Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible are the two cities of sin. And two places of wickedness that God destroyed despite Abraham trying to intercede for them. The myth of Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom in the Bible has become an example of all of the terrible consequences of a life dedicated to sin and wickedness.

The name “Sodom” (Hebrew: shoddam) is used in the Old Testament three times. (Genesis 19:24; Judges 19:16; Ezekiel 16:46). And once in the New Testament (Jude 1: 7). A search in the Bible reveals that Sodom was an idolatrous and immoral city. Furthermore, God destroyed it with fire and brimstone (Genesis 19: 24-28). Like the city of Troy or Babylon, Sodom and Gomorrah combine fantasy and reality. However, archaeologists have been able to link the discovery of a Bronze Age city to the existence of these two mysterious cities.

History of Sodom and Gomorrah

There are not many details about these two cities in the text of the Bible. But the little that is revealed is rather disturbing. Sodom was an evil city, and the people had developed an immoral lifestyle contrary to God’s laws. Gomorrah was not as big as Sodom, but it was even more wicked. The inhabitants of Gomorrah were so evil that they became like beasts, utterly devoid of human decency and sensitivity.

The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were evil, so much so that they became like beasts, utterly devoid of human decency and sensitivity. Despite their wickedness, Abraham tried to intercede on their behalf. Abraham’s attempt to plead with God in favor of the Sodomites failed, but his attempts to favor the inhabitants of Gomorrah were successful. And when God was ready to destroy both cities because of their great sin, he sent Abraham to warn Lot, who lived in Sodom.

Although the people of Sodom were evil, they could have repented and abandoned their wicked ways. The inhabitants of Gomorrah did not, and God destroyed their city. The same fate awaits those who refuse to turn from their evil ways. One day they will face the same fate as the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.

What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible?

The patriarch Abraham witnessed a catastrophe caused by the Creator’s wrath, which annihilated the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Eternal reproached their inhabitants with serious moral faults, particularly homosexuality. In Genesis, these cities are mentioned twice: first, during a war between five cities near the Dead Sea and the Chaldean rulers, then when they were destroyed by celestial fire (Gn 13; Gn. 14; Gn. 18; Gn. 19).

Both cities were built near a plain or a “sea of ​​salt.” They would have been victims of projections of a destructive fire coming from the sky, and their destruction would have been total (Gn. 19, 24-25).

“Then Yahweh rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of the heavens. He destroyed those cities and all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground.”

Representation of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible

Where are the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah located?

According to the biblical account, the five cities, called “cities of the plain,” were located on the bank of the Jordan River. South of Canaan. The plain would therefore be found north of the Dead Sea. Which is compared in Genesis to the Garden of Eden.

According to the Bible, dead Sea Sodom and Gomorrah were located in the Dead Sea area. Where there is a deep tectonic depression. It is the continuation of the Great Rift Valley. Which forms, in its northern part, the Jordan River valley reaching as far as Syria.

What destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah?

Sodom and Gomorrah is the name of two neighboring cities from the time of the patriarch Abraham. Whose history is linked to the book of Genesis. According to the biblical account, these cities were burned as divine punishment for the gravity of their sins. The passage from Genesis shows God as a merciless judge.

An asteroid that exploded into the atmosphere four kilometers from the surface could be the origin of an event narrated in the Bible: the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Why was Gomorrah destroyed?

Gomorrah (Hebrew עֲמוֹרָה, ʿ Amora) was one of the mythical “five cities of the plain” (along with Sodom, Zeboim, Adma, and Zoar), destroyed by God, according to the Bible narrative, for having changed alliance with Elohim (translated “God”) (Deuteronomy 29.25). Its destruction is narrated in Genesis 19.

According to what the Bible reports in chap. 18 of Genesis, Yahweh revealed to Abraham that he would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because “their sin was very grave” and “the cry that went up from their cities was too great.”

Archeological evidence of Sodom and Gomorrah

Many biblical scholars have tried to determine if the two cities existed and if their end was due to a natural disaster. So in-depth studies of the terrain have made it possible to formulate several possible destruction scenarios.

Therefore, the Dead Sea region has unique geological features. Indeed, it is located on the tremendous tectonic fault of the Levant, a sort of giant rock fracture which separates two continental plates from the earth’s crust. This north-south fault runs from the Gulf of Aqaba, follows the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley, and continues to eastern Turkey. The gradual displacement of two plates constitutes an occasional source of seismic activity.

The level of this isolated sea is 400 meters lower than that of the oceans. And its salinity is ten times higher. It is surrounded by rocks loaded with salt, whose underground depth reaches several kilometers. The water in permanent evaporation is renewed mainly by Jordan. As well as by sources very charged in various mineral salts. The Dead Sea is threatened with disappearance today because of the partial diversion of the Jordan exploited by the bordering countries.

Conclusion

According to the Bible, God wiped out the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by raining down “brimstone and fire.” Therefore, archaeologists now believe they have found the ancient city of Sodom. They say a meteorite caused the destruction. Archaeologists have unearthed the Bronze Age city of Tall el-Hammam in Jordan. They believe it is the biblical city of Sodom, which was destroyed about 3,700 years ago.

There are clear indications that a meteorite exploded in mid-air over what is now the Middle Ghor plain—wiping out the civilization that existed there in ancient times. Archaeologist Phillip Silvia of Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, New Mexico, presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Schools for Oriental Studies.