Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clearImportance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV)Hurry up, escape there, because I am not able to do a thing untilyou go there.” ¶ That’s why they renamed the town to ‘Zoar’ (which means ‘small’).
Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULTHurry up, escape there, because I am not able to do a thing until you go there.” For that reason they called the name of the town Zoar.
USTBut hurry up now and run there, because I cannot destroy anything until you get there.” Since Lot said the town was small, the name of the town is Zoar which means “small”.
BSBHurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.[fn]
NETRun there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.)
LSVhurry, escape there, for I am not able to do anything until your entering there”; therefore he calls the name of the city Zoar.
FBVBut hurry up and run there quickly, because I can't do anything until you get there.” (This is why the town was called Zoar.)[fn]
19:22Zoar means “little place.” Originally it was called Bela (see 14:2).
T4TBut hurry! Run there, because I cannot destroy anything until you arrive there.” People later called the name of the town Zoar which means ‘small’, because Lot said it was small.
LEBEscape there quickly, for I cannot do this thing until you get there.” Therefore, there name of the city was called Zoar. ¶
BBEGo there quickly, for I am not able to do anything till you have come there. For this reason, the town was named Zoar.
JPSHasten thou, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither.' — Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. —
ASVHaste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
DRAMake haste and be saved there, because I cannot do any thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.
YLThaste, escape thither, for I am not able to do anything till thine entering thither;' therefore hath he calleth the name of the city Zoar.
DrbyHaste, escape thither; for I cannot do anything until thou art come there. Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar.
RVHaste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
WbstrHaste thee, escape thither: for I cannot do any thing till thou hast come thither: therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
KJB-1769Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.[fn] (Haste thee/you, escape thither/there; for I cannot do anything till thou/you be come thither/there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. )
KJB-1611Haste thee, escape thither: for I cannot doe any thing till thou bee come thither: therefore the name of the citie was called Zoar. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)
BshpsHaste thee, and be saued there: for I can do nothyng tyl thou be come thyther, and therfore the name of the citie is Soar. (Haste thee/you, and be saved there: for I can do nothing tyl thou/you be come thither/there, and therefore the name of the city is Soar.)
GnvaHaste thee, saue thee there: for I can doe nothing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the citie was called Zoar. (Haste thee/you, save thee/you there: for I can do nothing till thou/you be come thither/there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. )
CvdlHaist the, and saue thy self there: for I can do nothinge tyll thou be come thither. Therfore is the cite called Zoar. (Haist them, and save thy/your self there: for I can do nothing till thou/you be come thither/there. Therefore is the cite called Zoar.)
Wychaste thou, and be thou saued there, for Y may not do ony thing til thou entre thidur. Therfor the name of that citee was clepid Segor. (haste thou/you, and be thou/you saved there, for I may not do any thing till thou/you enter thither/there. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.)
LuthEile und errette dich daselbst, denn ich kann nichts tun, bis daß du hinein kommest. Daher ist diese Stadt genannt Zoar. (Eile and errette you/yourself there, because I kann nothing do/put, until that you hinein kommest. Therefore is this/these city genannt Zoar.)
ClVgFestina, et salvare ibi: quia non potero facere quidquam donec ingrediaris illuc. Idcirco vocatum est nomen urbis illius Segor. (Festina, and salvare ibi: because not/no potero facere quidquam until ingrediaris illuc. Idcirco vocatum it_is nomen urbis illius Segor. )
BrTrHasten therefore to escape thither, for I shall not be able to do anything until thou art come thither; therefore he called the name of that city, Segor.
BrLXXΣπεῦσον οὖν τοῦ σωθῆναι ἐκεῖ, οὐ γὰρ δυνήσομαι ποιῆσαι πρᾶγμα, ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῖν σε ἐκεῖ. διὰ τοῦτο ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα τῆς πόλεως ἐκείνης, Σηγώρ. (Speuson oun tou sōthaʸnai ekei, ou gar dunaʸsomai poiaʸsai pragma, heōs tou elthein se ekei. dia touto ekalese to onoma taʸs poleōs ekeinaʸs, Saʸgōr. )
19:1-38 The Canaanites were an evil, corrupting people. God judged their morally bankrupt civilization and warned others against becoming like them. It was difficult to get Lot and his family out of Sodom; it was more difficult to get Sodom out of Lot and his family. This chapter helped later Israelites to understand the moral and spiritual threat of the peoples living in and around the Promised Land, such as the Canaanites and Lot’s descendants, the Moabites and the Ammonites (see Num 22–25; Deut 23:3-6; Josh 24:9; Judg 10:7-9; 11:4-5; 1 Sam 10:27; 1 Kgs 11:1-3; 2 Kgs 24:2).
Consider again how you translated escape in verses 17, 19-20, 22. Alternate translation: “flee there,” or “flee to that town,”
כִּ֣י לֹ֤א אוּכַל֙ לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת
that/for/because/then/when not can for=doing
This clause implies that Yahweh will not allow the angel to destroy anything until Lot and his family arrive safely in the town of Zoar. Alternate translation: “because I am not allowed to do anything” or “because I must wait to do anything” or “because God will not allow me to do anything”
עַד בֹּאֲךָ֖ שָׁ֑מָּה
until arrive,you there,to
Alternate translation: “until you reach there safely.” or “until you are safely there.”
This phrase refers back to what Lot said in verse 20, not what the angel just said. Alternate translation: “That is why” or “Since Lot said the town was little”
קָרָ֥א שֵׁם הָעִ֖יר
he/it_called name_of the=city
See how you translated they called the name in Gen 11:9 and 16:14. Alternate translation: “the town was called” or “they called that town”
צֽוֹעַר
Zoar
If this implied information is included in your translation or in a footnote, be consistent here with how you translated the word “little” or “small” in verse 20.
Author’s note: This article assumes that Sodom, Gomorrah, and Bela (Zoar) were located at Bab edh-Dhra, Numeira, and Khirbat ash-Sheikh `Isa, respectively. The exact locations of the cities of the plain are widely debated, with the primary dispute centering around whether the cities are to be found in the northern area of the Dead Sea (since Lot headed east from Bethel [Genesis 13]) or the southern area (as the Medeba Map shows). It is beyond the scope of this article to present all the evidence to support a southern location, but many of them are well summarized here: “The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” In addition, Eusebius in his Onomasticon describes the Dead Sea as lying between Jericho and Zoar. This author has also recently found that Eusebius notes that Nebereim (Nimrim; see Isaiah 15:6 and Jeremiah 48:34) is located at a village called Bennamareim (likely the site of Gomorrah on this map), which he also says is north of Zoar. Thus, if Eusebius is correct, Zoar is clearly located in the southern area of the Dead Sea, which fits very well with the location shown on this map. Also, Lot’s relocation to Sodom after moving east to the plain of the Jordan suggests that Sodom was located on the east side of the Dead Sea.
The famous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are first mentioned in Genesis 10:19 in a description of the territory of the Canaanites. The cities are mentioned again in chapter 13, which notes that while Abraham (then called Abram) was living near Bethel (also called Luz), tension began to grow between Abraham’s herders and the herders working for Abraham’s nephew Lot. To resolve the problem, Abraham suggested that he and Lot permanently part ways, and he offered Lot first choice of where to live. Lot chose to move east to the plain of the Jordan, because the land was well watered, and he eventually settled in the city of Sodom. Genesis 14 then describes how Lot was captured by four Mesopotamian kings as they attacked the cities of the plain, but Abraham rescued Lot. Sometime after this Abraham moved to the oaks of Mamre, near Hebron, and three visitors (one of whom is later called “the Lord,” and the other two “angels”) approached his tent. Abraham invited them to share a meal with him and then later accompanied them for the first part of their journey. Along the way the visitors revealed to Abraham that they were going to Sodom to destroy it for its wickedness. Abraham appealed to the Lord to spare the city if even a few righteous lived there, and the Lord agreed and went his way. The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening (Genesis 19:1), presumably the same day they left, although perhaps they actually took more than one day to travel to Sodom, because the distance from Mamre to Sodom is over 35 miles (56 km), and Scripture does not specifically note that it was the same day. The events that followed that evening are well known, and in the morning the angels compelled Lot and his family to flee the city before it was destroyed. The angels instructed them to flee to the hills, but Lot convinced them to allow him to take refuge in a small village on the plain and not destroy it. Genesis 19:23 seems to suggest that it took Lot’s family a full day and night to reach Zoar, which fits well with the 16 mile (25 km) distance from Sodom to Zoar. As they were reaching Zoar, the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur on Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, completely destroying them. As Lot’s family was still fleeing, Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. That same morning Abraham got up and went to where he had last spoken with the visitors, and when he looked out across the plain he saw columns of smoke rising from the destroyed cities. Later Lot and his daughters moved into the hills and lived in a cave, because they were afraid to remain in Zoar. Fearing they would never marry, Lot’s daughters both got their father drunk and conceived children by him, though he was unaware of it. These children became ancestors of the Moabites and the Ammonites.
