Bible Strands
Genesis 19:28
He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abraham stands early the next morning at the place where he previously stood before the LORD, looking down toward Sodom, Gomorrah, and the entire plain.
The words — וַ/יַּשְׁקֵ֗ף (va/i.yash.Kef) translates literally as "and he looked down," while פְּנֵ֤י (pe.Nei) means "face of," structuring the action as a direct gaze upon the face of the cities and land.
The thread — The visual of smoke rising like a furnace reappears in Revelation 9:2 and informs the judgment description in Jude 1:7.
Why it lands — The text records Abraham’s physical observation of the burning plain before any theological explanation follows. It requires the reader to note the concrete reality of the destruction witnessed from a distance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
Cross-references
- Revelation 18:9 Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.
- Revelation 9:2 The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.
- Jude 1:7 In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
- Revelation 18:18 and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.
- Revelation 21:8 But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Psalms 107:34 and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
- 2 Peter 2:7 and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless
- Revelation 14:10 he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
- Revelation 19:3 And a second time they called out: “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises forever and ever.”