Sodom

From BibleEncyclopedia.Net

Burning; the walled, a city in the vale of Siddim ([[Genesis 13:10]; Genesis 14:1-16). The wickedness of its inhabitants brought down upon it fire from heaven, by which it was destroyed (Genesis 18:16-33; Genesis 19:1-29; Deuteronomy 23:17). This city and its awful destruction are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Deuteronomy 29:23; Deuteronomy 32:32; Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 1:10; Isaiah 3:9; Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 23:14; Ezekiel 16:46-56; Zephaniah 2:9; Matthew 10:15; Romans 9:29; 2 Peter 2:6, etc.). No trace of it or of the other cities of the plain has been discovered, so complete was their destruction. Just opposite the site of Zoar, on the south-west coast of the Dead Sea, is a range of low hills, forming a mass of mineral salt called Jebel Usdum, “the hill of Sodom.” It has been concluded, from this and from other considerations, that the cities of the plain stood at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Others, however, with much greater probability, contend that they stood at the northern end of the sea.

sod´um (סרם, ṣedhōm; Σόδομα, Sódoma):

One of the 5 Cities Of The Plain (which see), destroyed by fire from heaven in the time of Abraham and Lot (Gen_19:24). The wickedness of the city became proverbial. The sin of sodomy was an offense against nature frequently connected with idolatrous practices (see Rawlinson, History of Phoenicia). See Sodomite. The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah is used as a warning to those who reject the gospel (Mat_10:15; Mat_11:24; 2Pe_2:6; Jud_1:7). The word is used in a typical sense in Rev_11:8. Sodom was probably located in plain South of the Dead Sea, now covered with water. The name is still preserved in Jebel Usdum (Mt. Sodom).

See Arabah; Cities Of The Plain; Dead Sea.

Literature.

Dillmann. Genesis, 111 f; Robinson, BR, II, 187 ff; G. A. Smith, HGHL, 505 ff; Blanckenhorn, ZDPV, XIX, 1896, 53 ff; Baedeker-Socin, Palestine, 143; Buhl, GAP, 117, 271, 274.