^19:23The sun had just risen⁶⁷ over the land as Lot reached Zoar.⁶⁸^19:24Then the Lord rained down⁶⁹ sulfur and fire⁷⁰ on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord.⁷¹^19:25So he overthrew those cities and all that region,⁷² including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew⁷³ from the ground. ^19:26But Lot’s⁷⁴ wife looked back longingly⁷⁵ and was turned into a pillar of salt.

^19:27Abraham got up early in the morning and went⁷⁶ to the place where he had stood before the Lord. ^19:28He looked out toward⁷⁷ Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region.⁷⁸ As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.⁷⁹

^19:29So when God destroyed⁸⁰ the cities of the region,⁸¹ God honored⁸² Abraham’s request. He removed Lot⁸³ from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed⁸⁴ the cities Lot had lived in.

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Genesis 19:26: But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Footnotes

67 The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).
68 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.
69 The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.
70 Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).
71 Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. 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,” 6 (1943): 41–54.
72 Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
73 Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”
74 Heb “his”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
75 The Hebrew verb means “to look intently; to gaze” (see 15:5). Longingly. Lot’s wife apparently identified with the doomed city and thereby showed lack of respect for God’s provision of salvation. She, like her daughters later, had allowed her thinking to be influenced by the culture of Sodom.
76 The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
77 Heb “upon the face of.”
78 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.
79 Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.” 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?”
80 The construction is a temporal clause comprised of the temporal indicator, an infinitive construct with a preposition, and the subjective genitive.
81 Or “of the plain”; Heb “of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
82 Heb “remembered,” but this means more than mental recollection here. Abraham’s request (Gen 18:23–32) was that the Lord not destroy the righteous with the wicked. While the requisite minimum number of righteous people (ten, v. 32) needed for God to spare the cities was not found, God nevertheless rescued the righteous before destroying the wicked. God showed Abraham special consideration because of the covenantal relationship he had established with the patriarch. Yet the reader knows that God delivered the “righteous” (Lot’s designation in 2 Pet 2:7) before destroying their world—which is what he will do again at the end of the age.
83 God’s removal of Lot before the judgment is paradigmatic. He typically delivers the godly before destroying their world.
84 Heb “the overthrow when [he] overthrew.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar. Then out of the sky the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah burning sulfur from the Lord. He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.

Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace. So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when he demolished the cities where Lot had lived.

NLTNew Living Translation

Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon. Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation. But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.

Abraham got up early that morning and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the Lord’s presence. He looked out across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watched as columns of smoke rose from the cities like smoke from a furnace.

But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

After the sun had risen upon the earth and Lot had entered Zoar, Yahweh rained down from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh. And he overthrew those cities and the whole plain, and the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground. But his wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. And he looked down upon the surface of Sodom and Gomorrah, and upon the whole surface of the land, the plain. And he saw that, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace. So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out from the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

KJV 1900King James Version

The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord: And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

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