| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the vav-consecutive preterite vayavo'u {וַיָּבֹאוּ | wayyāḇōʾû} ‘and they came’, advancing the narrative. The construct dual numeral shnei hammalakhim {שְׁנֵי הַמַּלְאָכִים | šə-nê ham-mal-ʾā-ḵîm} ‘the two angels’ emphasizes their specific number. The locative-temporal phrase sedomah ba'erev {סְדֹמָה בָּעֶרֶב | sə-ḏō-māh bā-ʿe-reḇ} ‘to Sodom in the evening’ sets both place and time. The vav-disjunctive clause velot yoshev {וְלֹט יֹשֵׁב | wə-lōṭ yō-šêḇ} describes Lot’s ongoing posture as background. The phrase besha'ar-sedom {בְּשַׁעַר־סְדֹם | bə-ša-ʿar-sə-ḏōm} ‘in the gate of Sodom’ highlights the gate’s civic role. A chain of wayyiqtol verbs—vayar-lot {וַיַּרְא־לוֹט | way-yar-lōṭ} ‘and Lot saw’, vayakam {וַיָּקָם | way-yā-qam} ‘and he arose’, vayishtachu {וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ | way-yiš-ta-ḥû} ‘and they bowed down’—drives the action: perception, response, submission. The idiom appayim artsah {אַפַּיִם אָרְצָה | ʾap-pā-yim ʾār-ṣāh} ‘face to the ground’ conveys full prostration. The formal rendering preserves the prolonged opening clause, while the dynamic shifts to shorter sentences for readability. |