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Gomorrah (2)

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

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GOMORRAH (עֲמֹרָה, Γομόρρα [fem.] or Γόμορρα [neut.]).—

The word should be fem. in Greek as in Hebrew, but the final α led to its being treated as neut. plural. In the LXX Septuagint it is fem. 9 times, neut. 5 times, and in 5 passages the gender is indeterminate. In the NT it is fem. in 2 Peter 2:6 and Matthew 10:15 [CD], but neut. in id. [אAB].

The name occurs in the NT in Matthew 10:15, Romans 9:29; 2 Peter 2:6, Judges 1:7. (In Mark 6:11 it occurs in a sentence wrongly inserted in A and some Lat. MS^{S [Note: SS Manuscripts.]} , whence it found its way through the T^{R [Note: R Textus Receptus.]} into the Authorized Version). In every case it is coupled with Sodom, as it is invariably in the OT. It is to be noticed, however, that Sodom is mentioned alone in Matthew 11:23 f., Luke 17:29, Revelation 11:8. Not only so, but in Luke 10:12, the parallel passage to Matthew 10:15, Gomorrah is omitted. It seems probable, therefore, that in St. Matthew the insertion of the name is editorial and not original; and, moreover, the text is uncertain; אAB Γομόρρων, C Γομόρρας, ^{D [Note: Deuteronomist.]} Γομόρας; again א C insert γῇ before Γομ., while ABD omit it. Our Lord, then, used ‘Sodom’ (or ‘the land of Sodom’) alone; in Romans 9:29 the passage is a direct quotation from Isaiah 1:9; while the OT expression ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ is found only in the two late, and closely connected, writings, Jude and 2 Peter.

For the lessons drawn by our Lord from the wickedness and the destruction of Sodom, see art. Sodom.

A. H. M‘Neile.