But he urged them strongly: many translations mark this sentence as a contrast or opposition to their saying “No.” A term meaning “Nevertheless,” “However,” “In spite of what they said” may also be used. Urged them means Lot pressed, insisted, tried to convince them to remain and spend the night at his house. In the end the angels accept Lot’s invitation. Some translations express the idea of Lot insisting by saying that he kept asking “until they-two went with him.” One version says “Lot kept on asking until he won and they went to his house.”
Turned aside translates the same verb as in Gen 19.2.
And entered his house means they went into his house to spend the night, or as Good News Translation translates the combined expressions, “finally they went with him to his house.”
And he made them a feast: to speak of the feast and then the baking of bread used in the feast is to speak of the result followed by the process. Many languages will prefer to place the baking of bread before the feast or in preparation for the feast. Feast refers to a meal, and in this context the evening meal, which would be special with guests in the house.
Baked unleavened bread: as in 18.1-8 Lot as host and master of the house would direct servants to do the actual preparation. Good News Translation makes this clear by saying “Lot ordered his servants to bake some bread and prepare a fine meal for his guests.” Unleavened bread (Hebrew matsoth) refers to flat bread quickly baked without yeast. (Yeast is used in making bread and beer. It causes fermentation and so makes bread dough rise.) Such bread quickly hardens and becomes crisp, and so contrasts with the soft bread baked by Sarah in 18.6. Unleavened bread is usually associated with religious feasts; see Lev 23.5-8; Num 28.16-25; Matt 26.17; Acts 12.3, 20.6. This kind of bread seems to have been the daily food in this context, and the fact that it had no yeast in it is not really significant here. Accordingly Good News Translation translates “some bread,” Bible en français courant “some griddle cakes.”
And they ate: the narrator moves the action swiftly in order to introduce the next episode, which takes up verses 4-11. In some languages the story appears to move too quickly from preparation to eating; one translation, for example, makes a point of saying “And when the food was cooked, they ate.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .