Why the Angels Came to Sodom at Evening and Lot Sat in the Gate

Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 19:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And the two angels came to Sodom" (Genesis 19:1). From here you learn that they did not go to Sodom until He had finished speaking with Abraham. And why in the evening? So that the men of Sodom should not see them. "And Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom" — so that if a person should pass by from there, he might receive him.

Themes

HospitalityAngelsSodomDivine MercyLot

Biblical References

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Midrash AggadahWhy the Visitors to Abraham Were Not Called AngelsWhen the verse says, "And the men rose up from there," notice what it does not say: it does not call them angels. The Sages teach that this silence is itself a Noam Elimelech (Rebbe Elimelech)Abraham's Tent Open on All Four SidesThe opening of Parashat Vayera, "And God appeared to him at the terebinths of Mamre" (Genesis 18:1), seems straightforward. Abraham is sitting at his tent, and Midrash AggadahWhy Lot's Wife Was Punished With Salt of All ThingsThe angel's command was simple. Do not look behind you. Lot's wife looked anyway, and froze into a pillar of salt. Most people read it as a moment of weakness, Yalkut Shimoni on TorahThe Lord Visits the Recovering Abraham on the Third DayThe opening of Vayera is read as the third day after Abraham's circumcision, the day a wound burns hottest, and the sages fill it with tenderness. God comes to Yalkut Shimoni on TorahLot Urges the Angels In and Bakes Them MatzahLot greets the two visitors at Sodom's gate and begs them to lodge with him. The sages catch a wary note in his welcome. He asks them to bend their route and slMidrash AggadahThe Cruelty of Sodom and How Eliezer Outwitted Its JudgesWhy did the Holy One say of Sodom, "Let Me go down now and see"? To learn the intent of their hearts: would they repent and be forgiven, or persist and be destr