The Dead Sea is a lake about 50 miles long and 10 miles wide in southern Palestine. The Jordan River
and other smaller streams flow into it, but, because it lies at the lowest point on the earth, no water flows out of it. Because
of its rapid water loss through evaporation, salts and other minerals have become highly concentrated in it.This has made
the lake unfit for marine life; thus its name "the Dead Sea".
In Abraham's time five cities known as the "cities of the plain" were situated at the south end of
the Dead Sea (Gen. 14:2, 8). Because of their great wickedness, four of these cities...Sodom, Gomorrah,
Admah, and Zeboiim...were destroyed by earthquake and fire. (Gen. 19:28, 29; Deut. 29:23). Many
scholars believe the remains of these cities were covered in later years by the Dead Sea as the waters shifted when other
earthquakes struck the area.
In addition to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, many other biblical events occurred along the
shores of the Dead Sea. The springs of En Gedi provided a refuge for David in his flight from King Saul (1Sam.
24:1). In the Valley of Salt south of the Dead Sea, David was victorious over the Edomites (2Sam.
8:13; 1Chr. 18:12, 13).
The Dead Sea is also famous because of the discovery of ancient biblical manuscripts in the caves
on its northwest coast. Known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, these manuscripts include a complete copy of the Book of Isaiah
and portions of several other books of the bible, as well as many non-biblical manuscripts. They are dated to the period between
250 B.C. and A.D. 135.
These manuscripts, some of the earliest copies of biblical texts yet discovered, helped scholars establish
dates for several important biblical events and gave helpful information on the development of the Hebrew language.
Other names for the Dead Sea used in the bible are the Salt Sea
(Josh. 3:16), the Sea of Arabah (Deut: 3:17), and the
eastern sea (Joel 2:20).
