Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Genesis 19:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The crowd demands that Lot surrender the visitors so it may 'know' them. Lot's sexual counteroffer, the threat against him, and the attempted forced entry make sexual assault—not social acquaintance—the strongest reading.
Read It With
- Genesis 19:1–11
Read verses 4–9. The crowd surrounds the house, demands access, rejects Lot's plea and substitution, threatens him with worse treatment, and pushes toward the door.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The crowd states the demand that reveals the sexualized coercion directed at the visitors.
Read Genesis 19:4–5 together
Why these verses belong together: The mob's comprehensive gathering and stated demand together establish the threatened assault.
Verse 4. 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
Verse 5. 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
Follow the Context
- Two messengers reach Sodom at evening; Lot rises from the gate, meets them, and bows (19:1).
- Lot urges them to stay in his house, wash, and leave early; after initially choosing the square, they accept his persistent invitation and eat his feast (19:2–3).
- Before sleep, the men of Sodom surround the house and demand that the visitors be brought out so the crowd may 'know' them (19:4–5).
- Lot shuts the door behind him, calls the men brothers, names the act wicked, and offers his two daughters instead under the claim of protecting guests beneath his roof (19:6–8).
- The crowd rejects Lot as a sojourner who judges, threatens to treat him worse than the visitors, presses against him, and moves to break the door (19:9).
- The visitors pull Lot inside, shut the door, strike the attackers with blindness, and leave them exhausting themselves in a failed search for the entrance (19:10–11).
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“bring them out unto us”
In plain language: Surrender the visitors to the crowd outside.
The mob claims forced access to people protected inside Lot's home.
Why it matters: Consent and safety are absent from the demand.
How certain? very strong“that we may know them”
In plain language: That we may have sexual access to them.
The sexual idiom is controlled by verse 8 and the violent refusal that follows.
Why it matters: The text describes threatened rape, not a relationship.
How certain? very strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
'Know them' does not mean make a friendly introduction in this scene.
Genesis 19:5 does not describe consensual gay intimacy, sexual orientation, or marriage.
The verse does not reduce the city's offense to poor etiquette, nor does it alone catalogue every sin associated with Sodom elsewhere.
The verse does not authorize slurs, harassment, or violence against LGBTQ people.
What Remains True
Sexual violence is about coercive power over bodies, not evidence of a consensual relationship or a person's orientation.
How It Can Shape Life
- Name forced sexual access as assault, protect potential victims, and do not redirect blame toward LGBTQ people or confuse rape with mutual intimacy.
Teach It Back
Explain Genesis 19:5's contribution to Genesis 19:1–11. 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 19:1–11 — Sodom's Mob Threatens Lot's Guests and DaughtersSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
Where care is needed
A nonsexual civic-interrogation reading exists but fits the repeated sexual idiom and coercive sequence less well.
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, unit movement, violence, daughters, rescue, and canonical Sodom reception.
Exact location: Genesis 19:1–11 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 13:10–13; 14:12; 18:16–33; 19:12–29; Judges 19; Isaiah 1; Ezekiel 16:49–50; Matthew 10:14–15; Luke 10:10–12; 2 Peter 2:6–9; Jude 7
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: Messenger, gate, square, press, surround, yada, brother, evil, roof shadow, sojourn, emphatic judging, threat, door, sanwerim, and weariness.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 19:1–11; lemma cross-checks with Genesis 4:1, 17, 25; 24:16 and 2 Kings 6:18
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Gate and square, invitation syntax, repeated patsar, mob description, sexual sense of yada, daughters, roof protection, resident-alien language, emphatic judgment, threat, and blindness.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 19:1–11 and translator notes 1–26
Open NET Genesis 19 ↗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: Righteousness-and-justice context, sexual violence, Lot's immigrant status, daughter endangerment, Sodom interpretations, and Judges 19 comparison.
Exact location: Old Testament Essays 34.1, pp. 68–88, especially literary context and close reading of Genesis 19:1–11
Open source ↗peer reviewed specialist reception and sexual violence study
Reading Sodom through Sexual Violence Against Women
Sonia E. Waters
Interpretation 71(3), pages 274–283, 2017
Supports: Reception-history warning that rape myths confuse sexual violence with gay identity and minimize the threatened violence against Lot's daughters; no claim beyond the accessible abstract treated as inspected.
Exact location: Interpretation 71.3, pp. 274–283; accessible abstract and official publication metadata
Open source ↗peer reviewed specialist legal historical alternative
‘Hospitality’, Hostiles and Hostages: On the Legal Background to Genesis 19.1–9
Scott Morschauser
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 27(4), pages 461–485, 2003
Supports: Strongest nonsexual-interrogation and legal-hostage alternative, used as a disputed reading rather than established background.
Exact location: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 27.4, pp. 461–485; official abstract and accessible journal-page notes
Open source ↗