| Ebla Tablet Name | Hebrew Name of the Cities of the plain |
| si-da-mu |
Sodom  [(Final Mem Daleth Samekh) S(uh)Dh(oh)M, Sodom (sod’-om) - Heb. Sedom, sed-ome’ or Sedhom, Gr. Sodoma, from an unused root meaning to scorch, burnt (i.e. volcanic or bituminous) district, Sedom, a place near the Dead Sea, Sodom. Attempts have been made to pinpoint the site by a reconstruction of the invasion route of the raid described in Genesis 14. According to 2 Chronicles 20:2, Hazazon Tamar is En Gedi, halfway up the western shore of the Dead Sea. If the invaders circling the sea from the south, clashed with the Amorites here, they must then have continued north to capture Sodom, and not return on their tracks. But could not the Hazazon Tamar of Genesis 14 be the Tamar of Ezekiel 47:19 to the SW of the water. Zoar can be located on the Moabite shore from Isaiah 15:5 and Jeremiah 48:34 and at the southern end of the sea from Josephus (War 4.8.4), but Deut. 34:3 assumes the town was visible from Pisgah. No conclusive archaeological evidence, the cities of the Plain are merely listed as lost. Also found in Gen. 10:19, 13:10; 14:2, 19:28.] |
| è-ma-ra |
Gomorrah  [(He Resh Mem Ayin) A(uh-ah)M(oh)R(aw)H, Gomorrah (go-mor’-rah) - Heb. ‘Amorah, am-o-raw’, from Heb. ‘amar, aw-mar’, root, to heap, to chastise, thus a (ruined) heap, Amorah, a place in Palestine. Why the manuscripts KJV calls it Heb. ‘gomorah, Gr. Gomorra, meaning submersion, is uncertain. There are great quantities of salt with deposits of bitumen, sulphur, and niter on the shores of the Dead Sea. In 1924 M.G. Kyle placed it south of Lisan. The Heb. ‘Amorah is also found in Gen. 10:19, 13:10; 14:2, 8, 10, 11; 18:20; 19:24, 28. One might compare the Amorites (am’-o-rites) Heb. ‘Emoriy, em-o-ree’, which is also derived from the same unused name Heb. ‘amar, aw-mar’, root, to publish, instead of heaping, thus in the sense of publicity, prominence, thus a mountaineer, an Emorite, one of the Canaanite tribes mentioned in Gen. 10:16; 14:7, 13; 15:16, 21. Earlier in Chapter Four under the King Scorpion study I mentioned "the land of the Muru (Amorites)." Amorites is always singular (Heb. ‘emori, mountain dwellers) as in Gen. 10:16 descendants of Canaan. The Mari tablets also show that Amraphel of Shinar (Gen. 14:1) was one of their kings. They dwelt in Hazazon-tamar (Hazazon of the palm trees, KJV Hazezon-tamar) the ancient name of a town on the west coast of the Dead Sea, occupied by the Amorites, but conquered by four great kings of the East.] |
| ad-ma |
Admah  [(He Mem Daleth Aleph) A(ah)Dh(uh)M(aw)H Admah (ad’mah) - Heb. ‘Admah, ad-maw’, or ‘Adhmah, contraction for Heb. ‘adamah, soil, ground, husband, land, (as in red earth), thus earthy, Admah, a place near the Dead Sea, which is a Canaanite city.] |
| si-ba-i-um |
Zeboiim  [(Final Mem Yod Yod Veth Tzaddi) Tz(uh)V(oh)Y(ee)M, Zeboiim (ze-boy’-im) - Heb. Tsebo’iym, tseb-o-eem’, or Tsevo’im, or more correctly Tsebiyiym, tseb-ee-yeem’, or Tsebiyim, plural of Heb. tsebiy, tseb-ee’, from Heb. tsabah, fight, thus in the sense of prominence, splendor (as conspicuous), thus gazelles (as beautiful), roe(-buck), possibly hyena.]. |
| be-la |
Bela  [(Ayin Lamed Beth) B(eh)L(ah)A, Bela (be’-lah) - Heb. Bela’, beh’-lah, from Heb. bala’, baw-lah’, root, cover, destroy, devour, eat up, swallow down (up), thus a gulp, figuratively destruction, devouring, that which he hath swallowed up, also belay.]
spared later because of Lot, it is known to be the same as Zoar  [(Resh Ayin Tzaddi) Tz(oh)A(ah)R, Zoar (zo’-ar) - Heb. Tso’ar, tso’-ar, from Heb. tsa’ar, tsaw-ar’, root, to be small, i.e. (fig.) ignoble, be brought low, little one, be small, thus little, Tsoar, a place East of the Jordan, an ancient Canaanite city now under the waters of the bay at the SE part of the Dead Sea]. |