Kejadian 19:23-24

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 

Kejadian 19:27-28

19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went ⁶  to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 19:28 He looked out toward ⁷  Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. ⁸  As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. ⁹ 

[19:23]  ¹ sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).

[19:23]  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.

[19:24]  ³ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

[19:24]  ⁴ tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

[19:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:24]  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.

[19:27]  ⁶ tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

[19:28]  ⁸ tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

[19:28]  ⁹ tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”

[19:28]  sn It is hard to imagine what was going on in Abraham’s mind, but this brief section in the narrative enables the reader to think about the human response to the judgment. Abraham had family in that area. He had rescued those people from the invasion. That was why he interceded. Yet he surely knew how wicked they were. That was why he got the number down to ten when he negotiated with God to save the city. But now he must have wondered, “What was the point?”