Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.
Parallel translations
- WEB Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
- KJV Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
- NKJV Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
- NASB Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the town was named Zoar.
- NLT But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” (This explains why that village was known as Zoar, which means “little place.”)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The angel urges Lot to hurry, saying judgment waits until he is safe; the town is named Zoar.
Overview
Strikingly, judgment is held back until Lot reaches safety, showing God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked (cf. 18:25). The name Zoar ('little') memorializes Lot's plea. The verse displays God's careful protection of his own amid sweeping judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Gen 13:10And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
- Gen 14:2went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
- Deut 9:14Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”
- Exod 32:10Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- Gen 32:25–28When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled.
- Ps 91:1–10He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Mark 6:5So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them.
- Isa 15:5My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath-shelishiyah. With weeping they ascend the slope of Luhith; they lament their destruction on the road to Horonaim.
- 2 Tim 2:13if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
- Titus 1:2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- Isa 65:8This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all.
- Jer 48:34There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices to Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 19:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.