Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom and Gomorrah () were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and in the deuterocanonical books, as well as in the Quran and the hadith. According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim, and Bela. These five cities, also known as the "cities of the plain" (from Genesis in the Authorized Version), were situated on the Jordan River plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan. The plain was compared to the garden of Eden as
Development of the Hebrew Bible canon member of the Pharisaic party and, although he might not have liked to think so, his was not the universally accepted Jewish Bible—other Jewish communities included more than twenty-two books." The first reference to a 24-book Jewish canon is found in 2 Esdras, which was probably written in 90–96 CE (after the destruction of the Second Temple) or the second half of the third century. The Pharisees also debated the status of canonical books. In the 2nd century CE, Rabbi Akiva declared that those who read non canonical books would not share in the afterlife (Sanhedrin 11:1, Talmud 90a). But,