Genesis 19:23-33

23 The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar.

24 Suddenly the Lord rained burning sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah ¹

25 and destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the people there and everything that grew on the land.

26 But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. ²

27 Early the next morning Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood in the presence of the Lord.

28 He looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a huge furnace.

29 But when God destroyed the cities of the valley where Lot was living, he kept Abraham in mind and allowed Lot to escape to safety.

30 Because Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, he and his two daughters moved up into the hills and lived in a cave.

31 The older daughter said to her sister, "Our father is getting old, and there are no men in the whole world to marry us so that we can have children.

32 Come on, let's get our father drunk, so that we can sleep with him and have children by him."

33 That night they gave him wine to drink, and the older daughter had intercourse with him. But he was so drunk that he didn't know it.

Genesis 19:23-33 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 19

The contents of this chapter are Lot's entertainment of two angels that came to Sodom, Ge 19:1-3; the rude behaviour of the men of Sodom towards them, who for it were smote with blindness, Ge 19:4-11; the deliverance of Lot, his wife and two daughters, by means of the angels he entertained, Ge 19:12-17; the sparing of the city of Zoar at the entreaty of Lot, to which he was allowed to flee, Ge 19:18-22; the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, Ge 19:23-25; Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, Ge 19:26; Abraham's view of the conflagration of the cities, Ge 19:28,29; Lot's betaking himself to a mountain, and dwelling in a cave with his two daughters, by whom he had two sons, the one called Moab, and the other Benammi, Ge 19:30-38.

Cross References

• 1. 19.24, 25Matthew 10.15; 11.23, 24;Luke 10.12; 17.29; 2 P 2.6+2Jude 7.
• 2. 19.26 +2Wisdom 10.7; +1Luke 17.32.

Footnotes

• [a]. the whole world; [or] this land.