Commentary for Deuteronomy 29:22
גָּפְרִ֣ית וָמֶלַח֮ שְׂרֵפָ֣ה כָל־אַרְצָהּ֒ לֹ֤א תִזָּרַע֙ וְלֹ֣א תַצְמִ֔חַ וְלֹֽא־יַעֲלֶ֥ה בָ֖הּ כָּל־עֵ֑שֶׂב כְּֽמַהְפֵּכַ֞ת סְדֹ֤ם וַעֲמֹרָה֙ אַדְמָ֣ה וצביים [וּצְבוֹיִ֔ם] אֲשֶׁר֙ הָפַ֣ךְ יְהוָ֔ה בְּאַפּ֖וֹ וּבַחֲמָתֽוֹ׃
and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath;
Sforno on Deuteronomy
'גפרית ומלח....במהפכת סדום אשר הפך ה, the people seeing this know full well that this was not something accidental but that it is a finger of G’d. The comparison is based on Sodom seeing that its destruction had both been predicted to Avraham and confirmed by Lot and his daughters who were survivors of that event.
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Rabbeinu Bahya
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Chizkuni
גפרית ומלח שרפה כל ארצה, “all of its land having become salt and brimstone;” what is the connection between salt and brimstone? Nothing can withstand fire better than salt, and nothing can be destroyed more totally that when it is treated with brimstone. The Torah means to tell you that if the Israelites had remained loyal to their covenant, they could have withstood any attempt at destruction as salt can withstand it; seeing that they had not, they were destroyed utterly as if they had been rubbed out with brimstone. Brimstone destroys even what the fire had not been able to destroy.
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