the Third Sunday after Easter
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THE MESSAGE
Genesis 19:22
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- EveryParallel Translations
Hurry, escape there, for I can't do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city was called Tzo`ar.
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Escape there quickly, for I cannot do this thing until you get there." Therefore, there name of the city was called Zoar.
But run there fast, because I cannot destroy Sodom until you are safely in that town." (That town is named Zoar, because it is little.)
Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.)
"Hurry and take refuge there, for I cannot do anything [to punish Sodom] until you arrive there." For this reason the town was named Zoar (few, small).
"Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the town was named Zoar.
Haste thee, saue thee there: for I can doe nothing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the citie was called Zoar.
Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you are safely there." The town was later called Zoar because Lot had said it was small.
Hurry, and escape to that place, because I can't do anything until you arrive there." For this reason the city was named Tzo‘ar [small].
Haste, escape thither; for I cannot do anything until thou art come there. Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.
But run there quickly. I cannot destroy Sodom until you are safely in that town." (That town is named Zoar, because it is a small town.)
Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Make haste and escape there; for I cannot do anything till you enter into it. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you get there." Because Lot called it small, the town was named Zoar.
Hurry up! Run to it, for I cannot do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city is Zoar.
Hurry, escape there, for I am not able to do anything until you have come there. So the name of the city was called Zoar.
Haist the, and saue thy self there: for I can do nothinge tyll thou be come thither. Therfore is the cite called Zoar.
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Go there quickly, for I am not able to do anything till you have come there. For this reason, the town was named Zoar.
Haste thee, and be saued there: for I can do nothyng tyl thou be come thyther, and therfore the name of the citie is Soar.
Hasten thou, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither.'--Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.--
Haste thee, escape thither: for I cannot doe any thing till thou bee come thither: therefore the name of the citie was called Zoar.
Hasten therefore to escape thither, for I shall not be able to do anything until thou art come thither; therefore he called the name of that city, Segor.
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it." That is why the town was called Zoar.
haste thou, and be thou saued there, for Y may not do ony thing til thou entre thidur. Therfor the name of that citee was clepid Segor.
haste, escape thither, for I am not able to do anything till thine entering thither;' therefore hath he calleth the name of the city Zoar.
Haste thee, escape thither: for I cannot do any thing till thou hast come thither: therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Hurry, escape there, for I can't do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
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.")
Hurry and run there. For I cannot do anything until you get there." So the name given to the town was Zoar.
Hurry, escape there, for I can do nothing until you arrive there." Therefore the city was called Zoar.
Haste thee escape thither, for I cannot do anything, until thou have come in thither. For this cause: was the name of the city called Zoar.
Make haste, and be saved there: because I cannot do any thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.
Make haste, escape there; for I can do nothing till you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zo'ar.
Hurry, escape there; for I can't do anything until you have come there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
"Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
for: Genesis 32:25-28, Exodus 32:10, Deuteronomy 9:14, Psalms 91:1-10, Isaiah 65:8, Mark 6:5, 2 Timothy 2:13, Titus 1:2
called: Genesis 13:10, Genesis 14:2, Isaiah 15:5, Jeremiah 48:34
Zoar: i.e. little, Genesis 19:20
Reciprocal: Genesis 14:8 - same Genesis 19:12 - son Genesis 19:14 - Up Genesis 19:15 - hastened Genesis 19:17 - Escape Deuteronomy 34:3 - Zoar Mark 13:15 - General Acts 27:24 - lo Hebrews 6:18 - who 2 Peter 2:7 - delivered
Cross-References
Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God 's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. That's how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom. The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God . After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, "Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I'll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I'm giving it all to you." Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God .
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting at the city gate. He saw them and got up to welcome them, bowing before them and said, "Please, my friends, come to my house and stay the night. Wash up. You can rise early and be on your way refreshed." They said, "No, we'll sleep in the street."
But the two men reached out and pulled Lot inside the house, locking the door. Then they struck blind the men who were trying to break down the door, both leaders and followers, leaving them groping in the dark.
Oh, how I grieve for Moab! Refugees stream to Zoar and then on to Eglath-shelishiyah. Up the slopes of Luhith they weep; on the road to Horonaim they cry their loss. The springs of Nimrim are dried up— grass brown, buds stunted, nothing grows. They leave, carrying all their possessions on their backs, everything they own, Making their way as best they can across Willow Creek to safety. Poignant cries reverberate all through Moab, Gut-wrenching sobs as far as Eglaim, heart-racking sobs all the way to Beer-elim. The banks of the Dibon crest with blood, but God has worse in store for Dibon: A lion—a lion to finish off the fugitives, to clean up whoever's left in the land.
God 's Message: "But just as one bad apple doesn't ruin the whole bushel, there are still plenty of good apples left. So I'll preserve those in Israel who obey me. I won't destroy the whole nation. I'll bring out my true children from Jacob and the heirs of my mountains from Judah. My chosen will inherit the land, my servants will move in. The lush valley of Sharon in the west will be a pasture for flocks, And in the east, the valley of Achor, a place for herds to graze. These will be for the people who bothered to reach out to me, who wanted me in their lives, who actually bothered to look for me.
"Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out, and the people in Jahaz will hear the cries. They will hear them all the way from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Haste thee, escape thither,.... Seeing he had granted him his request, he is urgent upon him to be gone, and not to delay upon any account, or make other excuses:
for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither; that is, consistent with the decree of God, that Lot and his family should be delivered and preserved, and with his promise made to him, that he would not overthrow that city; and therefore the catastrophe which would befall all the cities at once could not begin until he was safely arrived there:
therefore the name of the city was called Zoar; in later times, and probably first by Lot, from his use of the word "little", which was his request, which Zoar signifies; it before was called Bela, see Genesis 14:2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- The Destruction of Sodom and Amorah
9. ×ש×Ö¾<×××× gesh-haÌl'aÌh, âapproach to a distant point,â stand back.
11. ×¡× ×ר×× saneveÌrıÌym, âblindness,â affecting the mental more than the ocular vision.
37. ×××× moÌ'aÌb, Moab; ××× meÌ'aÌb, âfrom a father.â ××Ö¾×¢×× ben-âamıÌy, Ben-âammi, âson of my people.â ×¢××× âamoÌn, âAmmon, âof the people.â
This chapter is the continuation and conclusion of the former. It records a part of Godâs strange work - strange, because it consists in punishment, and because it is foreign to the covenant of grace. Yet it is closely connected with Abrahamâs history, inasmuch as it is a signal chastisement of wickedness in his neighborhood, a memorial of the righteous judgment of God to all his posterity, and at the same time a remarkable answer to the spirit, if not to the letter, of his intercessory prayer. His kinsman Lot, the only righteous man in Sodom, with his wife and two daughters, is delivered from destruction in accordance with his earnest appeal on behalf of the righteous.
Genesis 19:1-3
The two angels. - These are the two men who left Abraham standing before the Lord Genesis 18:22. âLot sat in the gate,â the place of public resort for news and for business. He courteously rises to meet them, does obeisance to them, and invites them to spend the night in his house. âNay, but in the street will we lodge.â This is the disposition of those who come to inquire, and, it may be, to condemn and to punish. They are twice in this chapter called angels, being sent to perform a delegated duty. This term, however, defines their office, not their nature. Lot, in the first instance, calls them âmy lords,â which is a term of respect that may be addressed to men Genesis 31:35. He afterward styled one of them Adonai, with the special vowel pointing which limits it to the Supreme Being. He at the same time calls himself his servant, appeals to his grace and mercy, and ascribes to him his deliverance. The person thus addressed replies, in a tone of independence and authority, âI have accepted thee.â âI will not overthrow this city for which thou hast spoken.â âI cannot do anything until thou go thither.â All these circumstances point to a divine personage, and are not so easily explained of a mere delegate. He is pre-eminently the Saviour, as he who communed with Abraham was the hearer of prayer. And he who hears prayer and saves life, appears also as the executor of his purpose in the overthrow of Sodom and the other cities of the vale. It is remarkable that only two of the three who appeared to Abraham are called angels. Of the persons in the divine essence two might be the angels or deputies of the primary in the discharge of the divine purpose. These three men, then, either immediately represent, or, if created angels, mediately shadow forth persons in the Godhead. Their number indicates that the persons in the divine unity are three.
Lot seems to have recognized something extraordinary in their appearance, for he made a lowly obeisance to them. The Sodomites heed not the strangers. Lotâs invitation; at first declined, is at length accepted, because Lot is approved of God as righteous, and excepted from the doom of the city.
Genesis 19:4-11
The wicked violence of the citizens displays itself. They compass the house, and demand the men for the vilest ends. How familiar Lot had become with vice, when any necessity whatever could induce him to offer his daughters to the lust of these Sodomites! We may suppose it was spoken rashly, in the heat of the moment, and with the expectation that he would not be taken at his word. So it turned out. âStand back.â This seems to be a menace to frighten Lot out of the way of their perverse will. It is probable, indeed, that he and his family would not have been so long safe in this wicked place, had he not been the occasion of a great deliverance to the whole city when they were carried away by the four kings. The threat is followed by a taunt, when the sorely vexed host hesitated to give up the strangers. âHe will needs be a judge.â It is evident Lot had been in the habit of remonstrating with them. From threats and taunts they soon proceed to violence. His guests now interfere. They rescue Lot, and smite the rioters with blindness, or a wandering of the senses, so that they cannot find the door. This ebullition of the vilest passion seals the doom of the city.
Genesis 19:12-23
The visitors now take steps for the deliverance of Lot and his kindred before the destruction of the cities. All that are related to him are included in the offer of deliverance. There is a blessing in being connected with the righteous, if men will but avail themselves of it. Lot seems bewildered by the contemptuous refusal of his connections to leave the place. His early choice and his growing habits have attached him to the place, notwithstanding its temptations. His married daughters, or at least the intended husbands of the two who were at home (âwho are hereâ), are to be left behind. But though these thoughts make him linger, the mercy of the Lord prevails. The angels use a little violence to hasten their escape. The mountain was preserved by its elevation from the flood of rain, sulphur, and fire which descended on the low ground on which the cities were built. Lot begs for a small town to which he may retreat, as he shrinks from the perils of a mountain dwelling, and his request is mercifully granted.
Genesis 19:24-26
Then follows the overthrow of the cities. âThe Lord rained brimstone and fire from the Lord from the skies.â Here the Lord is represented as present in the skies, whence the storm of desolation comes, and on the earth where it falls. The dale of Siddim, in which the cities were, appears to have abounded in asphalt and other combustible materials Genesis 14:10. The district was liable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions from the earliest to the latest times. We read of an earthquake in the days of king Uzziah Amos 1:1. An earthquake in 1759 destroyed many thousands of persons in the valley of Baalbec. Josephus (De Bell. Jud. iii. 10, 7) reports that the Salt Sea sends up in many places black masses of asphalt, which are not unlike headless bulls in shape and size. After an earthquake in 1834, masses of asphalt were thrown up from the bottom, and in 1837 a similar cause was attended with similar effects.
The lake lies in the lowest part of the valley of the Jordan, and its surface is about thirteen hundred feet below the level of the sea. In such a hollow, exposed to the burning rays of an unclouded sun, its waters evaporate as much as it receives by the influx of the Jordan. Its present area is about forty-five miles by eight miles. A peninsula pushes into it from the east called the Lisan, or tongue, the north point of which is about twenty miles from the south end of the lake. North of this point the depth is from forty to two hundred and eighteen fathoms. This southern part of the lake seems to have been the original dale of Siddim, in which were the cities of the vale. The remarkable salt hills lying on the south of the lake are still called Khashm Usdum (Sodom). A tremendous storm, accompanied with flashes of lightning, and torrents of rain, impregnated with sulphur, descended upon the doomed cities.
From the injunction to Lot to âflee to the mountain,â as well as from the nature of the soil, we may infer that at the same time with the awful conflagration there was a subsidence of the ground, so that the waters of the upper and original lake flowed in upon the former fertile and populous dale, and formed the shallow southern part of the present Salt Sea. In this pool of melting asphalt and sweltering, seething waters, the cities seem to have sunk forever, and left behind them no vestiges of their existence. Lotâs wife lingering behind her husband, and looking back, contrary to the express command of the Lord, is caught in the sweeping tempest, and becomes a pillar of salt: so narrow was the escape of Lot. The dashing spray of the salt sulphurous rain seems to have suffocated her, and then encrusted her whole body. She may have burned to a cinder in the furious conflagration. She is a memorable example of the indignation and wrath that overtakes the halting and the backsliding.
Genesis 19:27-29
Abraham rises early on the following morning, to see what had become of the city for which he had interceded so earnestly, and views from afar the scene of smoking desolation. Remembering Abraham, who was Lotâs uncle, and had him probably in mind in his importunate pleading, God delivered Lot from this awful overthrow. The Eternal is here designated by the name Elohim, the Everlasting, because in the war of elements in which the cities were overwhelmed, the eternal potencies of his nature were signally displayed.
Genesis 19:30-38
The descendants of Lot. Bewildered by the narrowness of his escape, and the awful death of his wife, Lot seems to have left Zoar, and taken to the mountain west of the Salt Sea, in terror of impending ruin. It is not improbable that all the inhabitants of Zoar, panic-struck, may have fled from the region of danger, and dispersed themselves for a time through the adjacent mountains. He was now far from the habitations of people, with his two daughters as his only companions. The manners of Sodom here obtrude themselves upon our view. Lotâs daughters might seem to have been led to this unnatural project, first, because they thought the human race extinct with the exception of themselves, in which case their conduct may have seemed a work of justifiable necessity; and next, because the degrees of kindred within which it was unlawful to marry had not been determined by an express law. But they must have seen some of the inhabitants of Zoar after the destruction of the cities; and carnal intercourse between parent and offspring must have been always repugnant to nature. âUnto this day.â This phrase indicates a variable period, from a few years to a few centuries: a few years; not more than seven, as Joshua 22:3; part of a lifetime, as Numbers 22:30; Joshua 6:25; Genesis 48:15; and some centuries, as Exodus 10:6. This passage may therefore have been written by one much earlier than Moses. Moab afterward occupied the district south of the Arnon, and east of the Salt Sea. Ammon dwelt to the northeast of Moab, where they had a capital called Rabbah. They both ultimately merged into the more general class of the Arabs, as a second Palgite element.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 19:22. I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. — So these heavenly messengers had the strictest commission to take care of Lot and his family; and even the purposes of Divine justice could not be accomplished on the rebellious, till this righteous man and his family had escaped from the place. A proof of Abraham's assertion, The Judge of all the earth will do right.
The name of the city was called Zoar. — צ×ער Tsoar, LITTLE, its former name being Bela.
