Genesis 19:17

19:17 When they had brought them outside, they ¹  said, “Run ²  for your lives! Don’t look ³  behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! ⁴  Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”

Genesis 19:24-25

19:24 Then the Lord rained down ⁵  sulfur and fire ⁶  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ⁷  19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, ⁸  including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew ⁹  from the ground.

[19:17]  ¹ tn Or “one of them”; Heb “he.” Several ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate, Syriac) read the plural “they.” See also the note on “your” in v. 19.

[19:17]  ² tn Heb “escape.”

[19:17]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb translated “look” signifies an intense gaze, not a passing glance. This same verb is used later in v. 26 to describe Lot’s wife’s self-destructive look back at the city.

[19:17]  ⁴ tn Or “in the plain”; Heb “in the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:24]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

[19:24]  ⁶ tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

[19:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:25]  ⁸ tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”