SODOM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

CHAPTER 11

Jesus and Sodom

“Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”

Matthew 10:14–15

WHAT THIS PASSAGE REVEALS

By the first century, Sodom was already a familiar biblical example of judgment, so Jesus did not need to retell the entire story when He mentioned it.

In Matthew 10, Jesus compares those who reject His messengers with Sodom and Gomorrah. His warning comes as He sends His disciples to proclaim His message and instructs them about how people may receive or reject them.

The comparison emphasizes both rejection and judgment.

Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience that already knew the story of Sodom. The name itself carried meaning. His listeners did not need a complete explanation of Genesis 19 in order to understand why Sodom represented a serious example of divine judgment.

That historical context is important because Jesus was invoking a familiar example rather than giving a new definition of every sin committed by Sodom.

Matthew 10 therefore should not be turned into a statement that rejection of God's messengers was the only sin Sodom had ever committed. The passage has a particular purpose within Jesus' instructions to His disciples.

It demonstrates how biblical memory could function in the first century. A well-known historical story could be invoked briefly because the audience already understood its larger significance.

CHAPTER 12

Peter and the Destruction of Sodom

“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.”

2 Peter 2:6

WHAT THIS PASSAGE REVEALS

Second Peter also looks backward at Sodom.

Peter uses the destruction of the cities as an example of God's judgment against ungodliness. The story becomes evidence that God sees wickedness and that judgment is not outside the biblical understanding of divine justice.

In 2 Peter 2, the discussion includes lawlessness, corrupt desire, and rejection of authority. Peter places the Sodom narrative within a larger series of examples involving people and beings who turned away from what God required.

Peter is therefore doing more than mentioning a location. He is using a remembered historical judgment to make an argument about the moral condition of his own audience.

Once again, Sodom is functioning as a historical example. Peter is not rewriting Genesis; he is applying its warning to his own audience.

This is another important development in the biblical tradition. The same event can be remembered by later writers for different purposes without those writers needing to list every detail of the original narrative.

CHAPTER 13

Jude and the Strange Flesh

“Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

Jude 1:7

WHAT THIS PASSAGE REVEALS

Jude provides one of the clearest New Testament references to the sexual dimension of the Sodom tradition. His wording is important because he does not simply describe Sodom as generally wicked. He specifically connects the city with sexual immorality and uses language that raises a question about the nature of the beings involved.

Jude 6 first speaks about angels who did not keep their proper position but abandoned their own dwelling. Jude 7 then immediately turns to Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, saying that they acted “in like manner” and gave themselves over to sexual immorality while pursuing “strange” or “different” flesh. Jude then presents them as an example of judgment.

The phrase translated “strange flesh” or “different flesh” is sarkos heteras. The word sarkos means “flesh,” while heteras means “different,” “other,” or “another kind.” The wording therefore describes the pursuit of flesh understood as different or other.

The phrase must also be read in its immediate context. Jude 6 is about angels who abandoned their proper dwelling, and Jude 7 says that Sodom acted “in like manner” to these. That close connection is why many interpreters understand Jude to be connecting Sodom's sexual wrongdoing with the unusual nature of the beings involved in the Genesis tradition.

Genesis 19 describes the visitors who came to Lot as heavenly messengers, while Jude places the Sodom account immediately after his reference to rebellious angels. This creates a significant literary connection between the two passages. Jude is not simply repeating the Genesis account; he is interpreting the story through the tradition known to his audience.

There is, however, an important limit to what the Greek wording establishes. Heteras means “different” or “other.” The word itself does not mean “animal,” “beast,” or “bestial.” Therefore, claiming that Jude's phrase specifically means “ontological bestiality” goes beyond what the Greek vocabulary itself establishes.

The strongest historical conclusion is more precise. Jude 7 explicitly connects Sodom with sexual immorality and the pursuit of “different” or “strange” flesh, and he places that statement directly after his discussion of rebellious angels. The sexual dimension is explicit, while the exact meaning of “different flesh” within that comparison remains an interpretive question.

This distinction matters. We should not remove the sexual meaning from Jude 7, but neither should we claim that one modern label completely explains the ancient Greek wording. The text gives us a clear sexual reference while leaving room for careful discussion about exactly what Jude meant by “different flesh.”

Jude therefore adds an important layer to the historical memory of Sodom. By the time Jude was written, Sodom was being remembered not only as a city judged by God, but also as an example of sexual immorality connected in the text with “different flesh” and the preceding account of rebellious angels.