Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Genesis 19:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The messengers explain that Sodom's outcry has grown great before the LORD and that the LORD sent them to destroy the place. The judgment follows the investigation announced in Genesis 18 and is carried out by commissioned agents.
Read It With
- Genesis 19:12–23
Read Genesis 18:20–22 and 19:1–13. The great outcry leads to investigation; the mob scene displays grave violence; the messengers then announce the judgment and the need to leave.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The warning receives its reason: the great outcry has led to a commissioned act of destruction.
Read Genesis 19:12–14 together
Why these verses belong together: The messengers order a household warning, explain its basis, and narrate its rejection by Lot's sons-in-law.
Verse 12. 12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
Verse 13. 13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
Verse 14. 14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
Follow the Context
- The messengers tell Lot to bring his relatives and anyone belonging to him out because the city's outcry is great and the LORD sent them to destroy it (19:12–13).
- Lot warns his sons-in-law, but they regard him as joking or mocking (19:14).
- At dawn the messengers hurry Lot, his wife, and his two present daughters; when he delays, they take all four by the hand because of the LORD's compassion and place them outside the city (19:15–16).
- Outside, Lot is ordered to flee for his life without looking back or stopping in the plain and to escape to the mountain (19:17).
- Lot appeals to the one addressing him, acknowledges favor and covenant kindness, fears the mountain, and asks to flee to a nearby small city (19:18–20).
- The request is accepted: the city will not be overthrown, Lot must hurry because action waits for his arrival, the city is called Zoar, and Lot enters it after sunrise (19:21–23).
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“the cry of them is waxen great”
In plain language: The outcry concerning the city's wrong has become exceedingly grave.
The phrase resumes the complaint that prompted investigation in Genesis 18.
Why it matters: The narrative presents judgment as a response to serious wrongdoing.
How certain? very strong“the LORD hath sent us”
In plain language: The messengers act under the LORD's commission.
Their warning, rescue, and destructive role are delegated rather than independent.
Why it matters: Agency and divine responsibility remain connected.
How certain? very strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The verse does not teach that the messengers act as independent gods or that the LORD was unaware of Sodom before their visit.
The announced destruction does not authorize modern communities to identify cities as Sodom and attack them.
The outcry does not reduce Sodom's wrongdoing to one modern sexuality category.
What Remains True
God's judgment in this narrative responds to a grave outcry and investigated wrongdoing rather than arbitrary irritation.
How It Can Shape Life
- When evaluating a serious accusation, listen to the outcry, establish what happened, protect those in danger, and do not substitute prejudice or rumor for evidence.
Teach It Back
Explain Genesis 19:13's contribution to Genesis 19:12–23. Include why the nearby verses are required, what the verse clearly says, and one conclusion it does not justify.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 19:12–23 — The Messengers Pull Lot's Household Out to ZoarSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, warning, household, delay, compassion, escape, Zoar request, arrival, and canonical reception.
Exact location: Genesis 19:12–23 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 18:20–33; 19:1–11, 24–29; Luke 17:28–33; 2 Peter 2:6–9
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Household categories, sons-in-law ambiguity, rejected warning, daughters present, swept away, delay, compassion, escape, speaker address, steadfast kindness, disaster, small-city wordplay, and granted request.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 19:12–23; lemmas and syntax for chatan, laqach, tsachaq, matsa, safah, mahah, chemlah, malat, adonai, chesed, ra, mits'ar, nasa panim, and tso'ar
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Family and marriage wording, mocked, iniquity or punishment, compassion, speaker ambiguity, favor, disaster, smallness, accepted face, Zoar, and timing.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 19:12–23 and translator notes attached to the unit
Open NET Genesis 19 ↗peer reviewed open access narrative study
The Narrative Significance of the Role of Abraham in the Identity of the Visitors in Genesis 18–19
Michael Ndele
Old Testament Essays 36.3, 2024
Supports: Movement from men to messengers, commissioned agency, and the singular-plural presentation of the visitors.
Exact location: Old Testament Essays 36.3, pp. 709–735, especially the visitor identity movement across Genesis 18–19
Open source ↗peer reviewed specialist narrative and canonical study
Homosexuality and Liminality in Sodom: The Quests for Home, Fun and Justice (Gen 19:1–29)
Cephas T. A. Tushima
Old Testament Essays 34(1), pages 68–88, 2021
Supports: Unit structure, warning, sons-in-law, delay, removal, Zoar appeal, immigrant status, righteousness-and-justice setting, and ethical complexity.
Exact location: Old Testament Essays 34.1, pp. 68–88, especially the warning scene in 19:12–14 and expulsion scene in 19:15–22
Open source ↗