The Meaning of Genesis 19:24 Explained

Genesis 19:24

KJV: Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

YLT: and Jehovah hath rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah, from the heavens;

Darby: And Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven,

ASV: Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then the LORD  rained  upon Sodom  and upon Gomorrah  brimstone  and fire  from the LORD  out of heaven; 

What does Genesis 19:24 Mean?

Context Summary

Genesis 19:24-29 - Lot And His Daughters Rescued
God had mercy on Lot for Abraham's sake. A missionary told me that when, on writing home to his mother, he narrated his miraculous deliverance from an infuriated mob, she replied by quoting a special entry in her diary to the effect that, during those exact hours, she was detained before God in a perfect agony of intercession for him. Lot was saved from Sodom, but took Sodom with him. He was saved so as by fire, but his life-work was burned up. See 1 Corinthians 3:15. Even his wife might have been saved, but her heart was inveterately wedded to the city. In modern cities there are traces of the sins that doomed Sodom. Let us bear witness against them, that we may arrest inevitable judgment. Jude tells us that in the fate of these cities we have an example of eternal fire. Have a place where you stand before God. Only from that eminence can you venture to look out on the awful retribution of human rebellion.
For Review Questions on Genesis see the e-Sword Book Comments. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 19

1  Lot entertains two angels
4  The vicious Sodomites are smitten with blindness
12  Lot is warned, and in vain warns his sons-in-law
15  He is directed to flee to the mountains, but obtains leave to go into Zoar
24  Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed
26  Lot's wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt
29  Lot dwells in a cave
31  The incestuous origin of Moab and Ammon

What do the individual words in Genesis 19:24 mean?

Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of the heavens
וַֽיהוָ֗ה הִמְטִ֧יר עַל־ סְדֹ֛ם וְעַל־ עֲמֹרָ֖ה גָּפְרִ֣ית וָאֵ֑שׁ מֵאֵ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה מִן־ הַשָּׁמָֽיִם

וַֽיהוָ֗ה  Then  Yahweh 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
הִמְטִ֧יר  rained 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָטַר  
Sense: to rain.
סְדֹ֛ם  Sodom 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: סְדֹם  
Sense: a Canaanite city, usually paired with Gomorrah, located in the area of the Dead Sea and the Jordan river; both cities destroyed by God in judgment.
עֲמֹרָ֖ה  Gomorrah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: עֲמֹרָה  
Sense: the twin-city in evil with Sodom, both destroyed in judgment by God with fire from heaven.
גָּפְרִ֣ית  brimstone 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: גָּפְרִית  
Sense: brimstone.
וָאֵ֑שׁ  and  fire 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, common singular
Root: אֵשׁ  
Sense: fire.
יְהוָ֖ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
מִן־  out 
Parse: Preposition
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
הַשָּׁמָֽיִם  of  the  heavens 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.