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" that were destroyed by an act of God for their extreme wickedness, as recorded in the Book of Genesis. According to the biblical account, God rained fire and brimstone onto the city, killing all of the inhabitants.

Biblical background

The cities are the subject of a passage in the Bible (Gen 18 + 19). God himself sought out Abraham in the guise of three angels in male form, to inform him that he planned to destroy the cities of Sodom (where Abraham's nephew Lot resides) and Gomorrah, if the sinful behavior of their inhabitants was indeed as evil as He heard. Abraham asked God if he really wanted to destroy guilty and innocent people without distinction, with God assuring him that he would spare Sodom if as few as ten righteous people could be found living in it (Gen 18:16).

To see if the lamentation over Sodom was true, God sent two angels to Abraham's nephew Lot, a godly man. Lot welcomed the angels, who were regarded by the inhabitants of Sodom as foreign men (Gen 19:6). The inhabitants then demanded that Lot give these men over to themselves, for violent homosexual abuse. Instead, Lot offered his virgin daughters in vain for the protection of his guests.

Since ten righteous people could not be found – the number is actually four: Lot and his family – God doomed the city to destruction, and the angels saved him and his family from the downfall and sent them out of the city. Sodom and Gomorrah were then destroyed by a rain of fire and brimstone that fell upon them. When Lot's wife – contrary to a prohibition pronounced by the angels – looked back on the city, she was changed into a pillar of salt (Gen 19). Lot and his daughters were safe.

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