Genesis 19:25

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 19:25 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
Genesis 19:25 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 19

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
25and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And he overthrew those cities, etc.] Of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim: very probably at the same time that this fiery tempest was in the heavens, there was an earthquake which overthrew the cities; and so Strabo f1159 makes the lake, which is now the place where they stood, to be owing to earthquakes and eruptions of fire, and of hot bituminous and sulphurous waters; and says nothing of fire from heaven, which yet Tacitus and Solinus do, being unacquainted with the sacred history: and all the plain; the plain of Jordan, and the cities on it, all but Zoar; not all the five cities, as Josephus f1160: Egesippus f1161 and other authors mistake, only the four above mentioned. Strabo f1162…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“- The Destruction of Sodom and Amorah 9. גשׁ־הלאה gesh-hāl'âh, “approach to a distant point,” stand back. 11. סנורים sanevērı̂ym, “blindness,” affecting the mental more than the ocular vision. 37. מואב mô'āb, Moab; מאב mē'āb, “from a father.” בן־עמי ben-‛amı̂y, Ben-‘ammi, “son of my people.” עמון ‛amôn, ‘Ammon, “of the people.” This chapter is the continuation and conclusion of the former. It records a part of God’s strange work - strange, because it consists in punishment, and because it is foreign to the covenant of grace. Yet it is closely connected with Abraham’s history, inasmuch as it is a signal chastisement of wickedness in his neighborhood, a memorial of the righteous…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification