Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” 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.
- KJV Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. 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.
- 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 13:10Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.
- Gen 14:2they 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 (also called Zoar).
- Deut 9:14Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”
- Exod 32:10Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
- Gen 32:25–28When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained, as he wrestled.
- Ps 91:1–10He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
- Mark 6:5He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people, and healed them.
- Isa 15:5My heart cries out for Moab! Her nobles flee to Zoar, to Eglath Shelishiyah; for they go up by the ascent of Luhith with weeping; for on the way to Horonaim, they raise up a cry of destruction.
- 2 Tim 2:13If we are faithless, he remains faithful. For he can’t deny himself.”
- Titus 1:2in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began;
- Isa 65:8Yahweh says, “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for a blessing is in it:’ so will I do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all.
- Jer 48:34From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim also will become 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.