Admah

Admah (meaning earthy or red) was one of five cities of the vale of Siddim, grouped with Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar) in the Jordan plain near the southern end of the Dead Sea. Listed among the cities in the original table of nations (Genesis 10:19), Admah was among the four cities defeated by the alliance of Chedorlaomer and three other kings in the battle described in Genesis 14, and subsequently destroyed by divine judgment alongside Sodom and Gomorrah for the wickedness of their inhabitants.

The destruction of Admah became a fixed reference point in the prophetic literature as a symbol of total divine judgment. Deuteronomy 29:23 names Admah and Zeboiim alongside Sodom and Gomorrah in describing the desolation the land would suffer if Israel broke the covenant. Hosea 11:8 records a divine lament — How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboiim? — expressing God's hesitation to bring upon the northern kingdom the total destruction that fell on those ancient cities, revealing both the severity of the warning and the depth of divine compassion.