So we read in Genesis that sodom and Gomorrah were basically two cities that were destroyed by God for their sins. But did they really existed? History doesnt specifically tells us that(as far as i know). It would have been a big deal two cities being destroyed out of nowhere i mean. Someone would have wrote it down. Do we actually have any evidence? Or it is all the Genesis that we have to take it like the creation story? Thanks and God bless.
This is just speculation considering my ignorance of ancient Middle East geography, but there is always this:
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Or this from Joel Duff
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There is some pretty cool evidence that the Sodom event really happened. Was it an act of God? Or simply a natural disaster? That’s where the archaeology runs out, and I instead defer to scripture.
I always recommend this.
Of course, cities described in the Bible were probably more like villages are now. If you look at the ruins of some of those cities, my guess is several hundred To a couple of thousand people lived there, with a lot of them living out with flocks, herding the sheep and goats. With no internet and no TV, a couple of villages wiped out in a volcanic eruption would have far less impact than we see today when a village in India is lost in a mudslide.
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I was startled the first time I read through this:
That is first, and then in second place:
That maybe tells us something about God’s priorities, not that all sin isn’t sin. It is reminiscent of the massive first part of Isaiah 58 (the last part is not negligible either, though).
That first one is my favorite verse to quote to my Christian friends on Facebook when they stay heartless political things about the refugee crisis.
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Yeah but i mean word would soon reach out. I mean someone like a merchant would have passed by that city and write about what at least he thought would have happened. But we dont have any records as far as i know. Thanks for your answer
As all of the others answers i appreciate your responses but those are just speculations? I heard many places that claim to be what were sodom and Gomorrah
That verse is supportive of the idea that the sin of Sodom was their lack of hospitality, and if you read the original story in that light it certainly is a big factor. Hospitality was important in that culture and continues to be so until this day. It could mean life and death to a traveler in the desert.
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Dr. Collins has spent several years excavating at Tall El Hammam, which you can read about here
https://tallelhammam.com/ I wouldn’t place his work in the realm of speculation. Unless you discount all archaeology.
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I belive that it was a real place but I don’t really know where it is now, that is if any remains of it exist.
That and also probably various other sins, murder, idolatry, adulteries, and even the sin that it is sometimes overused for the sin of Sodom which I feel did take place but was minor compared to the other sins of Sodom. Lack of care for the poor and travelers seems to be a theme for the sin.
Biblical scholars usually attribute the Sodom story to the Yahwist (J) writing about the time of Solomon. J authors a trilogy in the primeval history of Gen. 1-11 consisting of the Adam/Eve, Flood, and Sodom narratives. All three have similar themes, textual structure, endings, and so forth. Since the first two can be traced to variations of ANE myths, it is probably reasonable to assume the Sodom destruction narrative is also based on an ancient story/myth which has been lost. And the work of Collin showing an extraterrestrial likely causing the destruction serves to verify the actual event and the source of the myth. Note J was writing over a millennium after the event occurred. Incidentally, literary comparison between the three J stories places in doubt the destruction purpose being attributable to homosexuality or inhospitality - instead being priestly immorality during fertility rites which the Hebrews found highly objectionable.
I dont think is was a “borrowed myth”