Sodom and Gomorrah

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, John Martin, 1852.
The Sodom and Gomorrah motif from the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel, 1493. Note Lot's wife, already transformed into a salt pillar, in the center.

Sodom (Hebrew: סְדוֹם, Modern Sədom Tiberian Səḏôm, Greek Σόδομα) and Gomorrah (Hebrew: עֲמוֹרָה, Modern ʿAmora Tiberian Ġəmôrāh/ʿĂmôrāh, Greek Γόμορρα) were, according to the Bible, Arabic (سدوم( "Sadoum" &(عمورة) "Amoura"—two cities which were destroyed by God.

For the sins of their inhabitants Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim were destroyed by "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven."[Gen 19:24-25] In Christianity and Islam, their names have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of God's wrath. Cf.Jude 1:7, Qur'an(S15)Al-Hijr:72-73.

Sodom and Gomorrah have been used as metaphors for vice and homosexual deviation. The story has therefore given rise to words in several languages, including the English word "sodomy," a term used today predominantly in law (derived from traditional Christian usage) to describe anal intercourse, as well as bestiality, and homosexuality.

Contents

The Biblical text

Sodom was one of a group of five towns, the Pentapolis (Wisdom 10:6): Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim and Bela—also called Zoar.[Gen 19:22] The Pentapolis region is also collectively referred to as "the Cities of the Plain" [13:12] since they were all situated on the plain of the River Jordan, in an area that constituted the southern limit of the lands of the Canaanites.[10:19] Lot, a nephew of Abram (Abraham) chose to live in Sodom, because of the proximity of good grazing for his flocks.[13:5-11]

In Genesis 18:2, God sends three men, thought by most commentators to have been angels appearing as men,[1] to Abraham in the plains of Mamre. After the angels received the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah, his wife, God reveals to Abraham that he will investigate Sodom and Gomorrah, because their cry is great, "and because their sin is very grievous."[20:21] In response, Abraham reverently inquires of God if he would spare the city if 50 righteous people were found in it, then 45, then 30, then 20 or even 10, with God affirming he would not destroy it after each request, for the sake of the righteous yet dwelling therein.[2] Two of the angels of God proceed to Sodom and are met by Abraham's righteous nephew Lot, who convinces the angels to lodge with him, and they eat with his family.

Genesis 19:4-5 describes what followed, which confirms its end (RSV):

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of
Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them (KJV: know them, RSV: know them, NIV: can have sex with them , NJB: can have intercourse with them)."

In response, Lot refuses to give his guests to the inhabitants of Sodom and, instead, offers them his two virgin daughters to "do to them whatever you like." [Gen 19:8]NASB However, they refuse this offer and threaten to do worse to Lot than they would have done to his guests. And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door. Lot's angelic guests rescue him and strike the men with blindness. Then, they command Lot to gather his family and leave, revealing that they were sent to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. As they make their escape, the angels command Lot and his family not to look back under any circumstance. However, as Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with fire and brimstone by God, Lot's wife looks back longingly at the city in defiance of the angels' specific command not to look back and she becomes a pillar of salt.

Additional Bible references

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned in other places, in association with sins of omission and commission, and of the heart as well as the flesh, and is often used as an example of judgment of the wicked.

Old Testament

In Genesis 14 Abraham defeats the forces of four kings after they have defeated the Five Cities and have carried off Lot as captive. In Genesis 14:21 the king of Sodom offers Abraham to keep the goods that he has captured, and give him the people. Abraham refuses any goods from Sodom except for what food as some of his men may have already eaten.

In Deuteronomy 29:22-24 and Deuteronomy 32:32-33 Moses warns the Jews who just fled Egypt not to end up with the afflictions and sicknesses of Sodom and Gomorrah.

In Wisdom 10:6 mentions the Five Cities, including Sodom, or Pentapolis: "Wisdom rescued a righteous man when the ungodly were perishing; he escaped the fire that descended on the Five Cities."

In Isaiah 1:9-10, Isaiah 3:9, Isaiah 13:19-22 the prophet addresses people as from Sodom and Gomorrah, associates Sodom with shameless sinning and tells Babylon that it will end like Sodom and Gomorrah.

In Jeremiah 23:14, Jeremiah 49:17-18, Jeremiah 50:39-40 and Lamentations 4:6 the prophet associates Sodom and Gomorrah with adultery and lies, prophesies the fate of Edom, south of the Dead Sea, prophesies the fate of Babylon and uses Sodom as a comparison.

In Ezekiel 16:48-50 God compares Jerusalem to Sodom, saying "Sodom never did what you and your daughters have done." He explains that the sin of Sodom was that "She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me." God then sent an angel to rain hell fire and brimstone down on Sodom and Gomorrah.

In Amos 4:1-11 God tells the Israelites to have warned them and treated them like Sodom and Gomorrah, still they did not repent.

In Zephaniah 2:9 the prophet tells Moab and Ammon, southeast and northeast of the Dead Sea, that they will end up like Sodom and Gomorrah.

New Testament

In Matthew 10:1-15, cf. Luke 10:1-12, Jesus declares certain cities more damnable than Sodom and Gomorrah, due to their response to Jesus' disciples, in the light of greater grace (RSV):

"And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomor'rah than for that town."

In Matthew 11:20-24 Jesus prophesies the fate of some cities where he did some of his works (RSV):

"And you, Caper'na-um, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you."

In Luke 17:28-30 Jesus compares his second-coming to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah; (RSV):

"Likewise as it was in the days of Lot—they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed."

In Romans 9:29 Paul quotes Isaiah 1:9-10 (RSV): "And as Isaiah predicted, 'If the Lord of hosts had not left us children, we would have fared like Sodom and been made like Gomor'rah.'"

In 2Peter 2:4-10 Peter uses the time of Sodom and Lot in his description of the time of the second coming of Jesus.

Jude 1:7 records that both Sodom and Gomorrah were "giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

Revelation 11:7-8 makes an allegorical use of Sodom when it describes the places where two prophets will descend during the Apocalypse.

Controversy

Whether the primary offense of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah was that of homoeroticism or non-sexual interrogation and inhospitality has been much disputed in recent times, with the arguments primarily centering upon linguistic aspects. However, many argue that Sodom and Gomorrah were punished because of the high concentration of rapists in the cities and the overwhelming predominance of Paganism in the city.

Jewish views

Classical Jewish texts are seen by many as not stressing the homosexual aspect of the attitude of the inhabitants of Sodom as much as their cruelty and lack of hospitality to the "stranger."[3] The Jewish Encyclopaedia [4] has information on the importance of hospitality to the Jewish people. The people of Sodom were seen as guilty of many other significant sins. Rabbinic writings affirm that the Sodomites also committed economic crimes, blasphemy and bloodshed.[5] One of the worst was to give money or even gold ingots to beggars, after inscribing their names on them, and then subsequently refusing to sell them food. The unfortunate stranger would end up starving and after his death, the people who gave him the money would reclaim it.

A rabbinic tradition, described in the Mishnah, postulates that the sin of Sodom was related to property: Sodomites believed that "what is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours" (Abot), which is interpreted as a lack of compassion. Another rabbinic tradition is that these two wealthy cities treated visitors in a sadistic fashion. One major crime done to strangers was almost identical to that of Procrustes in Greek mythology. This would be the story of the "bed" that guests to Sodom were forced to sleep in: if they were too short they were stretched to fit it, and if they were too tall, they were cut up.

In another incident, Eliezer, Abraham's servant, went to visit Lot in Sodom and got in a dispute with a Sodomite over a beggar, and was hit in the forehead with a stone, making him bleed. The Sodomite demanded Eliezer pay him for the service of bloodletting, and a Sodomite judge sided with the Sodomite. Eliezer then struck the judge in the forehead with a stone and asked the judge to pay the Sodomite.

The Talmud and the book of Jasher also recount two incidents of a young girl (one involved Lot's daughter Paltith) who gave some bread to a poor man who had entered the city. When the townspeople discovered their acts of kindness, they burned Paltith and smeared the other girl's body with honey and hung her from the city wall until she was eaten by bees. (Sanhedrin 109a) It is this gruesome event, and her scream in particular, the Talmud concludes, that are alluded to in the verse that heralds the city’s destruction: "So[6] said, 'Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and because their sin has been very grave, I will descend and see....'"[Gen 18:20-21]

A modern conservative position is one that holds, “The paradigmatic instance of such aberrant behavior is found in the demand of the men of Sodom to 'know' the men visiting Lot, the nephew of Abraham, thus lending their name to the practice of 'sodomy'.[7]

The view of Josephus

Flavius Josephus, a Romano-Jewish historian, wrote something along the lines of:

Now, about this time the Sodomites, overwhelmingly proud of their numbers and the extent of their wealth, showed themselves insolent to men and impious to the divinity, insomuch that they no more remembered the benefits that they had received from him, hated foreigners and avoided any contact with others. Indignant at this conduct, God accordingly resolved to chastise them for their arrogance, and not only to uproot their city, but to blast their land so completely that it should yield neither plant nor fruit whatsoever from that time forward. —Jewish Antiquities 1:194-195

Josephus also recounts that when angels came to Sodom to find good men they were instead greeted by rapists:[8]

And the angels came to the city of the Sodomites...when the Sodomites beheld the young men, who were outstanding in beauty of appearance and who had been received into Lot’s house, they set about to do violence and outrage to their youthful beauty. When Lot exhorted them to be temperate and not to proceed to dishonor the strangers but to have respect for their lodging with him and said that he would offer his own daughters for their lust in place of them, if they were unable to restrain themselves, not even so were they persuaded. Therefore, God, indignant at their bold acts, struck them with blindness, so that they were unable to find the entrance into the house, and condemned the Sodomites to destruction of the whole population. —Jewish Antiquities 1:199-202

A notable difference is seen in Whiston's classic translation, in which part of v. 194 is rendered, "they hated strangers, and abused themselves with Sodomitical practices,"[9] while in v. 199 it reads, "they resolved themselves to enjoy these beautiful boys by force and violence; and when Lot exhorted them to sobriety, and not to offer any thing immodest to the strangers..."[10]

Josephus proceeds to describe the beauty of Sodom, and the richness of the towns in the area, in contrast with the results of its destruction.

Now this country is then so sadly burnt up, that nobody cares to come to it... It was of old a most happy land, both for the fruits it bore and the riches of its cities, although it be now all burnt up. It is related how for the impiety of its inhabitants, it was burnt by lightning; in consequence of which there are still the remainders of that divine fire; and the shadows of the five cities are still to be seen, as well as the ashes growing in their fruits, which fruits have a colour as if they were fit to be eaten: but if you pluck them with your hands, they will dissolve into smoke and ashes. —The Wars of the Jews, book 4, chapter 8.

Philo of Alexandria

Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC to AD 50), a Jewish philosopher, theologian, and a contemporary of Jesus and Paul, comments,

The land of the Sodomites, a part of Canaan afterwards called Judea Palestina, was brimful of innumerable iniquities, particularly such as arise from gluttony and lewdness, and multiplied and enlarged every other possible pleasure with so formidable a menace that it had at last been condemned by the Judge of All…Incapable of bearing such satiety, plunging like cattle, they threw off from their necks the law of nature and applied themselves to…forbidden forms of intercourse. Not only in their mad lust for women did they violate the marriages of their neighbors, but also men mounted males without respect for the sex nature which the active partner shares with the passive; and so when they tried to beget children they were discovered to be incapable of any but a sterile seed. Yet the discovery availed them not, so much stronger was the force of the lust which mastered them. Then, as little by little they accustomed those who were by nature men to submit to play the part of women, they saddled them with the formidable curse of a female disease. For not only did they emasculate their bodies by luxury and voluptuousness but they worked a further degeneration in their souls and, as far as in them lay, were corrupting the whole of mankind.”[11]

Christian view

It is unclear from the brief passage in Genesis 19 why God demolished the populations of the four cities. Several theories have been advanced in Christian thought, two of which are prevailing opinions of what was the sin of Sodom—a sexual and a nonsexual view.

The more prominent theory, representing conservative Christian opinion, holds that the demand of Lot's countrymen was referring to a militant solicitation for homosexual sex—a same-sex orgy.[12][13]

The contention between the two positions primarily focuses upon the meaning of the word know, in verse 5:

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where [are] the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. —Gen 19:5

Those who favor the non-sexual interpretation argue against a denotation of sexual behavior in this context, noting that while the Hebrew word for know appears over 900 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, only approximately 1% (13-14 times)[3][14] of those references is it clearly used as a euphemism for realizing sexual intimacy.[15] Instead, those who hold to this interpretation usually see the demand to know as demanding the right to interrogate the strangers.[16]

Countering this is the observation that one of the examples of "know" meaning to know sexually occurs only three verses later in the same narrative:

Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing.... —Genesis 19:8

The following is a major text in regard to these conflicting opinions:

Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. —Jude 1:7

This reference to "going after strange flesh" is understood in different ways to include something akin to bestiality, having illicit sex with strangers, having sex with angels, but most often God's destruction of the populations of the four cities is interpreted to mean homosexual (same-sex) relations.[17]

Many who support there having been a nonsexual understanding of contend that as the word for “strange” basically means “another,” “other,” “altered” or even “next,” then the meaning is unclear, and if the condemnation of Sodom was sexual, then it is likely that it was because women sought to commit fornication with “other than human” angels,[18] perhaps referring to Genesis 6 or the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Countering this, it is pointed out that Genesis 6 refers to angels seeking women, not men seeking angels, and that both Sodom and Gomorrah were engaging the sin Jude describes before the angelic visitation, and that in any case, it is doubtful that the Sodomites knew they were angels. In addition, it is argued the word used in the KJV for "strange," can mean unlawful or corrupted (Rm. 7:3; Gal. 1:6, and that the apocryphal book of Enoch condemns "sodomitic" sex, (Enoch 10:3; 34:1)[19] thus indicating that homosexual relations was the prevalent physical sin of Sodom.[20]

Both the non-sexual and the homosexuality view invoke certain classical writings as well as other portions of the Bible.[21][22]

In a 16th century depiction by Lucas Van Leyden, a drunken Lot embraces his daughter while Sodom burns in the distance, referring to Genesi 19:30-38, where Lot's daughters had sex with an intoxicated Lot in order to bear sons who can continue the family lineage.
Now this was the sin of Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. —Ezekiel 16:49-50

Here the nonsexual view focuses on the inhospitality aspect, while the other notes the description detestable or abomination, the Hebrew word for which often denotes moral sins, including those of a sexual nature.[23][24]

In the Gospel of Matthew (and corresponding verse) when Jesus warns of a worse judgment for some cities than Sodom, inhospitality is perceived by some as the sin, while others see it as foundationally being impenitence:

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. --Matthew 10:14-15

The nonsexual view focuses on the cultural importance of hospitality, which this biblical story shares with other ancient civilizations, such as Greece and Rome, where hospitality was of singular importance and strangers were under the protection of the gods.[25]

The conservative position does not deny this important cultural aspect, but tends to see the refusal to repent as being the main issue behind Jesus condemnation, with this being causative of the particular inhospitality shown by the cities Jesus referred to. In addition, they see the information regarding Sodom as best indicating that forced perverse sex was the specific means of inhospitality, and the primary physical sin of Sodom.

Historicity

The historical existence of Sodom and Gomorrah is still in dispute by archaeologists. The Bible indicates they were located near the Dead Sea (Genesis 14:1-3, 14:8-10, 34:3).

Strabo states that locals living near Moasada (as opposed to Masada) say that "there were once thirteen inhabited cities in that region of which Sodom was the metropolis". Strabo identifies a limestone and salt hill at the south western tip of the Dead Sea, and Kharbet Usdum ruins nearby as the site of biblical Sodom.[26]

Archibald Sayce translated an Akkadian poem describing cities that were destroyed in a rain of fire, written from the view of a person who escaped the destruction; the names of the cities are not given.[27] However, Sayce later mentions that the story more closely resembles the doom of Sennacherib's host.[28]

Skeptics point out that the name Sodom is a derivative of the Hebrew word for "scorched" and Gomorrah is from the Hebrew ‘amar, meaning "a ruined heap",[29] surmising that since these names could only have been given after their destruction, the entire story would have to be fictitious. However, the traditional explanation for the use of retronyms in ancient historical literature is that it is retroactive nomenclature. The name Sodom could likewise be a word from an early Semitic language ultimately related to the Arabic sadama, meaning "fasten", "fortify", "strengthen", and Gomorrah could be based on the root gh m r, which means "be deep", "copious (water)".[30]

In 1976 Giovanni Pettinato claimed that a cuneiform tablet that had been found in the newly discovered library at Ebla contained the names of all five of the Cities of the Plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela), listed in the same order as in Genesis. The names si-da-mu [TM.76.G.524] and ì-ma-ar [TM.75.G.1570 and TM.75.G.2233] were identified as representing Sodom and Gomorrah, which gained some acceptance at the time.[31] However, Alfonso Archi states that, judging from the surrounding city names in the cuneiform list, si-da-mu lies in northern Syria and not near the Dead Sea, and ì-ma-ar is a variant of ì-mar, known to represent Emar, an ancient city located near Ebla.[32] William Shea points out in 1983 that on the 'Eblaite Geographical Atlas' [TM.75.G.2231], ad-mu-ut and sa-dam are good readings by Pettinato and correspond to Admah and Sodom, and they are contained in a list of cities that traces a route along the shores of, or quite possibly within the Dead Sea, whose position may have since shifted along its fault.[33] Today, the scientific consensus is reported as being that "Ebla has no bearing on ... Sodom and Gomorra."[34]

If the cities actually existed, they might have been destroyed as the result of a natural cataclysm. Geologists have confirmed that no volcanic activity occurred within the last 4000 years. However, it is possible that the towns were destroyed by an earthquake in the region, especially if the towns lay along a major fault, the Jordan Rift Valley, the northernmost extension of the Great Rift Valley of the Red Sea and East Africa. However, there is a lack of contemporary accounts of seismic activity within the necessary timeframe to corroborate this theory.[35]

Possible candidates for Sodom or Gomorrah are the sites discovered or visited by Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub in 1973, including Bab edh-Dhra, which was originally excavated in 1965 by archaeologist Paul Lapp, only to have his work continued by Rast and Schaub following his death by accidental drowning in the waters off of Cyprus in 1970. Other possibilities also include Numeira, es-Safi, Feifeh and Khanazir, which were also visited by Schaub and Rast. All sites were located near the Dead Sea, with evidence of burning and traces of sulfur.[36][37] Archaeological remains excavated from Bab edh-Dhra are currently displayed in Karak Archaeological Museum (Karak Castle) and Amman Citadel Museum.

Modern Sodom

The site of the present Dead Sea Works, a large operation for the extraction of Dead Sea minerals, is called "Sdom" (סדום) according to its traditional Arab name, Khirbet as-sudūm (see above Historicity). Nearby is unique Mount Sodom (הר סדום), in Arabic, consisting mainly of salt. In the Plain of Sdom (מישור סדום) to the south there are a few springs and two small agricultural villages.

Popular culture

In the Simpsons episode Simpsons Bible Stories, the city of sodom is mentioned by Krusty the Klown, who is portrayed as King David's (played by Bart) jester.

In the 2009 movie Year One, the main characters end up in the city of Sodom whilst trying to free their captured friends.

In the 2008 film Valkyrie, Henning von Tresckow compares Nazi Germany to Sodom saying that "God promised Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom if he could find ten righteous men... I have a feeling that for Germany it may come down to one."

In the 2002 film The Scorpion King, Gomorrah is the capital of Akkad.

Rapper MF DOOM referenced Sodom and Gomorrah in his track entitled "Kookies": "but thousands of more horrors are on line, Gomorrah..and Sodom, they got em.."

As a part of Brad Neely's Professor Brothers series of shorts, Frank tells his students the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. He refers to them at the start as "Sodom, named after sodomy, and Gomorrah, which was named after an even weirder move."

The Mega Man Zero character Fefnir's massive arm cannons bear the same names as the cities do.

The punk rock band Anti-Flag have a song called "Sodom, Gomorrah, Washington, D.C. (Sheep in Shepherd's Clothing)" from their most recent album The People or the Gun.

The band, Kiss (band), mentions Sodom and Gomorrah in the song, "Dark Light" from "The Music from the Elder."

The Bob Dylan song "Jokerman" features the lyrics "You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah, but what do you care? / Ain't nobody there who'd want to marry your sister."

The band W.A.S.P. (band) have a song called "King of Sodom and Gomorrah" on their 1986 album "Inside the Electric Circus".

In the 1987 film The Seventh Sign, Father Lucci is dispatched to a city, built on the ruins of Sodom by the Vatican, to investigate a severe weather anomaly.

Sixto Diaz Rodriguez has a song called "Gomorrah (A nursery rhyme)" on the 1970 album "Cold Fact".

Gomorrah is the name of a dragon demon in the video game Bayonetta. He makes several appearances when he devours certain angels and appears from the neck up as a giant dragon head.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah was told in a 1962 film starring Stewart Granger as Lot with Anouk Aimee and Pier Angeli and directed by Robert Aldrich.

The symphonic metal band Therion have a song called "The rise of Sodom and Gomorrah" on their 1998 album Vovin.

The 1995 David Fincher film, Seven, is based on a serial killer committing murders with the biblical seven deadly sins as his motif. The murderer comments on his victims, "Don't ask me to pity the people I killed. I don't mourn them anymore than I mourn the thousands who died in Sodom and Gomorrah."

The synth-pop band Pet Shop Boys released a song titled "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show" on their 2008 album Fundamental. The song makes references to the sins committed by the cities with the line "Learn to go where angels fear to tread".

In One Piece, the Japanese Manga, Sodom and Gomorrah are the names of Franky Family's seahorses.

See also

References

  1. ↑ According to Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible, the "three men" were three heavenly beings in human bodies. "Some think they were all created angels; others, that one of them was the Son of God, the Angel of the covenant." In Genesis 18:3, the word "Lord" is the same word as in verse 1, but is plural, which would seem to indicate that Abraham could not determine that they were heavenly beings since they appeared as men. It wasn't until after the three had eaten, verses 9-15, that Abraham realized the true identity of his visitors and their purpose.[1]
  2. ↑ Compare Sorites paradox, as per Geocomputation, Stan Openshaw, Robert J. Abrahart, 2000, p. 163
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Inhospitable Sodomites
  4. ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia
  5. ↑ James Alfred Loader (1990). A tale of two cities : Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament, early Jewish and early Christian traditions. Peeters Publishers. pp. 28. 
  6. ↑ Hashem
  7. ↑ Jewish Ethics and Halakhah For Our Time (2002); Cf. Genesis Rabbah 50:5, on Gen. 9:22 ff. More generally see M.Kasher, Torah Shlemah, vol. 3 to Gen 19:5.)[139]
  8. ↑ [2]
  9. ↑ Flavius Josephus, The Judean Antiquities Book 1, Whiston Chapter 11, Whiston Section 1
  10. ↑ Flavius Josephus, The Judean Antiquities Book 1, Whiston Chapter 11, Whiston Section 3
  11. ↑ Born Eunuchs Library
  12. ↑ "The Old Testament Attitude to Homosexuality." Expository Times, 102 (1991): 259-363
  13. ↑ Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980), p. 94
  14. ↑ Gn 4:1,17,25, 24:16, 38:26; Num 31:17,18,35; Jdg 11:39, 19:25, 21:11,12; 1Sam 1:19, 1Ki 1:4, cf. Mt 1:25, Lk 1:34
  15. ↑ Jack Bartlet, Rogers (2006). Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the myths, heal the church. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press. pp. 139. 
  16. ↑ D S. Bailey, Homosexuality and the Western Tradition, p. 8; John J. McNeil, the Church and the Homosexual, p. 50; Daniel Helminiak, http://www.neednotfret.com/content/view/124/89/
  17. ↑ Miller, David. "Homosexuality and 'Strange Flesh'". Web: 28 Mar 2010. Homosexuality and 'Strange Flesh'
  18. ↑ Bailey, Homosexuality and the Western Christian Tradition, pp. 11-16; Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, p.97
  19. ↑ http://www38.bibliotecapleyades.net/enoch/2enoch01-68.htm
  20. ↑ response to prof. l. William Countryman’s review in Anglican theological review; On Careless Exegesis and Jude 7, Robert A. J. Gagnon
  21. ↑ Bailey, Homosexuality and Western Tradition, pp. 1-28; McNeil, Church and the Homosexual, pp. 42-50; Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, pp. 92-97
  22. ↑ review essay of homosexuality, science, and the “plain sense” of scripture, part 2, Robert A. J. Gagnon
  23. ↑ Lv.18:22; 26-27,29,30; 20:13; Dt. 23:18; 24:4 1Ki. 14:24; Ezek. 22:11; 33:26
  24. ↑ cf. Straight & Narrow?: Compassion and Clarity in the Homosexuality Debate, Thomas E. Schmidt
  25. ↑ Peck, Harry Thurston (1898). Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York: Harper and Brothers. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin//ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062;query=id%3D%238285;layout=;loc=hospitium-1. Retrieved 2006-03-17. 
  26. ↑ de Saulcy, Ferdinand (1853). Voyage autour de la mer Morte et dans les terres bibliques. Paris: Gide et J. Baudry. 
  27. ↑ A. H. Sayce. "The Overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah (Accadian Account)" Records of the Past XI 115. 
  28. ↑ Archibald Sayce (1887). The Hibbert Lectures, 1887: Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion. pp. 309. 
  29. ↑ Cornwell, Jim A.. "The Kings of Canaan Gen. 14:1-11". The Alpha and the Omega. http://www.mazzaroth.com/ChapterFour/KingsOfCanaan.htm. Retrieved 2006-12-14. 
  30. ↑ B. Macdonald (2000) (PDF). "East of the Jordan": Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures. American Schools of Oriental Research. ISBN 0897570316. http://www.asor.org/pubs/macdonald.pdf. 
  31. ↑ Hershel Shanks (November/December 1981). "BAR Interviews Giovanni Pettinato". Biblical Archaeology Review 7 (6). 
  32. ↑ Alfonso Archi (September/October 1980). "Are "The Cities of the Plain" Mentioned in the Ebla Tablets?". Biblical Archaeology Review 6 (5). 
  33. ↑ Bryant G. Wood (Summer 1999). "The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah". Bible and Spade 12 (3). 
  34. ↑ Chavalas, Mark W., and K. Lawson Younger, Jr. (eds.) Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations. 2003. P.41
  35. ↑ J. Penrose Harland (September 1943). "Sodom and Gomorrah: The Destruction of the Cities of the Plain". Biblical Archaeologist 6 (3). 
  36. ↑ "Does Archeological Data Support the Biblical Story?". http://www.aish.com/societyWork/sciencenature/Biblical_Archeology_Sodom_and_Gomorrah.asp. 
  37. ↑ [3]

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