Ezekiel 16:48-49

16:48 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly as you and your daughters have behaved.

16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity ¹  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ²  the poor and needy.

Ezekiel 16:53-56

16:53 “‘I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters (along with your fortunes among them), 16:54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in consoling them. 16:55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status. 16:56 In your days of majesty, ³  was not Sodom your sister a byword in your mouth,

Ezekiel 16:61

16:61 Then you will remember your conduct, and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you.

Genesis 13:11-13

13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled ⁴  toward the east.

So the relatives separated from each other. ⁵  13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain ⁶  and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now ⁷  the people ⁸  of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) ⁹ 

Genesis 18:20-33

18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against ¹⁰  Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant ¹¹  18:21 that I must go down ¹²  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ¹³  If not, ¹⁴  I want to know.”

18:22 The two men turned ¹⁵  and headed ¹⁶  toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. ¹⁷  18:23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ¹⁸  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ¹⁹  of the whole earth do what is right?” ²⁰ 

18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ²¹  (although I am but dust and ashes), ²²  18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ²³  the whole city because five are lacking?” ²⁴  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham ²⁵  spoke to him again, ²⁶  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham ²⁷  said, “May the Lord not be angry ²⁸  so that I may speak! ²⁹  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ³⁰  said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

18:32 Finally Abraham ³¹  said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

18:33 The Lord went on his way ³²  when he had finished speaking ³³  to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home. ³⁴ 

Genesis 19:24-25

19:24 Then the Lord rained down ³⁵  sulfur and fire ³⁶  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ³⁷  19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, ³⁸  including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew ³⁹  from the ground.

Deuteronomy 29:23

29:23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. ⁴⁰ 

Deuteronomy 32:32

32:32 For their vine is from the stock ⁴¹  of Sodom,

and from the fields of Gomorrah. ⁴² 

Their grapes contain venom,

their clusters of grapes are bitter.

Isaiah 1:9-10

1:9 If the Lord who commands armies ⁴³  had not left us a few survivors,

we would have quickly become like Sodom, ⁴⁴ 

we would have become like Gomorrah.

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ⁴⁵ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ⁴⁶ 

people of Gomorrah!

Jeremiah 23:14

23:14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem ⁴⁷ 

doing something just as shocking.

They are unfaithful to me

and continually prophesy lies. ⁴⁸ 

So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,

with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. ⁴⁹ 

I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,

and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah. ⁵⁰ 

Lamentations 4:6

ו (Vav)

4:6 The punishment ⁵¹  of my people ⁵² 

exceeded that of ⁵³  of Sodom,

which was overthrown in a moment

with no one to help her. ⁵⁴ 

Luke 17:28-30

17:28 Likewise, just as it was ⁵⁵  in the days of Lot, people ⁵⁶  were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 17:29 but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ⁵⁷  17:30 It will be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

Luke 17:2

17:2 It would be better for him to have a millstone ⁵⁸  tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea ⁵⁹  than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ⁶⁰ 

Luke 2:6

2:6 While ⁶¹  they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁶² 

Jude 1:7

1:7 So also ⁶³  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ⁶⁴  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ⁶⁵  in a way similar to ⁶⁶  these angels, ⁶⁷  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Revelation 11:8

11:8 Their ⁶⁸  corpses will lie in the street ⁶⁹  of the great city that is symbolically ⁷⁰  called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also crucified.

[16:49]  ¹ tn Or “guilt.”

[16:49]  ² tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”

[16:56]  ³ tn Or “pride.”

[13:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.

[13:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”

[13:12]  ⁶ tn Or “the cities of the plain”; Heb “[the cities of] the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[13:13]  ⁷ tn Here is another significant parenthetical clause in the story, signaled by the vav (וו) disjunctive (translated “now”) on the noun at the beginning of the clause.

[13:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.

[13:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.” The description of the sinfulness of the Sodomites is very emphatic. First, two nouns are used to form a hendiadys: “wicked and sinners” means “wicked sinners,” the first word becoming adjectival. The text is saying these were no ordinary sinners; they were wicked sinners, the type that cause pain for others. Then to this phrase is added “against the Lord,” stressing their violation of the laws of heaven and their culpability. Finally, to this is added מְאֹד (mÿ’od, “exceedingly,” translated here as “extremely”).

[18:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the outcry of Sodom,” which apparently refers to the outcry for divine justice from those (unidentified persons) who observe its sinful ways.

[18:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “heavy.”

[18:21]  ¹² tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “[if] according to the outcry that has come to me they have done completely.” Even the Lord, who is well aware of the human capacity to sin, finds it hard to believe that anyone could be as bad as the “outcry” against Sodom and Gomorrah suggests.

[18:21]  ¹⁴ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[18:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And the men turned from there.” The word “two” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied here for clarity. Gen 19:1 mentions only two individuals (described as “angels”), while Abraham had entertained three visitors (18:2). The implication is that the Lord was the third visitor, who remained behind with Abraham here. The words “from there” are not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[18:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “went.”

[18:22]  ¹⁷ tc An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition reads “but the Lord remained standing before Abraham.” This reading is problematic because the phrase “standing before” typically indicates intercession, but the Lord would certainly not be interceding before Abraham.

[18:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lift up,” perhaps in the sense of “bear with” (cf. NRSV “forgive”).

[18:25]  ¹⁹ tn Or “ruler.”

[18:25]  ²⁰ sn Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right? For discussion of this text see J. L. Crenshaw, “Popular Questioning of the Justice of God in Ancient Israel,” ZAW 82 (1970): 380-95, and C. S. Rodd, “Shall Not the Judge of All the Earth Do What Is Just?” ExpTim 83 (1972): 137-39.

[18:27]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in vv. 30, 31, 32 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[18:27]  ²² tn The disjunctive clause is a concessive clause here, drawing out the humility as a contrast to the Lord.

[18:28]  ²³ tn The Hebrew verb שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) was used earlier to describe the effect of the flood.

[18:28]  ²⁴ tn Heb “because of five.”

[18:29]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ²⁶ tn The construction is a verbal hendiadys – the preterite (“he added”) is combined with an adverb “yet” and an infinitive “to speak.”

[18:30]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:30]  ²⁸ tn Heb “let it not be hot to the Lord.” This is an idiom which means “may the Lord not be angry.”

[18:30]  ²⁹ tn After the jussive, the cohortative indicates purpose/result.

[18:31]  ³⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:32]  ³¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:33]  ³² tn Heb “And the Lord went.”

[18:33]  ³³ tn The infinitive construct (“speaking”) serves as the direct object of the verb “finished.”

[18:33]  ³⁴ tn Heb “to his place.”

[19:24]  ³⁵ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

[19:24]  ³⁶ tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

[19:24]  ³⁷ tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:25]  ³⁸ tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:25]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”

[29:23]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.

[32:32]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “vine.”

[32:32]  ⁴² sn Sodom…Gomorrah. The term “vine” is a reference to the pagan deities which, the passage says, find their ultimate source in Sodom and Gomorrah, that is, in the soil of perversion exemplified by these places (cf. Gen 18:20; 19:4-28; Isa 1:10; 3:9; Jer 23:14; Lam 4:6; Ezek 16:44-52; Matt 10:15; 11:23-24).

[1:9]  ⁴³ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” The title pictures God as the sovereign king who has at his disposal a multitude of attendants, messengers, and warriors to do his bidding. In some contexts, like this one, the military dimension of his rulership is highlighted. In this case, the title pictures him as one who leads armies into battle against his enemies.

[1:9]  ⁴⁴ tc The translation assumes that כִּמְעָט (kim’at, “quickly,” literally, “like a little”) goes with what follows, contrary to the MT accents, which take it with what precedes. In this case, one could translate the preceding line, “If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors.” If כִּמְעָט goes with the preceding line (following the MT accents), this expression highlights the idea that there would only be a few survivors (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:20; H. Zobel, TDOT 8:456). Israel would not be almost like Sodom but exactly like Sodom.

[1:10]  ⁴⁵ sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.

[1:10]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.

[23:14]  ⁴⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[23:14]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “they commit adultery and deal falsely.” The word “shocking” only occurs here and in 5:30 where it is found in the context of prophesying lies. This almost assures that the reference to “walking in lies” (Heb “in the lie”) is referring to false prophesy. Moreover the references to the prophets in 5:13 and in 14:13-15 are all in the context of false prophesy as are the following references in this chapter in 23:24, 26, 32 and in 28:15. This appears to be the theme of this section. This also makes it likely that the reference to adultery is not literal adultery, though two of the false prophets in Babylon were guilty of this (29:23). The reference to “encouraging those who do evil” that follows also makes more sense if they were preaching messages of comfort rather than messages of doom. The verbs here are infinitive absolutes in place of the finite verb, probably used to place greater emphasis on the action (cf. Hos 4:2 in a comparable judgment speech.)

[23:14]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “So they strengthen the hands of those doing evil so that they do not turn back from their evil.” For the use of the figure “strengthen the hands” meaning “encourage” see Judg 9:24; Ezek 13:22 (and cf. BDB 304 s.v. חָזַק Piel.2). The vav consecutive on the front of the form gives the logical consequence equivalent to “so” in the translation.

[23:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “All of them are to me like Sodom and its [Jerusalem’s] inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

[4:6]  ⁵¹ tn The noun עֲוֹן (’avon) has a basic two-fold range of meanings: (1) basic meaning: “iniquity, sin” and (2) metonymical cause for effect meaning: “punishment for iniquity.”

[4:6]  ⁵² tn Heb “the daughter of my people.”

[4:6]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the sin of.” The noun חַטָּאת (khatta’t) often means “sin, rebellion,” but here it probably functions in a metonymical (cause for effect) sense: “punishment for sin” (e.g., Zech 14:19). The context focuses on the severity of the punishment of Jerusalem rather than the depths of its degradation and depravity that led to the judgment.

[4:6]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “without a hand turned.” The preposition ב (bet) after the verb חוּל (khul) in Hos 11:6 is adversative “the sword will turn against [Assyria’s] cities.” Other contexts with חוּל (khul) plus ב (bet) are not comparable (ב [bet] often being locative). However, it is not certain that hands must be adversarial as the sword clearly is in Hos 11:6. The present translation pictures the suddenness of Sodom’s overthrow as an easier fate than the protracted military campaign and subsequent exile and poverty of Judah’s survivor’s.

[17:28]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “as it happened.”

[17:28]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “they.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.

[17:29]  ⁵⁷ sn And destroyed them all. The coming of the Son of Man will be like the judgment on Sodom, one of the most immoral places of the OT (Gen 19:16-17; Deut 32:32-33; Isa 1:10).

[17:2]  ⁵⁸ tn This term refers to the heavy upper stone of a grinding mill (L&N 7.70; BDAG 660 s.v. μυλικός).

[17:2]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “if a millstone were tied…and he were thrown.” The conditional construction in Greek has been translated by English infinitives: “to have… and be thrown.”

[17:2]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “to stumble.” This verb, σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalish), has the same root as the noun σκάνδαλον (skandalon) in 17:1, translated “stumbling blocks”; this wordplay is difficult to reproduce in English. It is possible that the primary cause of offense here would be leading disciples (“little ones”) astray in a similar fashion.

[2:6]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:6]  ⁶² tn The words “her child” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to clarify what was being delivered. The wording here is like Luke 1:57. Grk “the days for her to give birth were fulfilled.”

[1:7]  ⁶³ tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “strange flesh.” This phrase has been variously interpreted. It could refer to flesh of another species (such as angels lusting after human flesh). This would aptly describe the sin of the angels, but not easily explain the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could refer to the homosexual practices of the Sodomites, but a difficulty arises from the use of ἕτερος ({etero"; “strange,” “other”). When this is to be distinguished from ἄλλος (allos, “another”) it suggests “another of a different kind.” If so, would that properly describe homosexual behavior? In response, the language could easily be compact: “pursued flesh other than what was normally pursued.” However, would this find an analogy in the lust of angels (such would imply that angels normally had sexual relations of some sort, but cf. Matt 22:30)? Another alternative is that the focus of the parallel is on the activity of the surrounding cities and the activity of the angels. This is especially plausible since the participles ἐκπορνεύσασαι (ekporneusasai, “having indulged in sexual immorality”) and ἀπελθοῦσαι (apelqousai, “having pursued”) have concord with “cities” (πόλεις, poleis), a feminine plural noun, rather than with Sodom and Gomorrah (both masculine nouns). If so, then their sin would not necessarily have to be homosexuality. However, most likely the feminine participles are used because of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense). That is, since both Sodom and Gomorrah are cities, the feminine is used to imply that all the cities are involved. The connection with angels thus seems to be somewhat loose: Both angels and Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in heinous sexual immorality. Thus, whether the false teachers indulge in homosexual activity is not the point; mere sexual immorality is enough to condemn them.

[1:7]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ⁶⁷ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.

[11:8]  ⁶⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ⁶⁹ tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

[11:8]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “spiritually.”