×
Friend,    With Purim right around the corner, Sefaria is busy preparing for the “Purim bump” — the increase in users who visit Sefaria to celebrate the holiday. Last year, more than 100,000 people visited the library or used the app to connect with the holiday or read along with Megillat Esther. This year we’re expecting even more.    To help with our text and tech preparations ahead of this busy time, a generous Jewish foundation is matching all gifts to the library up to $36,000.    Please give today to help us meet your learning needs!     
In the Bible, the city of Sodom became synonymous with evil in a story about Abraham’s nephew, Lot, his guests, and the mob of Sodomites that rose against them. Rabbinic sources elaborate on Sodom’s many evils, including using the death penalty to punish hospitality to strangers.
Notable Sources
All Sources
A
Like the Garden of God
TANAKH
Before their destruction, Sodom and its surroundings in the Jordan River plain are described as flourishing and fertile. In the book of Genesis, Abraham parts ways with his nephew, Lot, who chooses to settle there, despite the wicked character of its inhabitants.
The Judge of All the Earth
TANAKH
In response to the wickedness of the residents of Sodom, God decides to destroy the place and all its wicked inhabitants but shares this plan with Abraham. Abraham challenges God that it would be unjust if God destroyed the righteous along with the wicked.
A (Maybe) Sodom-Type Character
MISHNAH
The people of Sodom become known throughout rabbinic tradition as wicked. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avod, a work of ancient rabbinic ethics and wisdom from the land of Israel, describes one of four possible attitudes towards property as the "characteristic of Sodom."
Forbidden Charity
MIDRASH
Just how wicked were the people of Sodom? The eighth-century midrashic work, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer narrates a story about Lot's daughter and forbidden charity to explain an intriguing phrase with which the story of Sodom in the book of Genesis begins.
On Meeting the King of Sodom
JEWISH THOUGHT
Sometime between Lot's parting from Abraham and settling in Sodom and God's decision to destroy Sodom, Lot was taken captive in the course of a war and rescued by Abraham. Contemporary scholar Judy Klitsner provides a close analysis of the scene in which Abraham meets the King of Sodom after Abraham brought an end to the years-long war.
Fire and Brimstone
KABBALAH
The scene of Sodom’s destruction is a dramatic illustration of God’s retributive justice. The Zohar, a foundational work of Jewish mysticism, connects the story of Sodom to other ideas of damnation and divine punishment.
A Story of Warning
MUSAR
The story of God's punishment of the wicked inhabitants of Sodom serves as a warning to the wicked. The anonymous 15th-century German work Orchot Tzadikim explains why God does not destroy all who are wicked.
The Blinding Salt of Sodom
CHASIDUT
As Lot and his family fled the destruction of Sodom, his wife looked back and was blinded, thereby establishing a connection between Sodom — not far from the very salty Dead Sea — and blindness. Reb Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin, a 19th-century Chasidic master, teaches more about the significance of this salt in later ritual.
The Dangers of Having It Too Easy
MIDRASH
What is the connecting between the natural bounty of Sodom and their wicked character? The Sifrei Devarim, an ancient midrash on the book of Deuteronomy from the early third-century land of Israel, explains.
Symbols of Iniquity and Doom
TANAKH
Sodom and its sister-city Gomorrah have become symbols of sinfulness and of utter destruction. In these verses, the late-First-Temple prophet Isaiah rebukes the Jewish people — even referring to them by the names of Sodom and Gomorrah — and warns them that they may share Sodom's fate for their own iniquity.
Evil Versus Sin
COMMENTARY
The book of Judges' narrative about the "concubine of Gibeah" (Judges 19) is very similar to the story about Lot receiving guests in Sodom. Rabbi Yechiel Michel Weisser — better known as Malbim — compares the stories in his 19th-century commentary on the book of Judges.
The Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah, John Martin, 1852
The Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah, John Martin, 1852
We use cookies to give you the best experience possible on our site. Click OK to continue using Sefaria. Learn More.OKאנחנו משתמשים ב"עוגיות" כדי לתת למשתמשים את חוויית השימוש הטובה ביותר.קראו עוד בנושאלחצו כאן לאישור