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 וַיִּשָּׂא־לֹ֣וט אֶת־עֵינָ֗יו וַיַּרְא֙ אֶת־כָּל־כִּכַּ֣ר הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן כִּ֥י כֻלָּ֖הּ מַשְׁקֶ֑ה לִפְנֵ֣י ׀ שַׁחֵ֣ת יְהוָ֗ה אֶת־סְדֹם֙ וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָ֔ה כְּגַן־יְהוָה֙ כְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בֹּאֲכָ֖ה צֹֽעַר׃ ¹¹ וַיִּבְחַר־לֹ֣ו לֹ֗וט אֵ֚ת כָּל־כִּכַּ֣ר הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן וַיִּסַּ֥ע לֹ֖וט מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַיִּפָּ֣רְד֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ מֵעַ֥ל אָחִֽיו׃ ¹² אַבְרָ֖ם יָשַׁ֣ב בְּאֶֽרֶץ־כְּנָ֑עַן וְלֹ֗וט יָשַׁב֙ בְּעָרֵ֣י הַכִּכָּ֔ר וַיֶּאֱהַ֖ל עַד־סְדֹֽם׃ ¹³ וְאַנְשֵׁ֣י סְדֹ֔ם רָעִ֖ים וְחַטָּאִ֑ים לַיהוָ֖ה מְאֹֽד׃

Vocabulary

Verse 10

ככר   noun: “round (region), plain”

ירדן   “Jordan (river)”

משׁקה   “well irrigated” (BDB, 1052)

שׁחת   verb: “destroy”

גן   noun: “garden” (BDB, 171)

צער   name (of place): Zoar  

Syntax & Miscellaneous

• The word, לִפְנֵ֣י, is used as a temporal marker—“before.”
• The reader is invited to understand these three destructive events as analogous (שַׁחֵ֣ת יְהוָ֗ה אֶת־סְדֹם֙ וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָ֔ה כְּגַן־יְהוָה֙ כְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם).  Notice the placement of the “future” destruction of Egypt (i.e. the Exodus) with the Genesis destruction events. 

Verse 11

פרד   verb (Niphal): “divide” (BDB, 825)

Verse 12

כנען   name (of place/people): “Canaan”

Verse 13

חטא   noun: “sinner” (BDB, 308)     

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 11

• The idiom, אִ֖ישׁ מֵעַ֥ל אָחִֽיו, is very common in the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy 1:16).  Since Hebrew does not have a reciprocal pronoun (e.g. “each other”), this phrase functions as a reciprocal relationship.

Verse 12

• The preposition, עַד, can express a temporal (Genesis 3:9 “until, before”), degree (2 Kings 24:20 “to the point”), terminative (1 Samuel 9:9 “as far as”), Inclusive/conjunctive (1 Samuel 5:9 “both…and”), emphatic (Exodus 14:28 “even”), or in this case locative (Deuteronomy 4:11 “near, by”).

Verse 13

• Marked by a disjunctive waw, this background (or parenthetical) remark is a verbless clause.

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