Genesis 19:23-25

19:23 The sun had just risen ¹  over the land as Lot reached Zoar. ²  19:24 Then the Lord rained down ³  sulfur and fire ⁴  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ⁵  19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, ⁶  including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew ⁷  from the ground.

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¹ sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).

² 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.

³ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

⁴ tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

⁷ tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”