Genesis 19:2

and said, I beg now, my lords, turn now hither, and enter the house of your servant, and lodge, and wash your feet; and you will arise and proceed on your way. And they said to him, No; for in the street we will lodge.

BEHOLD NOW, MY LORDS. Rashi comments: “Behold now you are my lords since you have passed by me” The correct interpretation is that it is an expression of pleadings: “My lords, behold now your servant’s house; turn aside, I pray you, to me” The word suru (turn aside) is as in the expressions: Turn aside (‘surah’), sit down here; Turn in (‘surah’), my lord, turn in to me; fear not.

AND YE SHALL RISE UP EARLY, AND GO ON YOUR WAY. The purport of that was to tell them that they should not tarry in the city after the morning for Lot knew the nature of the men of the city and of their wickedness, but he thought, In the morning light they do it. It may be that he saw them as transients who would not tarry in the city, and so he said, And ye shall rise up early and go on your way if you desire.

כי ברחוב נלין, the same as if the Torah had written אלא ברחוב נלין, “but we will spend the night in the street.”

הנה נא, א-דוני, the word נא always expresses a plea. In this instance the word הנה has the vowel segol, because of the dagesh (dot) in the letter נ of the word נא.

א-דני, the vowel under the נ is a patach instead of the kametz we might have expected. This proves that the word is not a sacred attribute of the name of G’d. Lot, at that stage, had assumed that these strangers were simply extraordinary important people, judging by their attire and their general demeanour. When looking at them at the beginning he had thought they looked like angels.

ולינו, he had to ask them to stay the night, seeing that had arrived in the evening.

ורחצו, the letter ר has the vowel patach, as the word is in the imperative mode. Its meaning is just as it was when the angels arrived at Avraham’s in chapter 18. The invitation to wash one’s feet is normally extended as the first step in inviting guests to partake in a meal. In this instance, Lot did not bother to announce that he would feed these angels, seeing that he had already invited them to spend the night, something which would include supper as a matter of course.

והשכמתם, if you want you may rise early and be on your way, a remark quite similar to that of Avraham in 18,5.

ויאמרו לא, from this verse our sages deduce that it is in order to decline invitations from insignificant people, whereas one must not turn down an invitation from prominent, highly placed people (quoted by Rashi) The same men, when visiting Avraham, had immediately accepted his invitation, whereas here, when an invitation seemed even more called for, they at first refused Lot’s offer of hospitality.

כי ברחוב, in the public street or square of the town. They were not prepared to be the guests of anyone else in the city either.