John Gill

So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

“And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt,.... To the city of Heliopolis; for there it was that Abram had his abode, as Eupolemus (r) says, when upon the famine he went into Egypt, and where he conversed with the Egyptian…”

When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.

“The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh,.... The king of Egypt; so it seems by this, that Abram and Sarai were at the place where the court was kept, which the Arabic writers (t) say was Mesr (or Memphis), the…”

He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

“And he entreated Abram well for her sake,.... Pharaoh was very complaisant to him, showed him great respect, and bestowed many favours on him on account of Sarai, whom he took to be his sister, and which were done, that he would consent that she…”

From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched,

“And he went on in his journeys from the south,.... He took the same tour, went the same road, stopping at the same resting places, as when he went down to Egypt; having learned, as Jarchi observes, the way of the earth, that a man…”

to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

“Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first,.... When he first came to that place, and before he went down to Egypt: it is not said he came to the altar, but "to the place", where it had stood…”

Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

“Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan,.... In that part of the land strictly so called, where the family of the Canaanites had their abode; for otherwise taking Canaan in a more general sense, the plain of Jordan, and cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, were…”

After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and…

“And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him,.... The Lord appeared unto him as he had before, and with an articulate voice spoke unto him, to comfort him upon the separation of his kinsman from him, and to renew the…”

The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).

“All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim,.... Or "of fields", or "ploughed lands" (b), a fruitful vale abounding with corn; or of gardens or paradises, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, being full of gardens and orchards, and was as the…”

against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.

“With Chedorlaomer king of Elam,.... Who is here mentioned first, being the principal in the war, and against whom the kings of Sodom, &c.”

Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some men fell into the pits, but the survivors fled to…

“And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits,.... Or "wells" or "fountains of slime" or bitumen (s); a liquid of a pitchy nature, cast out of fountains, and which was used for a cement in buildings; such fountains were near Babylon; see Gill on…”

But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

“And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless,.... As if he should say, what signifies what thou givest me of temporal blessings, if thou withholdest from me the blessing of a child; from whom it might be hoped and…”

Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

“And the Hittites,.... Who had their name from Heth, a son of Canaan, see Gen 10:15; they dwelt about Hebron, in the south of the land of Canaan: and the Perizzites; these dwelt in the wood country of the land, Jos 17:15; and seem to…”

Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

“And the Amorites,.... The same with the Amorite, Gen 10:16; they inhabited both on this and the other side Jordan: and the Canaanites; which were a particular tribe or nation that bore the name of their great ancestor Canaan, see Gen 13:7, and the Girgashites…”

And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

“And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived,.... The formality of the marriage being over, he enjoyed her as his wife, and she immediately conceived by him: and when she saw that she had conceived; when she perceived that she was with child: her…”

and his son Ishmael was thirteen;

“And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. Hence the Arabians, as Josephus (w) relates, circumcise their children when at thirteen years of age, because Ishmael, the founder of their nation, was circumcised at that…”

And all the men of Abraham’s household—both servants born in his household and those purchased from foreigners—were circumcised with him.

“And all the men of his house,.... All the males, whether children or adult: born in the house, or bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him; by their will, and with their consent; not forced to it, as Aben Ezra rightly observes…”

Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?.... Whose power is infinite; or "too wonderful" (x), so wonderful and beyond all belief, that it can never be thought it will be done by him; and why then should it be thought incredible or impossible that Sarah…”

Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

“Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation,.... Which was fulfilled in the nation of Israel, so called, not so much for the largeness of the place they dwelt in, and the number of its inhabitants, as for the law of God…”

For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and…

“For I know him,.... Not only by his omniscience, but with a special knowledge, such as is accompanied with peculiar love and affection; and so Jarchi says, it is expressive of love.”

So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”

“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city,.... Sodom is particularly mentioned because Lot dwelt there, and being the metropolis, and the city of greatest note, as Jarchi observes, it is put for the rest; and the sense is, if fifty righteous persons…”

Lot went outside to meet them, shutting the door behind him.

“And Lot went out at the door unto them,.... At the door of his house: and shut the door after him; the door of the passage to his house, the courtyard door, for another word is here used; unless the one was properly the door…”

And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.

“And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great,.... with "blindnesses" (n); with extreme blindness, with blindness both of eye and heart, as Aben Ezra interprets it; and indeed had they not been given up…”

So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said.

“And Lot went out,.... From his house, after the men of Sodom were gone from it, and before the morning, very probably about midnight: and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters: according to Aben Ezra, he had two other daughters that…”

Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place?

“Behold now, this city is near to flee unto,.... Pointing to Bela, afterwards called Zoar, from what follows: it is said to be two miles distant from Sodom (z).”

So again that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him; he was not aware when she lay down or…

“And they made their father drink wine that night also,.... Until he was drunk; which is an aggravation of his sin, that he should be overtaken a second time, and that so soon as the next night, when he ought to have been upon his…”