Genesis 19:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

NIV: But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.' (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

NASB: Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.' Therefore the town was named Zoar.

CSB: Hurry up! Run to it, for I cannot do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city is Zoar.

NLT: But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.' (This explains why that village was known as Zoar, which means 'little place.')

KJV: Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

NKJV: Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

The Lord has granted Lot's request not to destroy a small city nearby so that Lot and his family can flee to it and escape God's judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. This is quite a generous allowance. Lot is so entrenched in Sodom that he has to be dragged, by the hand, out of the city by two angels. These are the same angels who initially told Lot and his family to run directly for the hills, in order to be completely out of the disaster zone. When Lot asks to flee only to a nearby town, his request is graciously accepted.

There is still a sense of urgency at play, however. Lot and his family must hurry. The Lord will not allow the judgment to begin until the family arrives at the town that will now be called Zoar, which comes from a word that means "to be small." This town was formerly known by the name Bela (Genesis 14:8).

Genesis 19:1–22 describes what happens following the Lord's assurance to Abraham that He will not destroy Sodom if He finds ten righteous people there. Despite such a low standard, Sodom fails the test. Every man in the city attempts to rape two of the Lord's angels who are in human form. The angels intervene, eventually removing Lot and his family from the city by force, and out of God's mercy. The angels instruct the family to run to the hills, but Lot asks if they can flee to the tiny town of Zoar instead. The angels allow this.

Two angels, disguised as men, visit Abraham's nephew, Lot, in the city of Sodom. After the men of Sodom attempt to rape the angels in Lot's home, the angels rescue Lot and his family, forcibly removing them from the city. Then God sends fire and sulfur from heaven. This destroys all of the land and people in and around the cities. As stated in earlier verses, this is the result of their great and ongoing wickedness. Lot's wife is turned to a pillar of salt when she disobeys the angels by looking back on the destruction. Lot and his daughters flee first to Zoar, then to a cave in the hills. There, Lot's confused and frightened daughters get him drunk, have sex with him, and each become pregnant.

In the previous chapter, Abraham had bargained with God on behalf of his nephew Lot and the people of Sodom. The Lord assured Abraham He would not destroy the cities if He found ten righteous people there. Chapter 19 immediately demonstrates no righteous people are to be found. Every man of Sodom attempts to attack two visitors, who are God's angels in human form. As the angels rescue Lot, God's judgment falls, utterly destroying everything in the area around Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot and his daughters end up in a cave in the hills, where the daughters scheme to conceive children by making their father drunk. This ends Lot's role in the story of Genesis, with future chapters focusing exclusively on the life and descendants of Abraham.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 5/2/2024 3:58:57 AM