Genesis 19:22
in Genesis 19Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
KJV
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
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This verse in Genesis 19
Commentary
9 notes on this verseGreat is the loving kindness of God. He who is all-powerful says, "I can do nothing until you arrive there." He accommodates even the weakness of his servant and tolerates his delay.
This site's exposition
No, my lords, please
on Genesis 19:18-22
Lot is told to flee to the mountains and asks for a nearer town, and the request is granted. The name Zoar comes out of his plea, a small place. The angel can do nothing until Lot reaches the town, so the judgment waits on one man.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 11 · Written before 99.
proposed
On account of his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved out of Sodom when all the country round was punished by means of fire and brimstone, the Lord thus making it manifest that He does not forsake those that hope in Him, but gives up such as depart from Him to punishment and torture. [Genesis 19:15-26, 2 Peter 2:6-9] For Lot's wife, who went forth with him, being of a different mind from himself, and not continuing in agreement with him [as to the command which had been given them], was made an example of, so as to be a pillar of salt unto this day. This was done that all might know that those who are of a double mind, and who distrust the power of God, bring down judgment on themselves and become a sign to all succeeding generations.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Therefore, the name of that city was called Segor. Segor is interpreted as "Little," which for this reason was so called because Lot had said, "Is it not small?" Previously it was called Bale, as mentioned above: "Against the king of Bale, this is Segor."
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither - The very presence of good men in a place helps to keep off judgments. See what care God takes for the preservation of his people!
(1.) Zoar was spared, to gratify him. Though his intercession for it was not, as Abraham's for Sodom, from a principle of generous charity, but merely from self-interest, yet God granted him his request, to show how much the fervent prayer of a righteous man avails. (2.) Sodom's ruin was suspended till he was safe: I cannot do any thing till thou shalt have come thither.
Haste thee, escape thither,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither - So these heavenly messengers had the strictest commission to take care of Lot and his family; and even the purposes of Divine justice could not be accomplished on the rebellious, till this righteous man and his family had escaped from the place. A proof of Abraham’s assertion, The Judge of all the earth will do right. The name of the city was called Zoar - צוער Tsoar, Little, its former name being Bela.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Haste . . . for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither--The ruin of Sodom was suspended till he was secure. What care God does take of His people (Re 7:3)!
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַהֵר֙ | maher | hurry | H4116 → | 68 times |
| הִמָּלֵ֣ט | himalet | escape | H4422 → | 95 times |
| שָׁ֔מָּה | shamah | there towards | H8033 → | 834 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אוּכַל֙ | ʾukhal | I will be able | H3201 → | 194 times |
| לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת | laasot | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| דָּבָ֔ר | davar | anything | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בֹּאֲךָ֖ | boakha | going you | H935 → | 2568 times |
| שָׁ֑מָּה | shamah | there towards | H8033 → | 834 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֛ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| קָרָ֥א | kara' | someone called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| שֵׁם־ | shem- | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הָעִ֖יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| צֽוֹעַר׃ | tzoar | Zoar | H6820 → | 10 times |
מַהֵר֙hurry
maherH4116 →68 times
הִמָּלֵ֣טescape
himaletH4422 →95 times
שָׁ֔מָּהthere towards
shamahH8033 →834 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אוּכַל֙I will be able
ʾukhalH3201 →194 times
לַעֲשׂ֣וֹתto do
laasotH6213 →2628 times
דָּבָ֔רanything
davarH1697 →1440 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
בֹּאֲךָ֖going you
boakhaH935 →2568 times
שָׁ֑מָּהthere towards
shamahH8033 →834 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֛ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
קָרָ֥אsomeone called
kara'H7121 →733 times
שֵׁם־[the] name of
shem-H8034 →864 times
הָעִ֖ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
צֽוֹעַר׃Zoar
tzoarH6820 →10 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 32:10Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:14
Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”
- Numbers 14:12
I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
- Deuteronomy 9:19
For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well.
- Deuteronomy 9:14
Through
Genesis 13:10And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 34:3
the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar.
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
- Deuteronomy 34:3
Through
Deuteronomy 9:14Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 29:20
The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot…
- Deuteronomy 29:20
Through
Genesis 14:2went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
it leads to
- Genesis 13:10
And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was…
- Deuteronomy 29:23
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the…
- Genesis 13:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 11; Cyril of Alexandria, CATENA ON GENESIS 3.1144; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.