Make haste, escape there: this translates the command form of two verbs. The command is addressed to Lot in the singular, but in translation it may have to be in the plural. This is the fifth and final use of the word escape. Good News Translation says “Hurry! Run!” Others say “Flee there quickly.”

For I can do nothing till you arrive there: the angel urges Lot to hurry, because the destruction cannot begin until Lot reaches safety in Zoar. I can do nothing may need to be rendered more concretely “I can’t destroy the other cities until….”

Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar: this statement explains the origin of the name of the town of Zoar. However, verses 21 and 22a separate the name Zoar in this verse from the wordplay in verse 20. Therefore Good News Translation has reintroduced the word “small” by saying “Because Lot called it small….” Translators are advised to do something similar. Some translations place verse 22b in parentheses to show it is not part of the story line.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .