Sodom and Gomorrah
[ (sod-uhm; guh-mawr-uh) ]
In the Book of Genesis, the two evil cities that God destroyed with a rain of fire and brimstone (sulfur). Before the destruction, God sent two angels in the form of men to advise all good men to leave the evil towns. God's messengers found only one good man, Lot, whom they transported from Sodom to the countryside with his wife and daughters, warning them not to look back. When Lot's wife, not heeding the warning, looked back, she became a pillar of salt.
RELATED CONTENT
Why Do “Left” And “Right” Mean Liberal And Conservative?During election seasons the words left and right denote political affiliation more than spatial direction. But where do these associations come from? The left hand has long been associated with deviance. The word “sinister” originally meant “to the left” in Latin. The word “left” comes from the Old English word lyft, which literally meant “weak, foolish.” To avoid the negative and superstitious associations of the …
Note
sodomy was supposedly practiced in the wicked city of Sodom.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.