Genesis 19:11

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 19:11 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
Genesis 19:11 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 19

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
11And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And they smote the men that [were] at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, etc.] with “blindnesses” f1140; with extreme blindness, with blindness both of eye and heart, as Aben Ezra interprets it; and indeed had they not been given up to a judicial blindness and hardness of heart, such a stroke upon them might have convinced them that their ways were evil, and their works not right, and that by them they had incurred the displeasure of God, and would desisted from their enterprise; but, on the contrary, they went on with it, and sought with all diligence and labour as much as possible to effect it. The word for “blindness” is only used here and in (<120618>2 Kings…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“- The Destruction of Sodom and Amorah 9. גשׁ־הלאה gesh-hāl'âh, “approach to a distant point,” stand back. 11. סנורים sanevērı̂ym, “blindness,” affecting the mental more than the ocular vision. 37. מואב mô'āb, Moab; מאב mē'āb, “from a father.” בן־עמי ben-‛amı̂y, Ben-‘ammi, “son of my people.” עמון ‛amôn, ‘Ammon, “of the people.” This chapter is the continuation and conclusion of the former. It records a part of God’s strange work - strange, because it consists in punishment, and because it is foreign to the covenant of grace. Yet it is closely connected with Abraham’s history, inasmuch as it is a signal chastisement of wickedness in his neighborhood, a memorial of the righteous…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification