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Key: khaki:verbs.
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BrLXXΠρὸ τοῦ κοιμηθῆναι δὲ, οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς πόλεως, οἱ Σοδομῖται περιεκύκλωσαν τὴν οἰκίαν, ἀπὸ νεανίσκου ἕως πρεσβυτέρου, ἅπας ὁ λαὸς ἅμα. (Pro tou koimaʸthaʸnai de, hoi andres taʸs poleōs, hoi Sodomitai periekuklōsan taʸn oikian, apo neaniskou heōs presbuterou, hapas ho laos hama. )
BrTrBut before they went to sleep, the men of the city, the Sodomites, compassed the house, both young and old, all the people together.
ULTBefore they lay down, then the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the young and to the old, all the people from the edges.
USTButafter supper, before they could lie down to sleep, all the men in the city of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house, including men of all ages. In fact, all the people from every part of the city were there.
BSB § Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.
OEBBut before they had lain down, the people of Sodom, both young and old, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.
WEBBEBut before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter.
JPSBut before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter.
ASVBut before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;
DRABut before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house both young and old, all the people together.
YLTBefore they lie down, the men of the city — men of Sodom — have come round about against the house, from young even unto aged, all the people from the extremity;
DrbyBefore they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the youngest to the oldest — all the people from every quarter.
RVBut before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;
WbstrBut before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
KJB-1769¶ But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: (¶ But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassd the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: )
KJB-1611¶ But before they lay downe, the men of the citie, euen the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and yong, all the people from euery quarter. (¶ But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassd the house round, both old and yong, all the people from every quarter.)
BshpsAnd before they went to rest, the men of the citie euen the men of Sodome compassed the house rounde about, both olde and young, all people fro all quarters. (And before they went to rest, the men of the city even the men of Sodom compassd the house round about, both old and young, all people from all quarters.)
GnvaBut before they went to bed, the men of the citie, euen the men of Sodom compassed the house rounde about from the yong euen to the olde, all the people from all quarters. (But before they went to bed, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom compassd the house round about from the young even to the old, all the people from all quarters. )
CvdlBut before they wente to rest, the men of the cite of Sodome came and compased the house rounde aboute, yonge and olde, all the people from all quarters, (But before they went to rest, the men of the cite of Sodom came and compased the house round about, young and old, all the people from all quarters,)
WycForsothe bifore that thei yeden to sleepe, men of the citee compassiden his hows, fro a child `til to an eld man, al the puple togidre; (Forsothe before that they went to sleep, men of the city compassiden his house, from a child `til to an old man, all the people together;)
LuthAber ehe sie sich legten, kamen die Leute der Stadt Sodom und umgaben das Haus, jung und alt, das ganze Volk aus allen Enden, (But before they/she/them itself/yourself/themselves legten, came the Leute the/of_the city Sodom and umgaben the house, jung and alt, the ganze people out_of all Enden,)
ClVgPrius autem quam irent cubitum, viri civitatis vallaverunt domum a puero usque ad senem, omnis populus simul. (Prius however how irent cubitum, viri of_the_city vallaverunt home from puero until to senem, everyone populus simul. )
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).
This phrase refers to all the men of the city of Sodom, including the young and the old and everyone in between. Consider what is the best way to translate this phrase in your language. Alternate translation: “from the youngest to the oldest,”
This phrase is hyperbole or exaggeration, to emphasize that a very large number of people from the city were there. Consider whether or not your language can do the same thing. Also consider whether or not it is better in your language to begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: “In fact, all the people from every section of the city were there.” or “so that people from the entire city were there.” or “In fact, everyone from all parts of the city had come there.”
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.
