Genesis 19:21

Gen 19:21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

Ver. 21. I will not overthrow this city.] Zoar, of all the five cites, was preserved by Lot’s prayer, saith Jerome. See Deu 29:23 Isa 15:5.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, thy face.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

See, I have accepted thee concerning this . . . also--His request was granted him, the prayer of faith availed, and to convince him, from his own experience, that it would have been best and safest at once to follow implicitly the divine directions.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. See, I have accepted thee] How prevalent is prayer with God! Far from refusing to grant a reasonable petition, he shows himself as if under embarrassment to deny any.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also. Some ignorantly argue from this expression, that Lot’s prayer was pleasing to God, because he assented to his request, and gave him what he sought. For it is no new thing for the Lord sometimes to grant, as an indulgence, what he, nevertheless, does not approve. And he now indulges Lot, but in such way, that he soon afterwards corrects his folly. Meanwhile, however, since God so kindly and gently bears with the evil wishes of his own people, what will he not do for us if our prayers are regulated according to the pure direction of his Spirit, and are drawn from his word? But after the angel has granted him his wish respecting the place, he again reproves his indolence, by exhorting him to make haste.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(21) I have accepted thee.—Heb., I have lifted up thy face. (See Note on Gen_4:6-7.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. I have accepted thee] Heb. “I have received,” or “lifted up thy countenance,” see note on Gen_4:7. Compare the expression “respecter of persons,” e.g. Act_10:34. Here Jehovah is a “receiver,” or “favourer,” of the person of Lot: cf. Gen_32:20; Mal_1:8.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he said unto him, see, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also,.... Accepted thy prayer and granted thy request, as well as in other things; shown grace and mercy to thee: or, "have lifted up thy face" (e); alluding to the custom of the eastern countries, where persons, when they come into the presence of their superiors, used to prostrate their faces to the ground; when, as a token of their acceptance of them, and good will to them, they used to order them to be lifted up, or them to lift up their faces, and stand before them:

that I will not overthrow this city for the which thou hast spoken; for, though he had not in express words petitioned that the city might be spared, yet he had tacitly done it, insomuch as he had requested he might flee unto it, where he could not have been safe had it been destroyed.

(e) "suscepi faciem tuam", Pagninus, Moatanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Piscator.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I have accepted thee; Heb. I have lift up thy countenance, i.e. granted thy request. The manner of the expression possibly may be taken from the custom of the eastern parts; where petitioners used not to fall upon their knees as we do, but to prostrate themselves with their face to the ground; and the person to whom they addressed themselves, in token of his favourable acceptance of their petitions, commanded them to be lifted up.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. I have accepted thee — Hebrews, I have lifted up thy face. Metaphorically, the supplicant is supposed to have his face bowed down to the earth, and a granting of the prayer thus offered was a lifting up of the face.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee (literally, I have lifted up thy face, the petitioner usually supplicating with his face toward the ground, so that the elevation of his countenance expressed the granting of his request) concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am granting this request also

"I will do what you have asked"

cannot do anything

This can be made more explicit. AT: "cannot destroy the other cities" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Zoar

Translators may add a footnote that says "The name Zoar sounds like the Hebrew word that means 'little.' Lot called this town 'little' in Genesis 19:20."

translationWords

Zoar

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

גם לדבר הזה CONCERNING THIS THING ALSO — Not only will you be saved, but I will also save the whole city for Your sake.

הפכי means I OVERTHROW, just as (48:5) “until I come (בואי), and (16:13) “after I have seen (רואי)” and (Jeremiah 31:19) “whenever I speak (דברי) of him)”.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ויאמר אליו הנה נשאתי פניך, from this verse we may deduce that when G’d dispatches an angel on a major mission, He gives the angel some discretion in the manner in which he is to carry out the task assigned to him. The angel or angels may use their own intelligence in this respect. Clearly, an angel is not like a golem, but is an intelligent being.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.