Sodom
Sodom is an ancient city mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as south of the Lisan. It appears across 50 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Sodom was one of five cities of the plain (the Pentapolis) located near the Dead Sea, alongside Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar. It first appears in Genesis 10:19 as a marker of Canaanite territory, and by Genesis 13 it has become a destination for Lot, who chose the well-watered Jordan plain. Sodom's wickedness reached divine attention in Genesis 18-19, precipitating one of Scripture's most dramatic episodes: Abraham's bold intercession before God, the arrival of angels at Lot's door, the city's violent mob demanding the visitors' violation, Lot's family's flight, and the catastrophic overthrow of the cities by fire and sulfur. Sodom became in both testaments the paradigmatic example of divine judgment on human sin and the ultimate symbol of moral corruption beyond redemption. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Amos all invoke Sodom as a comparison for Israel's own unfaithfulness. Jesus referenced Sodom in his teachings on judgment (Matthew 10:15; 11:23-24), and the New Testament letters of 2 Peter and Jude cite it as an example of divine punishment set forth as a warning. Its destruction remains one of the Bible's most sober theological statements about the seriousness of sin.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The location of Sodom has been debated for centuries. The most widely held scholarly position places the cities of the plain in the region south of the Dead Sea's Lisan Peninsula. Tell el-Hammam in Jordan (northeast of the Dead Sea) has been proposed as Sodom by Steven Collins, based on its large size, Early Bronze Age destruction evidence, and apparent abandonment. Excavations there have revealed a massive Middle Bronze Age city with evidence of sudden destruction, and recent analyses have identified a cosmic airburst event — similar to the Tunguska event — that may correlate with the biblical account. However, the chronological and geographic questions remain unresolved, and many scholars maintain the traditional southern identification. The region around Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira has also yielded Early Bronze Age sites with destruction layers.
Verse Appearances (50)
Gen
Lam
Amos
Zeph
Mark
Rom
Jude
Rev
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →