Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city 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.
- BSB Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town 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 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 thou comest unto Zoar.
- Gen 14:2That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
- Deut 9:14Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.
- Exod 32:10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
- Gen 32:25–28And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
- Ps 91:1–10He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
- Mark 6:5And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
- Isa 15:5My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
- 2 Tim 2:13If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
- Titus 1:2In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
- Isa 65:8Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
- Jer 48:34From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
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.