1:9 very small remnant. The doctrine of the remnant—a small group of people still true to God and His Word, in an apostate nation that has largely gone away from God—appears frequently in both Old and New Testaments (e.g., Luke 12:32).

1:9 Gomorrah. The example of God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-28) was still well remembered by the people of Israel at least fifteen hundred years after the event.