction is described through a sequence of actions: seeing them, rising, going to meet them, and bowing to the ground.
Key words
- mal'akhim ("angels", H4397) — masculine plural noun, defined by the article ha ("the", H9009); the term denotes messengers, here specified as "two" (shenei, H8147) in construct form.
- yoshev ("sitting", H3427) — qal participle, masculine singular; participles in Hebrew narrative describe an ongoing state (Lot "was sitting," not a completed action), setting the scene before the narrative verbs begin.
- vayyar ("he saw", H7200G) — qal narrative verb; opens the chain of sequential actions marked by the narrative vav (H9001), each meaning "and then."
- vayyishtachu ("he bowed down", H7812) — hishtaphel narrative form, describing prostration; paired with appayim ("face", H0639I, dual form) and artzah ("toward the ground", H0776H with directional he H9011).
- sedomah ("toward Sodom", H5467 + directional he H9011) — the directional he suffix indicates motion toward a place, here attached to the place name "Sodom."
What the text says
The verse opens with the narrative vav-prefixed verb vayyavo'u ("and they came", H0935G), establishing the main storyline. The subject is shenei ha-mal'akhim ("the two angels/messengers", H8147 + H4397), moving sedomah ("toward Sodom", H5467 + directional he) ba'erev ("in the evening", H6153). This clause sets the temporal and spatial frame.
A shift follows with ve-Lot yoshev — the conjunction ve (H9002) plus the participle yoshev (H3427) breaks from the narrative vav chain, marking a background description: Lot "was sitting" at the gate (besha'ar-sedom, H8179G construct + H5467), rather than a sequential event. This grammatical distinction—finite narrative verbs versus a participle—signals that Lot's sitting is a state already in progress when the messengers arrive.
The text then resumes the narrative chain: vayyar ("he saw", H7200G), vayyaqom ("he arose", H6965B), followed by the infinitive construct liqro'tam ("to meet them", H7122G + suffix H9038), and finally vayyishtachu ("he bowed down", H7812). This last verb is followed by appayim ("face", H0639I, a dual noun literally meaning "two nostrils/face") and artzah ("to the ground", H0776H + directional he), together forming an idiom describing full prostration.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders shenei ha-mal'akhim as οἱ δύο ἄγγελοι ("the two angels"), matching the Hebrew count and term for messengers. The Vulgate similarly gives "duo angeli." Where the Hebrew uses the participle yoshev ("sitting") to describe Lot's ongoing state, the Vulgate uses an ablative construction "sedente Lot," and the LXX uses ἐκάθητο (imperfect "was sitting"), both preserving the durative sense present in the Hebrew participle.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.