Genesis 19:27-29

19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went ¹  to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 19:28 He looked out toward ²  Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. ³  As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. ⁴ 

19:29 So when God destroyed ⁵  the cities of the region, ⁶  God honored ⁷  Abraham’s request. He removed Lot ⁸  from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed ⁹  the cities Lot had lived in.

[19:27]  ¹ tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:28]  ² tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[19:28]  ³ tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”

[19:29]  ³ tn The construction is a temporal clause comprised of the temporal indicator, an infinitive construct with a preposition, and the subjective genitive.

[19:29]  ⁴ tn Or “of the plain”; Heb “of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “remembered,” but this means more than mental recollection here. Abraham’s request (Gen 18:23-32) was that the Lord not destroy the righteous with the wicked. While the requisite minimum number of righteous people (ten, v. 32) needed for God to spare the cities was not found, God nevertheless rescued the righteous before destroying the wicked.

[19:29]  ⁶ sn God’s removal of Lot before the judgment is paradigmatic. He typically delivers the godly before destroying their world.

[19:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “the overthrow when [he] overthrew.”