The BibleGospel Companion
Event · The Patriarchs1897 BC

Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed; Lot escapes

Dated from the sources quoted below

True span4004 BC – AD 100
Beginnings · 4004 BC – 1996 BC · 12 eventsBeginnings4004 BC – 1996 BCThe Patriarchs · 1996 BC – 1635 BC · 34 eventsPatriarchs1996 BC – 1635 BCEgypt and the Exodus · 1635 BC – 1451 BC · 19 eventsExodus1635 BC – 1451 BCConquest and Settlement · 1451 BC – 1400 BC · 7 eventsConquest1451 BC – 1400 BCThe Judges · 1405 BC – 1095 BC · 13 eventsJudges1405 BC – 1095 BCThe United Kingdom · 1095 BC – 975 BC · 38 eventsUnited Kgdm1095 BC – 975 BCIsrael and Judah · 933 BC – 721 BC · 27 eventsIsrael & Judah933 BC – 721 BCJudah Alone · 721 BC – 586 BC · 22 eventsJudah alone721 BC – 586 BCThe Exile · 586 BC – 538 BC · 7 eventsExile586 BC – 538 BCReturn and Restoration · 538 BC – 400 BC · 13 eventsReturn538 BC – 400 BCBetween the Testaments · 400 BC – 4 BC · 8 eventsBetween400 BC – 4 BCThe Life of Jesus · 6 BC – AD 33 · 42 eventsJesus6 BC – AD 33The Apostles and the Early Church · AD 30 – AD 100 · 29 eventsThe ChurchAD 30 – AD 1001922 BC — God calls Abram to leave for Canaan1921 BC — Abram and Sarai in Egypt1921 BC — Abram and Lot separate1912 BC — Abram rescues Lot from the four kings1912 BC — Melchizedek meets Abram1912 BC — God's covenant with Abram: descendants and land1897 BC — The covenant of circumcision; Abram becomes Abraham1897 BC — Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed; Lot escapes1896 BC — Isaac is born1891 BC — Hagar and Ishmael sent away1871 BC — Abraham offers Isaac on Moriah1859 BC — Sarah dies; Abraham buys the cave of Machpelah1856 BC — Isaac marries Rebekah1836 BC — Jacob and Esau are born1821 BC — Abraham dies1804 BC — Isaac at Gerar: the promise renewed1760 BC — Jacob takes Isaac's blessing and flees1760 BC — Jacob's dream at Bethel1745 BC — Joseph is born1739 BC — Jacob wrestles at Peniel and is named Israel1734 BC — Dinah at Shechem; Simeon and Levi's revenge1733 BC — Jacob returns to Bethel; Rachel dies bearing Benjamin1728 BC — Joseph sold by his brothers1717 BC — Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's officers1716 BC — Isaac dies1715 BC — Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams and rules Egypt1708 BC — The seven years of famine begin1706 BC — Joseph reveals himself to his brothers1706 BC — Jacob's family settles in Goshen1689 BC — Jacob blesses his sons and dies1635 BC — Joseph dies in EgyptHagar bears Ishmael — placed by its order in the narrativeEsau sells his birthright — placed by its order in the narrativeJacob marries Leah and Rachel — placed by its order in the narrative
the events of this period, each at its year — this one outlinedplaced only by its order in the narrativethe whole thread →

Told in

Genesis 19:1–29The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth,
Opening words from the World English Bible (public domain); the passage list is in-house

Who and where

LotAbrahamSodom ›
Names and references: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · coordinates: OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding · CC BY 4.0

How we know the date

Ussher's Annals (1650) gives 1897 BC (its year of the world 2107 c).

Written in-house from the sources below · every year is a quotation

The sources, word for word

“2107. ec. … Lot ab angclis Sodoma cductus, excidium evasit; ad exiguam Bele civitatem fuga se recipiens, qua inde Zoar postea est dicta.”

Ussher, Annales Veteris Testamenti (1650), Latin text in The Whole Works of James Ussher, vols. VIII–XI (Dublin, 1864) · vol. VIII, AM 2107 c · gives 1897 BC

Sources