Bible Timeline · Traditional count about 2067 BC

Sodom and Gomorrah

God told Abraham He would judge Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham pleaded for the city if even ten righteous people lived there. Angels rescued Lot and his daughters, but Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. Fire and sulfur fell on the cities of the plain.

Read it in the Bible: Genesis 13:10-13 Genesis 18:16-33 Genesis 19:1-38 Ezekiel 16:49-50 Luke 17:28-32 Jude 1:7 2 Peter 2:6-9

Sodom and Gomorrah were cities near the Dead Sea that God destroyed with fire and sulfur because of their great wickedness. Before it happened, Abraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom if even ten righteous people lived there. Two angels rescued Abraham's nephew Lot and his daughters, but Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. By the traditional count it happened about 2067 BC, the year before Isaac was born. Jesus later pointed to this story as a warning to be ready for His return.

Why Did Lot Live in Sodom?

Years earlier, Abraham and his nephew Lot had so many animals that the land could not hold them both. Abraham let Lot choose first. Lot looked at the well watered plain of the Jordan, which Genesis 13:10 says looked like the garden of Yahweh, and he chose it. He pitched his tents near Sodom. By Genesis 19, he was living inside the city and sitting at its gate, where leaders met. Lot slowly moved closer and closer to a place that was bad for his family.

How Did Abraham Bargain With God?

In Genesis 18, three visitors came to Abraham's tent by the oaks of Mamre. One of them was Yahweh Himself. After promising that Sarah would have a son, God told Abraham what He was about to do to Sodom. Abraham stepped forward and asked a bold question.

Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right? Genesis 18:25

Then Abraham started to bargain. What if there are fifty righteous people? God said He would spare the city. Forty five? Forty? Thirty? Twenty? Abraham kept going like a man at a flea market, and every time God agreed.

Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.” Genesis 18:32

This is not God being talked into mercy. It shows God's heart. He was willing to spare a whole wicked city for a handful of good people. Sadly, there were not even ten.

What Was the Sin of Sodom?

When the two angels arrived in Sodom, Lot took them into his home. That night the men of the city, young and old, surrounded the house and demanded that Lot send the guests out so they could abuse them. The angels struck the men blind and told Lot to get his family out.

The Bible names several sins of Sodom. Genesis 18:20 speaks of a great outcry against the city. Jude 7 points to sexual immorality. The prophet Ezekiel adds more.

Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen. Ezekiel 16:49 to 50

So the picture is a whole city full of pride, comfort, cruelty to the weak and violent sexual sin. The attempted assault on guests was the final proof. In that culture, protecting guests was sacred, and Sodom did the opposite.

What Happened to Lot's Wife?

At dawn the angels grabbed Lot, his wife and his two daughters by the hand and pulled them out, "because of Yahweh's compassion for them," in Genesis 19:16. Lot's two sons in law thought he was joking and stayed. The angels gave one clear command: do not look back.

But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26

Her heart was still in Sodom. Jesus used her as a warning in just three words.

Remember Lot’s wife! Luke 17:32

Jesus said this while describing His return, comparing it to the days of Lot, when people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building right up to the day fire fell, in Luke 17:28 to 30. The point is to not cling to the old life when God calls you out.

God rescued Lot because of Abraham's prayer.

So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived. Genesis 19:29

What Happened to Lot and His Daughters?

Lot and his daughters fled to a cave in the hills. The story ends sadly. Thinking there were no men left to give them children, his daughters got Lot drunk and became pregnant by him, in Genesis 19:30 to 38. The Bible reports it plainly and without approval. Their sons became the fathers of the Moabites and the Ammonites. Yet God's grace shows up even here. Centuries later, Ruth the Moabite became the great grandmother of King David and part of the family line of Jesus.

Where Were Sodom and Gomorrah?

Genesis places them in the plain near the Jordan and the Dead Sea, but no one knows for sure where they were. Scholars hold a few views:

South of the Dead Sea: The older traditional view, near Mount Sedom, a ridge of salt with pillars that tour guides love to call Lot's wife. Ruins at Bab edh Dhra and Numeira on the southeast side have also been suggested.
North of the Dead Sea: Archaeologist Steven Collins argues for Tall el Hammam, a large Bronze Age city in Jordan that was suddenly destroyed. A 2021 paper claimed a cosmic airburst destroyed it, but the journal retracted that paper in 2025 over problems with its data. The identification of Tall el Hammam as Sodom is still debated.

The honest answer is that we don't know. The Archaeology page on this site follows these debates.

Why Sodom and Gomorrah Matters for You Today

The story shows two sides of God. He is the Judge of all the earth, and He takes evil seriously. Peter and Jude both use Sodom as a warning that judgment is real, in 2 Peter 2:6 and Jude 7. But He is also the God who listens to Abraham's prayer, who would spare a city for ten people, and who drags Lot out by the hand when he is too slow to leave.

That is a picture of the gospel. Jesus is the greater Abraham who stands between people and judgment. He did not just pray for sinners. He took their judgment on Himself on the cross. And He still calls people to come out, not look back, and run to Him.

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Questions People Ask

Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?

The Bible says their sin was very great. Genesis 19 shows violent sexual sin against guests, Jude 7 names sexual immorality, and Ezekiel 16:49 to 50 adds pride, overindulgence and refusing to help the poor and needy. God said He would spare the city for even ten righteous people, but there were not ten.

Why did Lot's wife turn into a pillar of salt?

The angels told Lot's family not to look back as they fled, and Lot's wife looked back, in Genesis 19:26. Her look showed her heart was still attached to Sodom. Jesus warned, Remember Lot's wife, in Luke 17:32.

Where were Sodom and Gomorrah located?

Genesis places them in the plain near the Dead Sea, but the exact site is unknown. Older tradition looks south of the Dead Sea, while some archaeologists argue for Tall el Hammam north of it. Both views are debated.

Did archaeologists find Sodom?

Some argue that Tall el Hammam in Jordan is Sodom, and a 2021 paper claimed an airburst destroyed it. That paper was retracted in 2025 because of problems with its data. The site's identification remains an open question.

Sources

Sodom comet paper to be retracted, Retraction Watch

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