What does Genesis 19:3 mean?

After welcoming two strangers to Sodom, Lot had offered to let them stay in his home for the night before they traveled on the next morning. Not only was he demonstrating the warm hospitality of good people in his culture, he was also hoping to protect these two from the violent men of his town. As will become clear, two newcomers alone and unprotected at night were not safe in Sodom.

Lot likely still does not realize that these two are angels. He definitely does not know they've been sent from God to investigate—actually, to confirm—the wickedness of the city in preparation for God's judgment on it. Lot certainly knows that strangers sleeping out in the open in Sodom are in serious danger.

Lot won't take their initial "no" for an answer to his offer to stay with him. He "presses them strongly," implying that Lot begs, pleads, and argues to convince them to stay in his home instead. They eventually agree and, as Abraham had done for them in the previous chapter, Lot makes for them a feast. Unleavened bread was likely included because it could be made more quickly.

The question is sometimes asked: do angels in human form eat food? For the second time in the book of Genesis, we witness these angels eating, receiving the generous hospitality of both Abraham and Lot. Another frequent question is whether angels still appear on the earth in human form. The writer of Hebrews, in the New Testament, encourages Christians to continue to offer hospitality to strangers, remarking that by doing so some have entertained angels without ever knowing it (Hebrews 13:2).