Genesis 13:13

13:13 (Now ¹  the people ²  of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) ³ 

Genesis 18:20-21

18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against ⁴  Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant ⁵  18:21 that I must go down ⁶  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ⁷  If not, ⁸  I want to know.”

Genesis 19:4-15

19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, ⁹  all the men – both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. ¹⁰  19:5 They shouted to Lot, ¹¹  “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex ¹²  with them!”

19:6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! ¹³  19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations with ¹⁴  a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please. ¹⁵  Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection ¹⁶  of my roof.” ¹⁷ 

19:9 “Out of our way!” ¹⁸  they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, ¹⁹  and now he dares to judge us! ²⁰  We’ll do more harm ²¹  to you than to them!” They kept ²²  pressing in on Lot until they were close enough ²³  to break down the door.

19:10 So the men inside ²⁴  reached out ²⁵  and pulled Lot back into the house ²⁶  as they shut the door. 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, ²⁷  with blindness. The men outside ²⁸  wore themselves out trying to find the door. 19:12 Then the two visitors ²⁹  said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? ³⁰  Do you have ³¹  any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? ³²  Get them out of this ³³  place 19:13 because we are about to destroy ³⁴  it. The outcry against this place ³⁵  is so great before the Lord that he ³⁶  has sent us to destroy it.”

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. ³⁷  He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy ³⁸  the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them. ³⁹ 

19:15 At dawn ⁴⁰  the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, ⁴¹  or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” ⁴² 

Ezekiel 16:49-50

16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity ⁴³  of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help ⁴⁴  the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them.

James 5:1-5

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ⁴⁵  over the miseries that are coming on you. 5:2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 5:3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure! ⁴⁶  5:4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5:5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁴⁷ 

[13:13]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.

[13:13]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “heavy.”

[18:21]  ⁶ tn The cohortative indicates the Lord’s resolve.

[18:21]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ sn The short phrase if not provides a ray of hope and inspires Abraham’s intercession.

[19:4]  ⁹ tn The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) means “to lie down, to recline,” that is, “to go to bed.” Here what appears to be an imperfect is a preterite after the adverb טֶרֶם (terem). The nuance of potential (perfect) fits well.

[19:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the young to the old, all the people from the end [of the city].” The repetition of the phrase “men of” stresses all kinds of men.

[19:5]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “and said to him.” This is redundant in English and has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[19:5]  ¹² tn The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) is used here in the sense of “to lie with” or “to have sex with” (as in Gen 4:1). That this is indeed the meaning is clear from Lot’s warning that they not do so wickedly, and his willingness to give them his daughters instead.

[19:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “may my brothers not act wickedly.”

[19:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “who have not known.” Here this expression is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[19:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “according to what is good in your eyes.”

[19:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “shadow.”

[19:8]  ¹⁷ sn This chapter portrays Lot as a hypocrite. He is well aware of the way the men live in his city and is apparently comfortable in the midst of it. But when confronted by the angels, he finally draws the line. But he is nevertheless willing to sacrifice his daughters’ virginity to protect his guests. His opposition to the crowds leads to his rejection as a foreigner by those with whom he had chosen to live. The one who attempted to rescue his visitors ends up having to be rescued by them.

[19:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “approach out there” which could be rendered “Get out of the way, stand back!”

[19:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to live as a resident alien.”

[19:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he has judged, judging.” The infinitive absolute follows the finite verbal form for emphasis. This emphasis is reflected in the translation by the phrase “dares to judge.”

[19:9]  ²¹ tn The verb “to do wickedly” is repeated here (see v. 7). It appears that whatever “wickedness” the men of Sodom had intended to do to Lot’s visitors – probably nothing short of homosexual rape – they were now ready to inflict on Lot.

[19:9]  ²² tn Heb “and they pressed against the man, against Lot, exceedingly.”

[19:9]  ²³ tn Heb “and they drew near.”

[19:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “inside” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:10]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew text adds “their hand.” These words have not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[19:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to them into the house.”

[19:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “from the least to the greatest.”

[19:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Sodom outside the door) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the men,” referring to the angels inside Lot’s house. The word “visitors” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[19:12]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Yet who [is there] to you here?”

[19:12]  ³¹ tn The words “Do you have” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:12]  ³² tn Heb “a son-in-law and your sons and your daughters and anyone who (is) to you in the city.”

[19:12]  ³³ tn Heb “the place.” The Hebrew article serves here as a demonstrative.

[19:13]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew participle expresses an imminent action here.

[19:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “for their outcry.” The words “about this place” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” The repetition of the divine name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun “he” for stylistic reasons.

[19:14]  ³⁷ sn The language has to be interpreted in the light of the context and the social customs. The men are called “sons-in-law” (literally “the takers of his daughters”), but the daughters had not yet had sex with a man. It is better to translate the phrase “who were going to marry his daughters.” Since formal marriage contracts were binding, the husbands-to-be could already be called sons-in-law.

[19:14]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew active participle expresses an imminent action.

[19:14]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and he was like one taunting in the eyes of his sons-in-law.” These men mistakenly thought Lot was ridiculing them and their lifestyle. Their response illustrates how morally insensitive they had become.

[19:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “When dawn came up.”

[19:15]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “who are found.” The wording might imply he had other daughters living in the city, but the text does not explicitly state this.

[19:15]  ⁴² tn Or “with the iniquity [i.e., punishment] of the city” (cf. NASB, NRSV).

[16:49]  ⁴³ tn Or “guilt.”

[16:49]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”

[5:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[5:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “hoarded up treasure for the last days”; Grk “in the last days.”

[5:5]  ⁴⁷ sn James’ point seems to be that instead of seeking deliverance from condemnation, they have defied God’s law (fattened your hearts) and made themselves more likely objects of his judgment (in a day of slaughter).