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Genesis 13 describes Lot living near Sodom while still living a nomadic lifestyle around the cities of the plain. The Greek Septuagint translation changes this by placing Lot directly in Sodom to harmonize it with the rest of the story.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 13:12
Hebrew Bible
10 Lot looked up and saw the whole region of the Jordan. He noticed that all of it was well watered (this was before the Lord obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar. 11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled toward the east. So the relatives separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13 (Now the people of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) 14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, “Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Genesis 13:12
Septuagint
10 And Lot having lifted up his eyes, observed all the country all around Jordan, that it was all watered, before God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, as the garden of God, and as the land of Egypt, until you come to Zoar. 11 And Lot chose for himself all the country round Jordan, and Lot went from the east, and they were separated each from his brother. 12 And Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in a city of the neighboring people, and pitched his tent in Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were evil, and exceedingly sinful before God. 14 And God said to Abram after Lot was separated from him, Look up with your eyes, and look from the place where you now are northward and southward, and eastward and seaward;
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... LXX Genesis differs from the Masoretic text with respect to Lot ... According to the Hebrew, Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and tented up to (as far as) Sodom. This further stresses the semi-nomadic way of life in which herds are regularly on the move as it were in search of pasture. But the Septuagint of Genesis, fully aware of the later account about Lot and his fate, disregarded the flocks and their needs and concentrated on getting Lot into Sodom ..."
John William Wevers, Notes on the Greek Text of Genesis, SCS 35 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1993), 181.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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