Kejadian 19:22-24

19:22 Run there quickly, ¹  for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.) ² 

19:23 The sun had just risen ³  over the land as Lot reached Zoar. ⁴  19:24 Then the Lord rained down ⁵  sulfur and fire ⁶  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ⁷ 

[19:22]  ¹ tn Heb “Be quick! Escape to there!” The two imperatives form a verbal hendiadys, the first becoming adverbial.

[19:22]  ² tn Heb “Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.” The name of the place, צוֹעַר (tso’ar) apparently means “Little Place,” in light of the wordplay with the term “little” (מִצְעָר, mits’ar) used twice by Lot to describe the town (v. 20).

[19:23]  ³ sn The sun had just risen. There was very little time for Lot to escape between dawn (v. 15) and sunrise (here).

[19:23]  ⁴ tn The juxtaposition of the two disjunctive clauses indicates synchronic action. The first action (the sun’s rising) occurred as the second (Lot’s entering Zoar) took place. The disjunctive clauses also signal closure for the preceding scene.

[19:24]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

[19:24]  ⁶ tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

[19:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[19:24]  sn The text explicitly states that the sulfur and fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah was sent down from the sky by the Lord. What exactly this was, and how it happened, can only be left to intelligent speculation, but see J. P. Harland, “The Destruction of the Cities of the Plain,” BA 6 (1943): 41-54.