Genesis 19:22-24

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 19:22 tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.
2. Genesis 19:22 tn Heb “Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.” The name of the place, צוֹעַר (tsoʿar) apparently means “Little Place,” in light of the wordplay with the term “little” (מִצְעָר, mitsʿar) used twice by Lot to describe the town (v. 20).
3. Genesis 19:23 sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).
4. Genesis 19:23 tn The juxtaposition of the two disjunctive clauses indicates synchronic action. The first action (the sun’s rising) occurred as the second (Lot’s entering Zoar) took place. The disjunctive clauses also signal closure for the preceding scene.
5. Genesis 19:24 tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.
6. Genesis 19:24 tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).
7. Genesis 19:24 tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.sn The text explicitly states that the sulfur and fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah was sent down from the sky by the Lord. What exactly this was, and how it happened, can only be left to intelligent speculation, but see J. P. Harland, “The Destruction of the Cities of the Plain,” BA 6 (1943): 41-54.