Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, and others associate verse 23 with what has gone before. Good News Translation and others place it with the following paragraph. The latter has the advantage of connecting sun and earth more closely with the vocabulary in verse 24.

The sun had risen on the earth: in some languages it will be more natural to begin with the time clause when Lot came …. In this context the Hebrew verb translated had risen may mean “was rising” or “had just risen.” Some translations that take the meaning “had risen” express this as “the sun was climbing up.” On the earth is not required in English, since it is included in the sense of risen. Therefore Good News Translation has “The sun was rising when Lot….”

Came to Zoar means “reached Zoar,” “arrived in Zoar.” The focus in the Hebrew remains on Lot, and so the singular is used.

Since the previous verses only speak of the angels giving Lot permission to go to Zoar, and this verse starts with his arrival, the story is incomplete in that it does not actually say that he and his family made the journey. In some languages it is necessary to include this information; and this can easily be done in a transition statement. One translation, for example, says “Lot and his family traveled in the early morning, and when the sun rose they came to that little town.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .