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In the night, two angels arrived in Sodom
Here is background of the narrative's accurateness: it is high noon, and Lot,
Abraham's nephew, is sitting near the city gate where the two stop, he
recognizes them as belonging to the rank of “malakhìms”, runs to meet them
and bows down at their feet. We thus have further confirmation that it is not
spiritual beings, but individuals who walk, take time to get from one place to
another, and are seen arriving from far.
Then the one who sees them, runs to meet them as a sign of honor and respect.
This has nothing to do with the tradition of the sudden and overwhelming
apparitions; we are in presence of a normal process of approaching two
people walking quietly in a late and warm Middle Eastern afternoon. Lot
offers them the same thing as Abraham did; he wants to host them, giving them
the possibility to wash their feet and spend the night at his home (19:2). The
two, however, decide to do differently and tell Lot:
We will spend the night in the square (open place).
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