Chapter Text
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
2And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
3And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
4But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
5And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
6And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
7And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
8Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing ; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
9And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
10But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
11And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
12And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
13For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
14And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
17And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
18And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, ( is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
22Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
23The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
24Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
25And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:
28And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
29And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
Lot and His Daughters
30And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
31And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:
32Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
33And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
34And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
35And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
36Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
37And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
38And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
Summary
Two angels arrive in Sodom. Lot receives them hospitably, but the men of Sodom surround the house demanding to assault the visitors. Lot offers his daughters instead, but the mob refuses. The angels strike the crowd with blindness and urge Lot to flee with his family. At dawn, the angels compel Lot to leave. God rains fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying everything. Lot's wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt. Lot's daughters, believing no men remain, conceive children by their father, producing Moab and Ammon.
Meaning
The destruction of Sodom demonstrates that God's patience with wickedness has limits. The city's depravity was so complete that not even ten righteous people could be found. Yet God's mercy extracts Lot from the destruction, remembering Abraham's intercession.
Lot's wife, who looked back longingly toward what she was leaving, becomes a permanent warning against divided loyalty (Luke 17:32). The sordid ending—Lot's daughters' incest—shows the moral corruption that comes from prolonged proximity to wickedness. Moab and Ammon become perpetual thorns for Israel.
Background
Archaeological evidence suggests that the cities of the plain may have been located near the southern end of the Dead Sea, where geological conditions (bitumen, sulfur deposits) align with the biblical description. The destruction narrative has been connected to seismic and volcanic activity in the region.
Jude 7 and 2 Peter 2:6-7 cite Sodom as a paradigm of divine judgment on unrepentant sin.
Chapter Outline
- vv. 1-3Lot receives the angels in Sodom
- vv. 4-11The men of Sodom assault Lot's house
- vv. 12-14Warning to flee and the sons in law's unbelief
- vv. 15-23Lot's reluctant escape to Zoar
- vv. 24-26Destruction of Sodom and Lot's wife
- vv. 27-29Abraham witnesses the aftermath
- vv. 30-38Lot's daughters and the origin of Moab and Ammon
Key Verses
“For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.”— 19:13
This verse reveals the direct cause of Sodom's destruction — the city's sin had reached a tipping point before God. It underscores the biblical principle that divine patience has limits and that persistent, unrepentant wickedness invites judgment.
“And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.”— 19:16
Even as Lot hesitated, God's mercy physically seized him and his family. This verse is a powerful picture of grace overriding human reluctance — God delivering those who cannot bring themselves to act on their own behalf.
“Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;”— 19:24
One of the most referenced judgments in all of Scripture. Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles all cite Sodom's destruction as the definitive example of divine wrath against sin (Luke 17:29, Jude 1:7, Isaiah 13:19).
“But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”— 19:26
Christ Himself invokes this moment in Luke 17:32 — 'Remember Lot's wife.' Her backward glance represents attachment to a condemned world and serves as a perpetual warning against divided loyalty in the hour of deliverance.
People & Places
People
- Lot — Abraham's nephew who had settled in Sodom; he is delivered from the city's destruction through angelic intervention and Abraham's intercession.
- Lot's wife — Unnamed woman who disobeyed the command not to look back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
- Lot's two daughters — Unmarried daughters who escaped Sodom with Lot and later became the mothers of Moab and Benammi through incest.
- Lot's sons in law — Men betrothed to Lot's daughters who dismissed his warning as mockery and perished in the destruction.
- Abraham — Patriarch whose prior intercession (ch. 18) is credited as the reason God remembered to deliver Lot from the overthrow.
- Moab — Son of Lot's firstborn daughter and ancestor of the Moabites.
- Benammi — Son of Lot's younger daughter and ancestor of the Ammonites.
Places
- Sodom — Wicked city of the plain destroyed by fire and brimstone from heaven, becoming Scripture's enduring symbol of divine judgment.
- Gomorrah — Sister city to Sodom, destroyed alongside it in the same catastrophic judgment.
- Zoar — Small city near Sodom whose name means 'little'; spared from destruction at Lot's request as his place of refuge.
- The plain (of Jordan) — The fertile valley region encompassing the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, entirely overthrown in the destruction.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah becomes a prophetic type referenced throughout Scripture. Jesus uses it as a foreshadowing of end-times judgment (Luke 17:28-32), warning that the Son of Man's return will mirror Lot's day in its suddenness. The prophets Isaiah (1:9-10, 13:19), Jeremiah (49:18), and Ezekiel (16:49-50) invoke Sodom as a measuring rod for Israel's own unfaithfulness. Jude 1:7 cites these cities as examples of those 'suffering the vengeance of eternal fire,' establishing them as a type of final judgment.
Devotional
Lot's story is a cautionary portrait of spiritual compromise. He pitched his tent toward Sodom, then sat in its gate — a gradual drift that nearly cost him everything. Yet even in Lot's hesitation, God's mercy prevailed, physically pulling him to safety.
We see ourselves in Lot's lingering. When conviction calls us to leave behind what is destroying us, we often delay, negotiating for half-measures. God's grace does not wait for our perfection, but it does demand a direction — forward, not backward.
Remember Lot's wife. The cost of looking back is losing the future God has prepared.
Literary Style
Dramatic narrative combining fast-paced action with theological commentary. The chapter employs sharp contrasts — hospitality versus violence, mercy versus judgment, deliverance versus destruction. Dialogue drives the tension, particularly in the exchanges at the door and Lot's negotiation for Zoar. The concluding genealogical etiology (Moab, Benammi) links the narrative to Israel's later national neighbors.