Gomorrah

Ashen remains of Gomorrah, as seen from Masada

Gomorrah, ancient city located in the Holy Land, and one of the five "cities of the plain" mentioned in the Book of Genesis as being destroyed by an act of God for their extreme wickedness. According to the Bible, God rained fire and brimstone onto the city, killing all of the inhabitants.

Biblical background

The cities are the subject of a story in the Bible (Gen 18 + 19). God himself seeks out Abraham in the guise of three angels in male form, to inform him that he plans to destroy the cities of Sodom (where Abraham's nephew Lot resides) and Gomorrah, if the sinful behavior of their inhabitants is indeed as evil as He has heard. Abraham asks God if he really wants to destroy guilty and innocent people without distinction, with God assuring him that he will spare Sodom if as low as ten righteous people can be found in it (Gen 18:16).

To see if the lamentation over Sodom is true, God sends two angels to Abraham's nephew Lot, a godly man. Lot welcomes the angels, who are regarded by the inhabitants of Sodom as foreign men (Gen 19:6). The inhabitants then demand that Lot give these men over to themselves, for violent sexual abuse. Instead Lot offers his virgin daughters in vain for the protection of his guests.

Since there are not ten righteous persons found - the number is actually four: Lot and his family - the city is doomed to die, and the angels save him and his family from the downfall and send them out of the city. Sodom and Gomorrah are then destroyed by a rain of fire and brimstone fall upon them. When Lot's wife - contrary to a prohibition pronounced by the angels - looks back on the city, she is changed into a pillar of salt (Gen 19). Lot and his daughters are safe and will be protected by God.

Etymology

The English name "Gomorrah" has its basis in the Hebrew word עמרה' "‛ămôrâh", which in turn is based on עמר "‛âmar", a primitive root word meaning "heap", which could be taken to mean either the ruined stated of the city, or the amount of goods or grain gathered together for sale or trade, such was the richness of the city when alive and inhabited. In a figurative sense, "‛âmar" meant also to chastise, as if inflicting blows against someone. The Brown-Driver-Briggs definition carries it further, to manipulate or deal tyrannically, as one would treat a slave.

External links

• What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?
• Lacey, Troy (August 3, 2019). What Was the Primary Sin in Sodom and Gomorrah? Answers in Genesis.
• Genesis 19