It has already been shown [SALT SEA ; SIDDIM] that the narrative given in Gen. xiv. favours the view that would place Sodom south of Engedi. It is not distinctly said that Sodom stood in the vale of Siddim ; but it may be inferred from the narra tive that it must have been either in the vale or very close to it. The vale was the battle-field in which the people attempted to defend their cities ; and immediately after the battle Sodom was plun dered, and Lot, who seems to have been then living in the town, was taken captive (v. 12).
Nothing absolutely certain regarding the site of Sodom can be gathered from the history of its de. struction, except that it was near Zoar—so near that Lot, escaping from Sodom at dawn, was able to reach Zoar at sunrise. The distance, therefore, could not have been more than four or five miles. Abraham was at the time encamped at Hebron. The Lord visited him there ; and Abraham went with Him on the way toward Sodom. On the next day—the day of the destruction of the guilty cities—Abraham went out to the place where he had stood before the Lord. It must have been some mountain-brow not very far distant from his tent And he looked toward Sodom and Go morrah, and toward all the land of the circuit, and saw, and behold the smoke of the country rose like the smoke of a furnace' (xix. 28). Hebron is nearly due west of Engedi, which stands about the middle of the western shore of the Dead Sea. There is a commanding peak about three miles east of Hebron from which a portion of the southern end of the sea, and of the peninsula of el-Lisan, can be seen ; though the northern end and the whole plain of the Jordan are completely shut out by intervening ridges. A very early tradition locates on this peak, now crowned by the village of Beni Naim, the scene of Abraham's intercession for Sodom (Robinson, B. R. i. 49o).
The testimony of ancient historical and geo graphical writers regarding the site of Sodom is conflicting. Some affirm that it was engulfed by the waters of the Dead Sea, others that it was on the shore. Josephus places the territory of Sodom at the southern end of the lake (Bell. Yuri. iv. 8. 2) ; and he says of the lake that it extends toward Zoar in Arabia' (iv. 8. 4). Adamnanus repeats these statements almost in the same words (Reland, p. 45r). Ancient writers, therefore, in so far as they give any information on the point, agree in locating Sodom at the southern end of the Dead Sea.
The existing names and physical features of the region appear to support the same view. On the south-west shore of the lake is the remarkable range of salt hills called Khashm Usdom,' the ridge of Sodom.' Bitumen-pits are now unknown in any part of the plain, but large masses of bitumen are frequently thrown up from the bottom of the lake, south of el-Lesan, especially after earthquakes, which in this region are very numerous, as if indi cating that the slime-pits' of the ancient vale of Siddim still exist beneath the waves. [Snmna.]
In destroying Sodom the Lord rained upon it brimstone and fire from heaven' (Gen. xix. 24) ; and Tristram, who has made a more thorough examination of the region than any other man, describing a remarkable deposit discovered by him in Wady Mohawat, at the north end of the salt range, says The whole appearance points to a shower of hot sulphur and an irruption of bitumen upon it, which would naturally be calcined and impregnated by its fumes ; and this at a geological period quite subsequent to all the diluvial and alluvial action of which we have such abundant evidence' (Land of Israel, p. 356 ; SALT SEA).
These historic statements, allusions, and scientific discoveries may not determine the site of Sodom with such absolute certainty as to command the assent of all parties ; but certainly they do tend to locate, with a high degree of probability, that ancient city towards the south end of the Dead Sea, The destruction of Sodom ranks among the most wonderful events in Bible history. In the original narrative, and in every subsequent allusion made to it in Scripture, it is described as miraculous. The sin of the people became so great, so abominable, so universal, that even Divine mercy could no longer suffer it to pollute the earth—a mercy that would have spared the whole guilty Pentapolis had only ten righteous men been found therein. Sulphur and fire were rained upon the cities and the plain from heaven. The destructive power of these agencies was doubtless greatly increased by the bitumen which was so abundant in the surrounding region. It was a fiery destruction, and the Bible nowhere takes cognisance of any other element. The cities were totally consumed, and their ruin was final. In fact, the destruction of Sodom and the other cities of the plain was so terrible and so complete, that it was taken in all subsequent ages as the type of utter and everlasting ruin. Thus Jeremiah writes : As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it' (xlix. 18). The same idea is expressed in many other passages (Deut. xxix. 23 ; Is. xiii. 19 ; jer. 1. 4o ; and in the N. T., Rom. ix. 29; 2 Pet. ii. 6 ; Jude 7) ; but none of these are opposed to the theory that the site of Sodom was subsequently covered with water. On a filgt view, Zeph. 9 might appear to be so : Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even Me breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual de solation.' But the grand idea before the prophet's mind is manifestly utter ana' perpetual desolation, without any special reference to the nature of that desolation.