Lot was afraid he could not reach the mountain in time: "I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die" (Genesis 19:19). So he points to a nearby town and asks to flee there instead, pressing the point that it is small. Gill gives two readings: the city was little, with few people (and, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, few sins), so it might be spared; or Lot meant his request was "a little thing." Keil & Delitzsch say that Lot, "instead of cheerfully obeying the commandment of the Lord," appealed to the mercy shown him and to his inability to reach the mountains. Matthew Henry calls it "Lot's weakness to think a city of his own choosing safer than the mountain of God's appointing."

The request was granted: "See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither" (Genesis 19:21-22). The town was then named Zoar (Genesis 19:22). "The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar" (Genesis 19:23), and only then did the LORD rain fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24). Later, "Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain... for he feared to dwell in Zoar" (Genesis 19:30).

God was patient with Lot's fearful faith. He granted the request, spared a city for Lot's sake, and held back the judgment until Lot was safe: "I cannot do anything till thou be come thither" (Genesis 19:22). Matthew Henry contrasts this with Abraham's prayer. Lot's plea was "not, as Abraham's for Sodom, from a principle of generous charity, but merely from self-interest, yet God granted him his request."

Yet the place Lot chose did not give him peace. He soon left Zoar for the very mountain he had feared, "for he feared to dwell in Zoar" (Genesis 19:30). Matthew Henry draws the lesson that the mountain of God's appointing had been safer than the city of Lot's own choosing.