Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Peter 2:6

"and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly;" — 2 Peter 2:6 (ASV)

The third example of judgment is the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. According to Ge 19:24–28, “the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of heaven.” Peter says God “condemned” them “by burning them to ashes” (GK 5491). This rare word means either “reduce to ashes” or “cover with ashes”; it was used at the time of Vesuvius’s volcanic eruption and Lycophron’s “being overwhelmed with ashes.” Thus God may have used a volcano to destroy the wicked cities. This total destruction is an “example” (GK 5682) to the ungodly of the things that are going to happen to them.