Topical Bible: Sodom: Situated on the Plain of the Jordan River

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Sodom was an ancient city situated on the fertile plain of the Jordan River, often associated with its neighboring city, Gomorrah. The city is most famously known for its destruction by divine judgment due to the wickedness of its inhabitants. Sodom is frequently mentioned in the Bible as a symbol of sin and divine retribution.

Geographical Location:
Sodom was located in the region of the Jordan Valley, near the Dead Sea. The area was known for its rich and fertile land, described in Genesis 13:10 as "well-watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt." This lush environment made it an attractive place for settlement.

Biblical Narrative:
The account of Sodom is primarily found in the Book of Genesis. In Genesis 13, Lot, the nephew of Abraham, chose to settle in the plain of the Jordan, pitching his tents near Sodom. The city is first mentioned in Genesis 13:13 , which states, "But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD."

The most detailed account of Sodom's sin and subsequent destruction is found in Genesis 18 and 19. In Genesis 18, the LORD reveals to Abraham His intention to investigate the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham intercedes for the city, and the LORD agrees to spare it if ten righteous people can be found there.

Genesis 19 describes the visit of two angels to Sodom, where Lot offers them hospitality. The men of Sodom, however, surround Lot's house and demand to have relations with the visitors, demonstrating the city's moral depravity. The angels strike the men with blindness and warn Lot to flee with his family. As Lot and his family escape, the LORD rains down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying the cities and their inhabitants (Genesis 19:24-25).

Symbolism and Legacy:
Sodom's destruction serves as a powerful symbol of divine judgment against sin throughout the Bible. In the New Testament, Sodom is referenced as a warning against immorality and unbelief. Jesus mentions Sodom in Matthew 10:15 , stating, "Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town," highlighting the severity of rejecting the gospel.

The apostle Peter also refers to Sodom in 2 Peter 2:6 , noting that God "condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly." Similarly, Jude 1:7 describes Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire due to their sexual immorality and perversion.

Archaeological and Historical Considerations:
The exact location of Sodom remains a topic of debate among archaeologists and scholars. Some suggest that the ruins of Sodom may lie beneath the waters of the southern Dead Sea, while others propose sites such as Bab edh-Dhra or Tall el-Hammam as potential locations. Despite the uncertainty, the account of Sodom continues to be a significant moral and theological reference point in biblical literature and Christian teaching.

Nave's Topical Index

Genesis 13:10
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as you come to Zoar.
Nave's Topical Index

Library

How Vespasian Upon Hearing of Some Commotions in Gall, Made Haste ...
... but as far as the country of Sodom, and the ... there is an opposite mountain that is
situated over against it ... This plain is much burnt up in summer time, and, by ...
/.../chapter 8 how vespasian upon.htm

Six Cities
... its gates to meet Sisera in the plain below with ... the patriarch saw the smoke of burning
Sodom rising from ... GOLAN was situated in Bashan, in the tribe of Manasseh ...
/.../macduff/the cities of refuge or the name of jesus/ii six cities.htm

That Upon the Conquest and Slaughter of vitellius Vespasian ...
... They were situated sometimes by the sides of rivers, Acts 16:13, or by ... very south
of the Dead Sea, hard by which stood Sodom and Gomorrha ... 22] It is plain by the ...
/.../chapter 11 that upon the.htm

The First Chaldaean Empire and the Hyksos in Egypt
... the new city was so favourably situated, and possessed ... every probability that they
possessed the plain east of ... cities of the Dead Sea"Sodom, Gomorrah, Adamah ...
/.../chapter ithe first chaldaean empire.htm

Tiglath-Pileser iii. And the Organisation of the Assyrian Empire ...
... independent, and the territory beyond Jordan still remained ... or the entrance to some
fertile plain; there were ... eats and drinks with him.*** Sodom and Gomorrah ...
/.../chapter iitiglath-pileser iii and the.htm

The Iranian Conquest
... bury it, or to cast it into a river, as it ... but the testimony of Herodotus is so plain
that the ... Their necropolis was situated not far from Sardes, on the shores ...
/.../chapter ithe iranian conquest.htm

The Pilgrim's Progress
... Yea, tell them how plain-hearted this man was, How after his good Lord he ... themselves
to a pilgrim's life), after her husband was gone over the river, and she ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the pilgrims progress.htm