How the Angel Overturned Sodom With a Single Finger on One Rock

Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 19:25

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And He overturned those cities" (Genesis 19:25). These cities were all sitting upon a single rock, and with one finger the angel overturned them, as it is said: "He puts forth his hand upon the flinty rock; he overturns the mountains by the roots" (Job 28:9). Do not read it "ba-challamish" ("upon the flinty rock"), but rather "ba-chamesh yad" ("with the five [fingers] of the hand").

Themes

Divine JudgmentDestruction Of SodomAngelsScriptural Wordplay

Biblical References

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Apocalypse of AbrahamAbraham Silences Azazel with Words of PowerThe angel turned back to Abraham. "Know from this moment that the Eternal One has chosen you. Be of good courage and use this authority, as far as I bid you, agTestament of SolomonDemons Build the Temple and Solomon Falls Through IdolatryThe thirty-sixth and final zodiac demon, Bianakith, confessed: "I lay waste houses and cause flesh to decay. But if a man writes certain holy names on the front2 BaruchRamiel Interprets the Waters of World HistoryThe cloud itself was the duration of the entire world, created when God took counsel to make it. The first black waters were the transgression of Adam, the mome4 EzraThe Angel Uriel Reveals the Signs of the End of DaysUriel took Ezra back to the beginning. Before the portals of the world were in place. Before the winds blew or thunder sounded. Before the innumerable hosts of Yalkut Shimoni on TorahTwo Angels Came to Sodom at Evening and Lot the Chief JudgeScripture says the messengers reached Sodom "at evening," though they had left Abraham's tent at noon. Why the long delay over so short a road? Because these weYalkut Shimoni on TorahRained on Sodom and the LORD With His CourtThe sages add another reading of how Sodom fell. It went down like the child of a woman who sinned in secret and, ashamed, casts the infant out before it can se