Commentary for Genesis 19:15

ויאיצו THEY URGED [LOT] — as the Targum takes it, “they pressed” — i.e. they hurried him.

וכמו השחר עלה, the reason the Torah wrote this verse is seeing that it says in verse 23 that Lot had arrived in Tzoar as the sun had risen, this would have been at least 1-2 hours later than the early dawn described here. In other words, the angels delayed carrying out their mission for a considerable period all out of fondness for Avraham, so that his nephew would not perish in Sodom. [I suppose that seeing that Lot had tarried the whole night he could not now save his livestock and chattels, as the time for this had elapsed. Ed.]

ויאיצו, in order that their destruction should take place at the very moment the sun, their great god, would come forth. (compare Berachot 7)

וכמו השחר עלה, at the time when dawn broke forth.

קח, beschränke dich auf die Glieder, die du im Hause hast; bei längeren Versuchen könnte das heraneilende Unglück dich mit treffen.

וכמו השחר עלה, “and as dawn was about to rise, etc.” this verse was written as if describing an event in the future, as the Torah wished to portray for how long the angels delayed carrying out their mission involving the dual task of destroying Sodom and saving Lot, the latter not having been completed until after sunrise, as is clear from verse 23 where Lot’s arrival in Tzoar is reported. The angels delayed because of their fondness for Avraham. Rabbi Chanina is quoted as having said (B’reshit Rabbah 50,10) that the time between dawn rising and the sun rising is equivalent to the distance a normal person can walk a distance of about 1200 meters. He used verse 23 as the basis for his statement.

הנמצאות WHO ARE HERE (literally, who can be found) — who are ready at hand in the house to be rescued. There is a Midrashic explanation also, but this is the proper way to explain the text.

ויאיצו, they urged המלאכים, here the angels are described as angels again, not as in verse 10 where they were described as האנשים, “the men.” The reason is that here they performed the tasks of angels, i.e. they saved Lot and they destroyed the whole region.

תספה means [LEST] THOU BE MADE AN END OF. The words (Deuteronomy 2:14) עד תום כל הדור “until all the generation were completely ended” are translated by Onkelos: עד דסף כל דרא (the same root סף as in our text).