Genesis 19:28

the smoke of the land The word is one used especially in connexion with incense and sacrifice. It is not the usual word for smoke, but rather corresponds to our "reek" or, as Driver, "steam." Travellers relate that, owing to rapid evaporation, there always appears a steamy mist rising up from the Dead Sea. Wis 10:6-7, "While the ungodly were perishing, wisdom delivered a righteous man, when he fled from the fire that descended out of heaven on Pentapolis. To whose wickedness a smoking waste still witnesseth … Yea and a disbelieving soul hath a memorial there, a pillar of salt still standing."

a furnace The word used in Exodus 9:8; Exodus 9:10; Exodus 19:18, "a furnace," or "kiln," for burning lime, or making bricks.

29 (P). when God destroyed, &c. This verse contains P's brief summary of the whole event. This will explain the repetition of the narrative, and the sudden substitution of "God" (Elohim) for "the Lord" (Jehovah). The expression "God remembered Abraham" would otherwise seem strange after the narrative in 18; but, as a matter of fact, the sentence probably followed after Genesis 13:12, with P's account of the separation of Abram and Lot. For "destroyed" (shâḥath), cf. Genesis 6:13; Genesis 6:17; Genesis 9:11; Genesis 9:15 (P).