Sodom and Gomorrah
Two cities in the Hebrew Bible whose destruction by God serves as a judgment on wickedness. Their traditional location is near the Dead Sea.
Genesis 18: A chapter of Genesis in which Abraham learns of the impending judgment on Sodom and pleads for its inhabitants. Abraham’s exchange with God introduces the possibility of sparing the city.
Divine judgment: The belief that God evaluates human conduct and imposes consequences for wrongdoing. Their destruction is presented as a decisive instance of judgment in Genesis.
Dead Sea: A salt lake bordered by Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank, lying far below sea level. Traditional accounts place the cities in the region around this lake.
Jericho: An ancient city in the southern Levant whose conquest is recounted in the Book of Joshua. Its biblical destruction follows conquest, unlike Sodom’s direct destruction by divine fire.
Genesis 19: A chapter of Genesis recounting the visitors’ arrival in Sodom, Lot’s escape, and the cities’ destruction. This chapter gives the fullest biblical account of the cities’ fall.
Hospitality: The practice of welcoming and caring for guests, especially those who are vulnerable or unfamiliar. The treatment of visitors in Sodom shapes a major interpretation of its wrongdoing.
Tall el-Hammam: An archaeological site in Jordan’s Jordan Valley that some researchers have proposed as the location of Sodom. Its identification with Sodom is debated and has attracted considerable attention.
Noah's flood: A biblical narrative in which God sends a flood that destroys nearly all life on Earth. It presents judgment on a broad scale, rather than the destruction of two cities.
Lot: A biblical figure, Abraham’s nephew, who lives in Sodom and escapes its destruction. His choices and escape drive the Genesis account of the cities.
Ezekiel 16: A chapter of Ezekiel that condemns Jerusalem and describes Sodom’s sins as pride, excess, and neglect of the poor. It offers a biblical account of Sodom’s wrongdoing distinct from the Genesis episode.