“Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from young to old, all the people from every quarter” (Genesis 19:4). “Before they lay down” they began asking him questions, saying to him: ‘The residents of the city, what [kind of people] are they?’ He said to them: ‘In every place there are good and wicked people; however, here they are mostly wicked.’ “The men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house […all the people from every quarter]” – there was no one among them who sought to hinder them.
“They called to Lot, and said to him: Where are the men who came to you tonight? Take them out to us, and we will be intimate with them” (Genesis 19:5). “They called to Lot, and said to him” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said in the name of Rabbi Pedaya: All that night, Lot was pleading for mercy on their behalf, and they were receptive towards him. But once they said to him: “Take them out to us, and we will be intimate with them” – for sexual relations, they said to him: “Who else do you have here [po]?” (Genesis 19:12) – read it as: “What else could you [possibly] have to say [peh]?24Peh means mouth.
Until now, you were permitted to advocate on their behalf, from now on, you are no longer permitted to advocate on their behalf.